George Carlin Albums (22)
What The Critics Say
Released just over a month after his passing, George Carlin's It's Bad for Ya features the same material as his final HBO special of the same name, which aired in March of 2008, but it's a different recording from a much smoother performance. Carlin was well aware of his odds at the age of 70 -- which is "69 with a finger up its ass" -- but on first listen it's hard not to get the creeps as the comedian obsesses on death, mostly his own, for the front half of the album. There's no solace to be found as his no-nonsense (and no heaven, either) attitude destroys all things comforting, but it is most definitely hilarious. The great thing about nearing death is that you're allowed to forget things, even the important things ("...but it was your daughter's funeral"). While the computer age means dead friends must be deleted from Outlook's address book, the comedian prefers to create a new folder and make his own digital purgatory. With these right-on-the-mark and very 2008 computer references, Carlin proves he's still up to the time and still incredibly sharp as he skewers the modern-day practice of "child worship." He's disgusted with a world where every kid wins and understands file sharing better than old-school playtime ("Do today's kids even know what a stick is?"). This seamless movement from death to parenting and on to blowhards plus conservative America is the masterful stuff comedy students should study, plus Carlin's overall delivery is sharper and faster than most would believe. Here he casts off the misrepresentation that he's just an old rambling hippie doing an hourlong expletive-filled version of "you kids get off my lawn." You've got to be comfortable with the ideas of no God, kids suck, and that America is corrupt to the core, but if you can sit with that, It's Bad for Ya is about 100 laughs heavier than his previous effort, Life Is Worth Losing. The only thing left to mention is the packaging, which looks cheap and divides the set into way too many tracks before redeeming itself by acknowledging Carlin's death with a Zippy the Pinhead quote, a touch the "anti almost everything" comedian would have loved. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'Life Is Worth Losing'
Release Date 1/10/2006
Tracks 11
Label Atlantic/WEA
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What The Critics Say
Within the first four minutes of Life Is Worth Losing, George Carlin reminds everyone why he is one of the all-time greatest standup comedians. The juxtapositions of his modern-jargon exercise "A Modern Man" leave no doubt that -- while he has slowed down his usually vigorous schedule of touring, TV specials, and other appearances -- he hasn't lost a step. Celebrating over half a century in entertainment, Carlin brings to the performance some of his most caustic, most morbid (including a good ten minutes on suicide alone), and yet somehow most witty material to date, especially when taking on the plight of the human condition in America, circa 2005. ~ Rob Theakston, All Music Guide
'Complaints and Grievances'
Release Date 12/11/2001
Tracks 22
Label Atlantic
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What The Critics Say
George Carlin's post-hippie standup boils down to two formulas: Either he is providing biting cynicism about sociopolitical demagoguery or he is making urbane, possibly even mundane observations about everyday life and pointing out the bizarre inconsistencies of it all. On Complaints and Grievances, the audio version of Carlin's HBO special of November 2001, he is hitting on all cylinders on both counts. Some might wonder why Carlin, as a native of the area and performing in New York City so soon after the World Trade Center attacks, didn't do more than a couple of cursory minutes about it, but that is his MO. Even when being topical, the comedian always seems to realize that good comedy needs to be timeless, and even the few remarks about the ridiculousness of statements like "Don't let the terrorists win" can be listened to years later without needing a sense of nostalgia to appreciate it. Some of the routine gets a bit too silly, such as "You & Me (Things That Come off of Your Body)," which is Carlin's way to root out the squeamish, a ploy of his going back to the Class Clown days. However, like any good George Carlin performance, it contains one certifiable classic where he manages to roll all of his best observations into an irreverent, yet thoughtful monologue, and that would be disc-closer "Why We Don't Need the Ten Commandments," seven minutes of Carlin at his caustic best. ~ Brian O'Neill, All Music Guide
'Playin' with Your Head'
Release Date 3/20/2001
Tracks 11
Label Atlantic
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What The Critics Say
Playin' With Your Head turned out to be a landmark outing for George Carlin -- the last truly funny album he made before attempting to become his old mentor, Lenny Bruce, and spent the '90s railing against right-wingers in most unamusing fashion. The less-topical, more lighthearted routines here are complemented by Carlin's devastating sense of timing, which had never been sharper (newly sober, he'd completely ditched the stoner voice and meandering riffs that sometimes marred his '70s work) and makes even the corny and mean-spirited material work. But most of these segments, culled from a performance recorded at the Beverly Theatre in Los Angeles, are much better than that; overall, this is a fine companion piece to his 1981 classic, A Place for My Stuff, with "Losing Things" and "You're Lost" offering the same hilarious examination of a mundane and universal experience ("That's the first thing that happens when you get to heaven -- they give you back everything you ever lost. That's the whole meaning of heaven!") that Carlin perfected on that album's title track. Other gems in the same vein include "Love and Regards" and "Sports," which posits baseball, football, and basketball as the only real sports and takes down all the pretenders ("Swimming isn't a sport -- it's a way to keep from drowning! That's common sense!"). The disappointment of hearing Carlin at the top of his game here is that it didn't last past this recording, but at a time when comedy albums were beginning to pop up by the dozen, this one stood -- and still stands -- as one of the best of its era. ~ Dan LeRoy, All Music Guide
'You Are All Diseased'
Release Date 5/18/1999
Tracks 17
Label Atlantic
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What The Critics Say
As the years progress, George Carlin only gets angrier -- and, considering that the world is just getting more ridiculous, that may be the only response. Fortunately, his anger keeps him sharp, and that's why he's still fascinating and funny in 1999, when most of his peers have dried up. The key to his success is that he doesn't continue to recycle his routines -- he writes new material which illustrates that he's not just a comedian, he's a commentator. He tackles a number of subjects on You Are All Diseased, from familiar items like "Airport Security" to the silly cigar boom of the late '90s, television, religion, and "American Bullshit." Some of this is dead-on and some of it suffers from a delivery that is a bit too reminiscent of past routines, but it's all entertaining and the best of it ranks with the best of his past work. Not many comedians could claim that their latter-day work is as good as the stuff that made their name, and that's a strong testament to Carlin's skills, talent and wit. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
George Carlin fluctuates between two polar extremes of intellect on Back in Town. The album is mostly plagued by this single problem, which prevents it form reaching the heights it might have otherwise. Carlin's material is consistent in that it all takes the form of societal criticism, but whereas at times his caustic gaze can intelligently deconstruct an issue as complicated as abortion, elsewhere his routine devolves into mere profane insults and gross-out humor. The aforementioned abortion bit joins a discussion of familiar expressions as the disc's highlights, and most of the parodies of modern phenomena in "Free-Floating Hostility" are on the mark. This meditation on capital punishment and state prison farms drags on with jokes taken so far that it is difficult to remember that Carlin is parodying these issues. Also, skip over "Farting in Public" -- the title speaks for itself. ~ Brian Egan, All Music Guide
