Everlast Albums (5)
'Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford'
Release Date 9/22/2008
Tracks 17
Label Pias
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What The Critics Say
Ten years after he relaunched his solo career with the "roots rap" album Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, former House of Pain leader Everlast has succumbed entirely to the contemporary alt-rock blues. His 2008 release, Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford, is more in line with the work of G. Love & Special Sauce, Keb' Mo', or Popa Chubby than it is with any hip-hop act, save the cover version of "Folsom Prison Blues," which comes with an "Insane in the Membrane" backbeat thanks to producer and Cypress Hill member DJ Muggs. The track seems out of place on an album so dark, swampy, and disgusted with both society and self, but it's the kind of sweet relief that's called for after being pummeled by the death threat junta "Kill the Emperor" or driven to crimes of passion by the manic "Anyone" (as in "I'll kill anyone for you"). By the time "Naked" rolls around with its Emperor's New Clothes metaphor and equally overdone "The rich get richer/The poor get poorer" hook, it seems the songwriter has more venom than ideas, but this 17-track downer works well enough with some effort and trimming. It's earthshaking when Everlast's rich, rough baritone meets the plodding, gargantuan gospel of "Everyone," while highlight "Die in Yer' Arms" brings the Black Snake Moan atmosphere to downtown club culture as it lustfully drools all over the dancefloor. The war-torn "Letters Home from the Garden of Stone" towers above it all with its helicopter noises plus chilling tale of life on the front lines, and both "Stone in My Hand" and "Weakness" are redemption anthems that will satisfy sinners looking to be saints. They are the target audience and -- along with the Everlast faithful -- the ones who will find this heavy, rap-free album rich and rewarding instead of desolate and ponderous. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'White Trash Beautiful'
Release Date 5/25/2004
Tracks 15
Label Island
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What The Critics Say
White Trash Beautiful is Everlast's third LP since he exited the House of Pain and took up the reigns of conscience-driven, streetwise roots rap. It's been a long time coming. In music biz terms, 2000's critically acclaimed Eat at Whitey's was a dud next to Whitey Ford Sings the Blues' multi-platinum success. That and the wacko record label commingling of the early 2000s found Everlast label-less and lonely. A survivor, he started recording in his home studio and gravitated to the dusky country of outlaws like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Those sounds inform White Trash in spirit, if not necessarily in direct practice. For from the opening strains of the hard-luck story "Blinded by the Sun," it's clear that the former Erik Schrody's been hearing not only country records but country grammar, too, as well as the organic rappalachia of Bubba Sparxxx. White Trash is a more effective mix of hip-hop trope and bluesy strum because, in the years since Whitey's, what Everlast helped start has been finished by types like the above artists, Kid Rock, even OutKast. The relative novelty of hip-hop hitting up country and rock has worn away; Everlast can go ahead and kick that chip off his shoulder. Musically, Everlast and longtime producer Dante Ross still get a lot of mileage out of pairing his gruff delivery with spare acoustic guitar, and layering the whole thing over a subdued hip-hop bump (think "What's It's Like"). Everlast too still stumbles over the occasional rap cliché, like the street bravado/cynicism verses of "God Wanna" ("I'll act like Ike Turner/Then treat you like Tina"), or "Sleepin' Alone"'s clunky relationship woe. The gritty "2 Pieces of Drama" is better, with its B Real guest shot and referencing of Cypress Hill's "Hand on the Pump," but White Trash is best when it's blending country and blues into Everlast's finely rendered tales of street-level loneliness. With its rain effects, slide guitar, and Hank Williams interpolation, "This Kind of Lonely" could be Nashville product with just a bit of tweaking, while the gentle pain of first single "Broken" is tinged with cello and theremin. "Lonely Road" opens up into the album's most hopeful melody, led forth by surging fiddle and a quiet acoustic lead. "My back is strong," he sings. "I'll carry the load." Even if he's sad for a lot of it, Everlast also has some fun on White Trash Beautiful. "Sad Girl" sports a slight Latin flair in its chords as Everlast describes his latest infatuation. "Sittin' in a pearl white Eldorado/In a gangsta lean she was revvin' the throttle," he relates. "She looked like Selena/The truth couldn't be plaina." Overall it's a welcome return for Everlast -- he sounds comfortable and confident, even in his heartbreak. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Nobody ever would have guessed that the leader of House of Pain would come back after a bout of obscurity and a serious heart attack to reinvent himself as a hip-hop troubadour, rasping out bluesy folk-rock to a steady-rolling beat. The fact that Everlast had the vision to change his tune was surprising enough, but the fact that it worked and found a wide audience was stunning. When it came time to deliver Eat at Whitey's, the follow-up to Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, in 2000, Everlast was smart enough to expand on a good thing, turning out a sequel that built on the folk-rap-rock that rejuvenated his career, while adding slight new twists. The problem is, the new twists, particularly in the guise of cameos from rockers like Carlos Santana and Warren Haynes, don't work particularly well. Also, whenever he veers toward straight rap, such as on the B-Real duet "Deadly Assassins," the music falls a little flat -- just like it did on the predecessor. Still, these not-quite successful moments don't detract from an album that delivers on the promise of Whitey Ford. Whenever Everlast lays back and spins stories and tall tales on his own, his blend of folk, rock, blues, rap, and pop culture clicks. It can be a little silly -- his rhymes are occasionally goofy, his growl a little too raspy -- but at its best, it's evocative, catchy, and ingratiating. If he can't sustain the quality of the first three songs throughout the record, at least it connects several more times, enough to make Eat at Whitey's satisfying for listeners that want a little more of "What It's Like." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Whitey Ford Sings the Blues'
Release Date 9/8/1998
Tracks 18
Label Tommy Boy
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What The Critics Say
Saying that Everlast showed a great deal of artistic growth between his first and second solo albums would be a understatement. While 1989/1990's Forever Everlasting was a decent, if uneven, debut, Everlast's second solo album, Whitey Ford Sings the Blues is an amazingly eclectic gem that finds him really pushing himself creatively. Between those two albums, Everlast joined and left House of Pain, which evolved into one of the most distinctive rap groups of the 1990s. While Pain's albums thrived on wildness for its own sake, Whitey Ford has a much more introspective and serious tone. Everlast, who was born with a heart defect, was in the process of recording the album when he needed life-saving open-heart surgery; in fact, he was lucky that he was around to see Whitey Ford completed and released. Though not without its share of hardcore b-boy rap, Whitey Ford also finds Everlast playing acoustic guitar, doing some singing, and exploring folk-rock, Memphis soul, and heavy metal. As a singer, Everlast has a relaxed style that sounds a bit like Gil Scott-Heron. "Today (Watch Me Shine)," "Ends," and "What It's Like" venture into Neil Young/Bob Dylan territory, while "Hot to Death" is blistering metal with industrial touches. And the plot thickens -- on "The Letter," he raps over a jazz-influenced piano. Given how rap's hardcore tends to frown on rappers crossing over to rock, it took guts for Everlast to be so diverse. But it's a good thing that he did, for his risk-taking pays off handsomely on this outstanding release. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
'Forever Everlasting'
Release Date 3/14/1990
Tracks 11
Label Warner Bros.
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What The Critics Say
Here's a little known fact of rap history: before Everlast enjoyed recognition as a member of House of Pain, he pursued a career as a solo artist. Forever Everlasting, his first and only pre-Pain solo album, is a decent, though not outstanding release proving that he had strong rapping skills long before becoming well known. Ice-T, who serves as this CD's executive producer, once said of Everlast, "Hearing him rap, you'd never know he was white" -- and to be sure, the L.A.-based MC is far from a pop rapper. Though most of his lyrics aren't remarkable, this CD definitely has its moments -- most notably, "Speak No Evil" (a reflection on injustice in America) and the angry "Fuck Everyone." ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
