WESLEY WILLIS & THE DRAGNEWS
GREATEST HITS VOLUME 3
ALTERNATIVE TENTACLES

 

There are very few times when I am at a near loss for words, especially when it comes to music. But after listening to Wesley Willis & The Dragnews’ Greatest Hits Volume 3, I was stumped. With exception of “Love God”, every one of the CD’s 25 tracks is centered around Willis’ amateurish Casio keyboard theatrics and his off-the-wall musings on everything from McDonalds to inane subjects such as performing fellatio on a pitbull.

Needless to say, Willis’ story is one of intrigue, but it is also one of triumph and sadness. A veteran street performer from Chicago, who suffered from schizophrenia, Willis used music as a vehicle for expressing his frustration about his illness. It was a re-occurring theme in his body of work; some estimates quote more than 50 albums recorded over a span of 10 years. Most were released independently, but two of them, 1996’s Fabian RoadWarrior and Feel The Power, released that same year, were on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label. Poor album sales caused him to be dropped from the label in 1997, but nothing stopped the garrulous rocker until he was diagnosed with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia in late 2002. Wesley Willis passed away earlier this year.

His former band, The DragNews, released Greatest Hits Volume 3 in October as a tribute to their eclectic front-man. Long time friend Jello Biafra was quoted in Rolling Stone Magazine as saying, “Wesley will go down as one of the most unique songwriters and entertainment personalities in history.” You can’t help feeling a slight bit of pity and admiration for Willis, but in all honesty, Greatest Hits Volume 3 is mediocre if not down-right awful, just like most of his material.

Key elements to look out for on the album are random and excessive usage of the phrase “Rock Over London, rock on Chicago”, sporadic and often badly timed tempo changes and amateurish, synthesizer fill-ins and frequent references to “hell rides”, his code word for schizophrenic episode. And of course, nonsensical tirades about a wide range of issues.

If you able to get to the aforementioned “Love God” (Track #10) you’re in for a decent experience. Despite Willis’ claims of being a rock artist, this is the only pure rock song on the CD. The guitar riff is nothing special, but it rocks enough to make you want to bob your head a bit. And for a change, Willis’ screaming actually makes sense, as far as its timing goes anyhow. Most everything that follows, unless you’ve chemically altered yourself, is difficult to listen to. “Gingerbread Knocked Me Out” has an interesting 1980s goth, synth-pop vibe and “Suck a Polar Bear’s Dick” features some interesting melodies and voice effects, but they’re hardly worth listening to the whole way through.

If music helped Wesley Willis deal with his schizophrenia, I’m happy. Anyone who is that proactive in trying to help themselves should be applauded, but from a purely musical standpoint I wouldn’t recommend Wesley Willis & The Dragnews’ Greatest Hits Volume 3 to anyone.

----Eric V. White