ERIC MOORE AND THE GODZ – Twenty-Five Moore Years

Eric Moore and the Godz’ version of rock and roll makes you want to mainline whiskey. It’s impossible to listen to them without guzzling a bottle of Jack Daniels and then chase that with a bottle of Jim Beam. This is dirty rock, while basically being rock and roll in its purest form.

Twenty-Five Moore Years is the title of their complete retrospective, namely compiling tunes from 1978-2003 (although one track is from 1967). While the early ’80s version of the band screams the loudest, their new tracks go a long way in making rock unpretentious and fun again.

The first song on the CD is a fast, snarling track called “White Line.” This song is almost over before it starts, not even two minutes in length, and is as noisy as it is fast. In Moore’s words, “This song’s about fast livin’, fast cars, fast women, drugs, booze, horsepower, tattoos, oil, sweat, blood, the smell of gunpowder in the morning, and did I mention fast living?”

“I’ll Get You Rockin’” may be the best song on the whole set, complete with horns, and sounds somewhat like an old Aerosmith tune (before they started making cheese). Moore’s voice actually sounds like a poor-man’s Steve Tyler at times, without quite the same range, but just as bluesy.

There are a slew of excellent songs here. “Criminal Mind,” has an addictive chorus; “Mongolians,” is one of the hardest guitar-driven tracks here, closer to heavy metal than rock; and “Hey Mama” has a ’60s rock vibe to it, catchy guitar, and the best lyrics you’ve heard in a while: “The head that I’ve been getting ain’t worth the bitching that I take.” It is not an insult to say that their formula for making music is so simple, it’s often brilliant.

While they never really throw in a slow song, “Burning Bridges” is as close as you’ll get to a ballad. You can almost picture hearing this live, in a smoke filled bar, no air conditioning, condensation rolling down the bottle and slinking onto your sweaty forearm as you keep tipping, slaking the thirst and tapping your feet. And order another one, and another one …

The second CD starts off with a brief introduction of the band at a live concert, and Eric Moore walks on stage. When asked what he has been up to recently, he says, “I just got out of Mansfield Reformatory.” He’s got a bit of attitude, and also panders to the Cleveland crowd like all professionals do, and then the Godz hit the stage and they roll through “Gotta Muv,” “Shake It,” and “We’re All Crazy.”

The second CD is probably going to appeal to their die-hard fans, but hearing them live is worth a listen. There are a few duplicates on the second disk, a hilarious song about putting on the beer goggles called “I Won’t Be Lonely Tonight,” and some more live outtakes.

You know that this kind of music has a rabid following. It is uncompromising, alcohol-fueled honesty in musical form. While a lot of the songs sound alike, they also rock, and there isn’t a bad one on either disk. So brush off your liver; you’ve got some catching up to do.