In fact, there isn't a bad tune on this disc-which was supposed to be the band's breakthrough. Other great tunes include: "Bottle of Fur", "Tequila Sundae" and "Positive Bleeding". "Erica Kane" and "Heaven 90210" explore the band's cynical fascination with popular culture, and the twisted "Crackbabies" is a knock against tabloid news. The opener, "Sister Havana", is a fun rocker which paints a picture of Fidel Castro and his groupies cavorting on the beaches of Cuba-it was a college radio hit. Which is tragic, considering how good this album is."Saturation" is hard-edged pop for those who didn't know they liked pop (myself included). "Let's face it: if it weren't for their cover of Neil Diamond's "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon", which found its way onto the "Pulp Fiction" soundtrack, few people (myself included) would have ever heard of Urge Overkill. Here's hoping these guys reform, and that "Saturation" will soon be around and in print for others to enjoy." Only the funky, clean beat of the atypically gloomy "Dropout" veers from the straight-out, down-home riffage that makes this album such a true classic. Urge were definitely part of the rising apex of all those great guitar bands that led off the 1990's. "Sister Havana" starts things off with an absolutely irresistable riff, and the chorus - "girl you've got to rooooll!" sums up Urge Overkill's basic attitude throughout "Saturation." It's just somewhat of a mystery that these guys didn't explode into big-time popularity afterall, song after song on this album is loaded with meaty, catchy hooks, and sing-a-long lyrics everywhere. They reveled in their mostly unironic tunes, their fast image, and rough-and-tumble, refreshingly angstless attitude.
This was a 3-piece outfit with a sense of humor and great songwriting skills. Urge's major-label debut was premium guitar rock and roll, mostly upbeat, bright-sounding songs that somewhat clashed with the heavy grunge environment that infiltrated the times upon its release. "Am I reading this right? Is "Saturation" truly out of print? If so, that's a tradgedy. I was going to give it three stars, but have added a fourth because "Sister Havana" kicks so much fanny. To me, it has always seemed like a 6-track EP because the first half is so much better than the second. The CD is not "saturated" with great songs. It is a very noisey song with lyrics that are indecipherable (they almost sound backwards). There is also a hidden bonus track which scared the heck out of me one day when I didn't push "stop" after the CD ended and forgot about it. "Heaven 90210" is a slower rocker that is, again, a classic style. Anyone whose watched the show can relate to the line "you find yourself in such a mess." The high-pitched vocals at the bridge detract from it, however. "Erica Kane," about the All My Children character, of course, is a catchy rocker. The keyboards on it are unique, but it is kind of a weak-sounding song (well, it's about a dropout, so I guess that is appropriate). "Crackbabies," at first, sounds very cool with the simple opening keyboard notes and the driving verse, but I end up not liking it as the chorus is repetitive and annoying. Unfortunately, the latter half is not near as good. "Bottle of Fur" is a slower classic rocker similar to the Black Crowes.
"Woman 2 Woman" rocks hard but is also catchy, especially at the verses. It sounds like Tom Petty (in fact, Nash's vocals could be mistaken for Petty's here). It also sports some of Nash Kato's best vocal work. I'm not sure if this was ever released as a single, but it would have been another perfect choice. "Tequila Sundae" also kicks! Blackie O's drumming flies and the opening guitar riff really rocks! "Positive Bleeding" blends a heavy rock sound with a very catchy melody. Actually, there are other awesome tracks on Saturation. "Saturation is worth a spot in the CD case for the hit "Sister Havana" alone! Ever so often, I clean out my CD collection, and this one usually ends up in the "maybe" pile until I listen to "Sister Havana" again, and then it quickly goes into the "keep" pile.
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