ALBUM SPOTLIGHT
SAM KINISON
“Live From Hell”
Priority
* 1/2
It’s bad form to kick folks when they’re down, but since Sam Kinison himself reveled in it, what the heck.
Recorded six months before his death in April, 1992, “Live From Hell” is an anemic, dated finale. Kinison’s trademark rage feels manufactured here, with material more than ever relying on volume more than wit. He wallows in his unfocused, misinformed phobias, lamely skewers easy targets and shrieks pointlessly at someone giving him a time cue.
Most perplexing is his attack on rappers who sing simple-minded songs about sex, given that most of his routines (including those five minutes before and after this bit) featured simple-minded jokes about sex.
New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).
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