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1992: l'esplosione Grunge è al suo culmine. Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains e Pearl Jam monopolizzano ovunque le classifiche, media e critica hanno i fari puntati su Seattle, le case discografiche si fanno in 4 per accaparrarsi i nuovi Kurt Cobain o Eddie Vedder e nel frattempo ripescano la maggior parte dei gruppi indipendenti che tanto hanno ispirato le nuove galline dalle uova d'oro della musica rock. Si arriva così a situazioni paradossali: gruppi come Melvins, Meat Puppets, Butthole Surfers (!!) si accasano presso major...salvo poi ritornare alla realtà indipendente quando l'uragano grunge sarà passato, s'intende.
Fra gli eccellenti ripescati di quegli anni ci sono anche loro, i Mudhoney, coloro che principalmente hanno contribuito a creare quel suono ora così ricercato e redditizio, che dalla beneamata Sub Pop passano alla Reprise, una succursale della Time Warner. Cosa cambia in casa Mudhoney, quindi, nel passaggio al mainstream?
Assolutamente nulla. Non solo infatti Mark Arm e soci non ottengono particolari risultati commerciali con questo "Piece of Cake", loro terzo full-lenght (solo il singolo "Suck You Dry" avrà buon successo, rimanendo peraltro l'unico singolo nella loro carriera ad arrivare nelle alte zone della classifica), ma non virano affatto le coordinate del loro suono marcio, distorto e malato. D'altronde, se Arm o Turner volevano cambiare pelle, si sfogavano in altri progetti, vedi "The Freewheelin' Mark Arm" o i bravi Monkeywrench. E infatti i riferimenti sono sempre quelli: garage stile '60, Stooges, MC5, Count Five e Blue Cheer, conditi con le distorsioni brevettate del Fuzz e del Muff. Le novità sono poche: torna l'organo Hammond, presente già dal precedente album "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge", qui a impreziosire la quasi soul "Let Me Let You Down", il frizzante strumentale "Youth Body Expression Explosion" e "When in Rome", ballata dal sapore anni '70 che mi ricorda un pò le ballate pop-rock che i Red Hot Chili Peppers proporranno da "Californication" in poi.
La vera sorpresa di "Piece of Cake" è però la conclusiva "Acetone", ballata country che effettivamente non ti aspetteresti dai re del Fuzz. Dopo aver fatto inizialmente storcere il naso, però il pezzo si fa apprezzare. La canzone migliore del disco è tuttavia, a parer mio, la spettacolare "Blinding Sun", dallo storico ritornello "WAHT HAVE I DONE?!", ancora oggi (fortunatamente) punto fermo ai concerti.
Che altro dire di "Piece of Cake"? Che da una parte il legame al proprio stile è forte, tanto che in alcuni pezzi le soluzioni compositive richiamano altre canzoni: come l'energico singolo "Suck You Dry", che ricalca atmosfere e tematiche della leggendaria "Touch Me I'm Sick", o "13th Floor Opening" (un omaggio?), che sguazza nella stessa melma che rese grandissima "Mudride", senza tuttavia eguagliarne l'intensità; dall'altra, sotto il distorto, si legge fra le righe una voglia di sperimentare, come nelle canzoni sopra citate o nella trovata dei 4 bizzarri pezzi strumentali, composti ciascuno da un membro del gruppo in solitaria, che introducono e inframezzano il disco. In ogni caso, un ottimo prodotto, anche se nno all'altezza delle migliori uscite targate Mudhoney.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 No End in Sight (03:35)
The way I see it you must be blind
But can you spare a dime?
Can't you see your son is in too deep
Burning in the final sleep
Wide awake for ninety nine hours
No sleep tonight
He'll be pushing up flowers
Second chance he'll never get
A special high for blazes, burn
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Let behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Running frantic without a clue
In the sand looking straight at you
Nothing straight, the world goes around
No one's safe until they're deep in the ground
Shot in the back, stopped in your tracks
The shifting sands coming over us
A second chance he hasn't got
It all boils down and turned around
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Left Behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
There's so many times I couldn't bear to watch
Witness the boredom of you thinking all soft
He left his mark, he left you blind
Chasing the dream, left sleep behind
Left behind
Left and Right
No end in sight
No end in sight
Left behind
Left and right
No end in sight
No end in sight
No end in sight
No end in sight
06 Suck You Dry (02:34)
Pull yourself together
Take a stab at forever
Relax and let yourself go
Put yourself together
Take a shot at forever
Sit back, let the tears flow
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
Come a little closer
Before I slide over
Come on, I want you to burn
Come a little closer
Before I take you over
Come now, watch myself burn
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
No time like the present
To get ripped apart
Got this burning desire
Aiming straight for your heart
Suck dry
Suck you dry
Can't breath until
I suck you dry
07 Blinding Sun (03:38)
We fell asleep on the riverbank one sunny afternoon
We fell asleep on the riverbank one sunny afternoon
Woke with a rope around my neck, swear I did no wrong
Blinding Sun, beats down in my eyes
Blinding Sun, beats down in my eyes
Had my fill on the river bank, with you by my side
What have I done?
What have I done?
Can't be long to the setting of the sun
No, it can't be long now to the setting of the sun
Maybe then I'll see, maybe then I'll fight or run
Who are you, and what do you want?
Who are you, and what do you want?
Your countenance shines brighter than the midday sun
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Just my luck if nightfall never comes
Be just my luck if nightfall never comes
Waiting with a rope around my neck for the setting of the sun
Sun, sun, why don't you set?
Said, sun, sun, why don't you set?
Try to put this all behind me, but I can't forget
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Where have you gone?
What have I done?
What have I done?
08 Thirteenth Floor Opening (02:30)
If I try I could fly right through that window
If I try I could fly right through that window
Just can't find my way to the door
When I land I know I will not be injured
When I land I know I will not be injured
There's no way that I can hurt any more
Got an open mind
Up on the thirteenth floor
Got an open heart
Up on the thirteenth floor
Found an open window
Up on the thirteenth floor
Everything's wide open - oh
On the thirteenth floor
10 I'm Spun (04:05)
I'm spun
I'm spun
I'm spun
I'm spun
Let's get it straight I'm a ricochet
Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
Yeah yeah, the world keeps spinning
It don't affect the way I'm thinking
I'm spun outta control
I'm spun now you're spun
Let's get it straight I'm a ricochet
Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
Yeah yeah, the earth spins today
My head spins the other way
Now you see what happened to me
Watch me feeling, get the feeling
Afraid it's true, afraid it can happen to you
You know it's true, it can happen to you
Never know when you'll snap
Never know when you'll break
Never know when you'll crack
All you know is you can't track back
I'm spun I've come undone
I'm spun, yeah I'm almost caught
Let's get it straight, I'm a ricochet Bouncing off these walls I could hit you all
When you see me come you better run
I'm spun
13 Living Wreck (03:30)
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
C'mon too cool and collected
Claiming how you're so well-connected
With the thousands you've infected
Who turn out to be just as wretched
This living wreck will come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
Nasty things you're trying to hatch
Snakes and bugs make no kind of match
What the hell you trying to catch
Trading your friends for cold hard cash
This living wreck will come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
Shoot for the stars
My, my how lucky you are
We got a date, you left your house
To step on up to a higher ground
Shoot for the stars 'cause she's been shown
Good God your ambition's gone
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
This living wreck has come to crash again
Time is tight and I just might come back to what you are
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