Unitron If there's any band where the term desert rock perfectly applies, it's Fu Manchu. Their sound is all about driving dune buggies and convertibles on southern dirt roads and beach corners, crankin' your tunes, and just enjoying the summertime ride. No summertime blues here, other than the Blue Cheer distortion.

If you're looking for something more anthemic, California Crossing is the better album, but Daredevil is equally fantastic. It's basically 60's/70's heavy metal, but with the doom replaced with driving around. There's also some subtle space rock influence, in songs like Travel Agent, Sleestak, and Space Farm, but they're used as just nice embellishments to create a fuller sound.

Scott Hill's deadpan vocal delivery is probably the most iconic thing about the band, and this may be their album with the most fuzzy distortion, so it's all at its complimentary best. Like desert atmospheres, fast cars, distortion, and heavy riffs? If so, you can't go wrong here.

The Crow Debut of this splendid stoner rock band leaded by Scott Hill!

Brant Björk, ex-drummer of Kyuss, achieved a typical stoner guitar sound while maintaining some hard rock elements in the sound of the band, especially in the strong drums and clear bass. The result is a very compact album which is not a mere copy of Kyuss.

Time to fly demonstrates that Fu-Manchu are good scholars of Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality, despite the weak vocals. The riff after 2:20 is just astounding! Ojo Rojo is even better, with a mastodontic riff and very catchy melodies. Pure stoner-metal from the 90’s at its best.

Show and Shine is a more accelerated track, even hard rock despite its muddy sound. Mega-Bumpers is not so inspired and a bit repetitive at the beginning, but at the end of the second minute it introduces a fast and catchy riff.

Free and Easy is a relaxing tune with some funny guitar melodies, increasing the variety of the album in a much appropriated way. But Superbird comes to bring the stoner metal back, with another splendid riff at the beginning and good percussions throughout the song. One of the highlights of the album in my opinion!

Shine it On is lighter and a bit simplistic. But not bad nevertheless! And Snakebellies is luckily better especially because it’s psychedelic elements in its second half, leaving a good feeling about this album and band.

Conclusion: despite being produced by Brant Björk, Fu-Manchu are more that a copy of Kyuss or other stoner bands like Sleep. On No One Rides for Free they made an interesting mixture of stoner and hard rock, not so dense and complex like other bands of this genre, but very interesting and catchy nevertheless.

They improved a lot on subsequent releases, but No One Rides for Free is a good point of entry if you want to discover this band.

Best Tracks: Time to Fly, Ojo Rojo, Superbird, Snakebellies.

My Rating: ***

Unitron "Twenty years or more, we had a plan, To build the finest street ride in the whole damn land."

There could never be any truer statement. California Crossing is as cool and collected as stoner rock/metal can be, as well as perfect driving music for the open roads. Most stoner rock and metal has some sort of laidback vibe to it, whether in the form of smoking your brains out with Sleep's classic Dopesmoker or going on a spaced-out Powertrip with Monster Magnet. That is one of the reasons why it's so great and Fu Manchu is no different, yet they may very well be the epitome of that vibe.

California Crossing is entirely made up of powerful stoned heavy rock/metal, but remaining laidback throughout the 40-minute ride. It's not hard to imagine driving down a desert road, with the only sound being the cool tunes coming from your speakers. It's hard to pick highlights for a near-flawless album, but the driving "Hang On" is certainly one of those. With riffing that sounds like an upbeat version of a fast Black Sabbath tune, and Scott Hill's fun and smooth vocals, this one's a winner. The same can be said about other favorites like "Mongoose", "Squash That Fly", "Downtown in Dogtown", and the title track.

My very favorite though is probably the final track, "The Wasteoid". This mostly upbeat driving record ends with a more stoner-doom instrumental offering, which maintains the core sound of the album while adding a bit more grit. Also, there's a killer drum solo during the bridge before hearing the sole words spoke in a robotic voice, The Wasteoid.

Even if you're nowhere near a desert, there's no need to travel. Fu Manchu's desert rock/metal sound is sure to bring that atmosphere to you. If I just want to relax but still want something heavy, there's nothing better than bands like Fu Manchu, Clutch, and Monster Magnet to deliver on the front. Also, it's just damn good music for any mood, just pay the California Crossing and enjoy the ride. Hope you found this review helpful, feel free to comment!

Kingcrimsonprog Go For It… Live! Is a double disc live album from the Californian Stoner/Desert Rock band Fu Manchu, it was released in 2003 and features a career spanning twenty-two track set list that at least touches on almost every album and major EP that the band had released up until that point.

For Fu Manchu fans, this is a very strong release and the band put on a strong show, playing powerfully through many live favourites with a good sound quality and mix that manages to retain both the band’s trademark fuzz sound and convey their good-times attitude.

If you are to the band, this is a brilliant compilation to start with as it features a great many of the band’s finest songs all together in the one place.

Some fans don’t care for the polished production on the newer California Crossing album, or the rough production on their earliest two albums and on this album you can hear tracks from all eras of the band with a strong uniform production that really ties the whole career together nicely. Tracks like ‘Mongoose’ and ‘Squash That Fly’ sit seamlessly alongside tracks like ‘Ojo Rojo’ and ‘Tilt.’

Overall, Fu Manchu are a band that a sure to appeal to all fans of the Desert/Stoner sound, and this is a very well put together live album that is both a glorious affirmation for existing fans and a perfect starting point for newcomers.

Kingcrimsonprog If you listen to Stoner Rock music regularly then chances are that you have come across or at least heard of Fu Manchu quite often, and heard kind words said about this album. If you are new to the genre or band, then this is among one of the best albums that you could start your collection with.

In Search Of… was the Californian Stoner/Desert Rock pioneer’s third full-length studio album and saw an improvement in terms of the production job, as well as in the guy’s musical chops and vocal abilities. It was their final album before the line up shift that saw Ruben Romano and Eddie Glass depart and form the band Nebula.

With this album the band were much more freed from the Grunge movement that inspired their record deal, they were now writing their most Fu Manchu sounding material yet (arguably ever) and many of the songs from this record are timeless live favourites.

Tracks like ‘Asphalt Rising,’ ‘Regal Begal,’ and ‘The Falcon Has Landed’ should convince any potential fan whether or not this is an album and by extension a band, worth pursuing.

The music is full of fuzzed out guitar, big heavy riffs and yet laid back slacker vibes. There are musical throwbacks to the 1970s all around but done in such a way that could only exist in the 1990s. If you like Kyuss, Monster Magnet, Clutch, Dozer or any of the less Sludge-influenced Stoner bands out there then Fu Manchu are something you will more than likely love.

Often considered one of their very best, In Search Of… is a very strong and fun album that anyone with an interest in this type of music should pick up a copy of.