Customer Reviews: Read 58 more reviews...
 Hotter than Cincinnati Chili! July 29, 2000
Thornton F. Cole (Chicago or an airport near you)
24 out of 26 found this review helpful
The pride of Ohio's River Mecca, the Whigs let it all hang out on this stellar SubPop (Nirvana, Mark Lanegan, Sprinkler) release. The unbelievable bravado of frontman Greg Dulli is matched only by the funkiest bandmates since Morris Day's The Time. Touchingly depraved running the gammut from drug abuse to sexual orneryness, this album has it all. An AP top 100 Alternative Album, this record is a must own for any serious devotee of indie style rock. One listen to the painful and truthful strains of "Be Sweet" or the addiction anthem "Fountain and Fairfax" and anyone who has been out all night in the last decade will be sold. The Whigs clearly studied the Rolling Stones, Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Husker Du and Gang of Four because never has their been a rag tag bunch of loveable hooligans to find the funk, blues, alt-rock and timing of this band. And they love fellow Cincinnati bad-boy Pete Rose, the only person in Ohio who could probably outlast 'em at the bar of your local strip club. An amazing record. Check out some of their other stellar releases, including "Congregation", "Up In It", "1965" and the rocking "Black Love."
Best of the best July 15, 2002
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
You must own this. There are few things in this world as rare and beautiful as the Afghan Whigs, and this album portrays the band in its finest moment. So tight, loud, passionate and absolutely, painfully brilliant, this was one of the top albums of the 1990s. From Greg Dulli's impassioned vocals and swaggering, cocky lyrics, to the swirling dervish guitar/bass/drums combo of Curley, McCollom and Earle, "Gentlemen" is by far the most modern testament to the torturous pain of relationships gone bad. The magnificent "My Curse," with Dulli's lyrics and Marcy Mays' cameo vocals, softens the machismo at the disc's climax, but the boys triumphantly come back with the searing "Now You Know," placing blame where it's due and twisting the post-break-up knife deeper. To smooth things over, Greg lends his voice to the classic "I keep coming back." Mere words can't describe the brilliance of "Gentlemen." Just buy it. Then go buy "Black Love," the disc that followed this one. And listen to it loud.
A Classic and Heartbreaking Album October 15, 2005
Etc (Los Angeles, CA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is about as emotionally intense as it gets. Apart from Dylan's classic album "Blood on the Tracks," I can think of no other record that so perfectly encompasses the bitterness and beauty of heartbreak.
There's a venom that lines the music and lyrics, and everything is is almost masochistically brutal and occasionally just nasty. It's dirty and raw, and filled with an honesty that music rarely has the guts to even try to emote.
This is not some angst-ridden whining that typifies what music today offers up for expression. This is a portrait of the brutality that simultaneously tortures and enriches relationships. Loaded with malice, bitterness, insight, guilt, pennance, and love, Gentlemen is a seminal work that feels as though it's always been there. It's a soundtrack to your pain, and it aggressively forces you to confront yourself. As another reviewer put it, this album is something of a confessional, and it is hard to not identify with it, as harrowing as it can be to do so.
When Sub Pop was making it's big push, the two bands they were placing their bets on were The Afghan Whigs and Nirvana. I guess it's obvious that Nirvana "won" that contest, and while there are commonalities between the bands (and I would say that the Whigs deserve a bit more public acclaim than they have recieved), Nirvana never created anything as naked as this album. There's nothing obtuse about this; it's as straight forward and 'in your face' as rock music can be.
If you're already a fan, I would also recommend hunting down the "What Jail is Like EP," which features some of the best cover songs ever... namely the cover of The Assponies "Mr. Superlove;" which belongs up there alongside the soaring accomplishments of Gentlemen.
One of the best albums of the 1990s. January 9, 2003
Jason Panella (Beaver Falls, PA United States)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Gentlemen, the Afghan Whigs' pinnacle record, remains one of the most solid albums of the `90s. The quartet is in high form, almost flawlessly, and produces a collection of songs that stir, shock, calm, and amaze from start to finish.I could rant and rave, but I won't. I'll point out some of the best tracks, though... "If I Were Going" is a great opening tune, building up to a emotional high-point before launching into the next track, the powerful title track. "Be Sweet" is a signature Whigs song, moving from sublime verse to blistering chorus, all with a slight R&B sock to the jaw. "What Jail is Like" is mind-blowing (with a great feedback/piano combo), and "My Curse" (with Scrawl's Marcy Mays on vocals) is raw enough to crack the CD case. Finally, the cover of Tyrone Davis' "I Keep Coming Back" is simply stunning. Are there any downsides? A few, but their so unnoticable that it really won't matter. For some reason, the closing instrumental doesn't send the album out well (even though it's a fine song as is). This minor error is quickly forgotten, though, by the everything else that's done well on the album. If you want to own one of the most underrated, amazing records of the past decade, pick this up. You won't be disappointed.
Gentlemen March 31, 2005
Jason Manley (Columbus, OH USA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
1993 was an impeccable year for music, particularly the music heard on college radio. If you were listening during the fall of the year you were likely to hear the blazing hot single "Debonair" from this album. On said single singer/writer/musician Greg Dulli excised demons and pushed the '0' on the sound level meter. When you purchased the album you learned that much of the record is filled with the same slicing guitarwork and precision drumming, lyrics that are in some cases screamed at the listener.
GENTLEMEN is not a record for the weary. It contains 1001 euphemisms about everything that can and does happen in relationships. It's like a confessional caught on tape. Recorded during the spring of 1993 at Ardent Studios in Memphis Tennessee (the same place that other bands such as Gin Blossoms, REM and Soundgarden had all recorded in then recent years). It has the feel of a tightly wound coil breaking in slow motion with precise production and afore mentioned relationship analysis.
Dulli & company never quite recaptured the magic of the GENTLEMEN sessions and indeed the record sales proved that. But, in the era of self hate and loathing, no one did it better than the Whigs.
(Note: Also recommended The Afghan Whigs CONGREGATION)
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