The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Let’s Face It: #779 of best 1,000 albums ever!

Why is The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Let’s Face It on my best 1,000 albums ever list?

The impression that I get is that this is a rock solid collection of highly enjoyable alternative rock and pop- and punk-infused ska.

What does The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Let’s Face It mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?

I’m a big fan of The Mighty Mighty BossTones. Spoiler alert that you’ll see a number of their albums on the best 1,000 albums ever project. They’re kind of an important band to me and my musical education. There’ll be time to get into all of that.

So I suppose it’s interesting and a bit noteworthy that Let’s Face It, the band’s biggest selling album to date, is “lowest” on the best 1,000 albums ever list. I still dig it a whole lot, and it’s well worthy of being included in the project. Is it a little more radio-friendly and accessible to a broader audience versus their earlier output? Sure. But it also displays a level of sophistication versus the raucous hyperdrive of Devil’s Night Out, for example, and is a rock solid collection of highly enjoyable alternative rock and pop- and punk-infused ska.

“The Impression That I Get” is the most popular song the band has produced to date. It’s testimony to the band’s sense of humor that on the insanely great 1998 live album, Live from the Middle East, lead singer Dickie Barrett announces, “I think we know this f—ing song!” while the highly recognizable (and, at the time, highly overplayed) guitar riff and horns kick off.

“1-2-8” is by far my favorite song on Let’s Face It, partially because I got so into the (even better) version on Live from the Middle East. It’s the perfect balance of the hardcore punk meets ska punk from the band’s past, with a slightly more refined and reigned in pop sensibility.  

The title track, “Let’s Face It,” has that whimsical drinking song quality that shares a quality with past songs such as “Hope I Never Lose My Wallet.” But the lyrics are much more mature than we’ve seen in the past, calling for an end to racism and bigotry. The chorus culminates wonderfully with the lyrics:

Let’s try to erase it, it’s time that we face it
If we don’t, then who will? Shame on us  

Personal stuff that’s somehow related to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ Let’s Face It

The opening of “The Rascal King” has been used as the opening theme song of The Adam Carolla Show, a podcast I used to listen to for many years. So therefore it’s very hard for me to disentangle that rather good song from the long running podcast.

Carolla has a genuine genius for observing human behavior and making insightful comments in a way that’s often super hilarious. His improv bits with David Alan Grier (who has distanced himself from the show and Carolla in recent years) and Greg Fitzsimmons and Dana Gould and many others have made long commutes bearable and enjoyable.

But then Carolla started dipping his toes more and more into political topics. I tried to ignore this for a while, but it was difficult to. I began listening to the show less, and then finally when Dr. Drew Pinsky, his longtime co-host from his Love Line days (a terrestrial radio show I also have many fond memories of), downplayed the pandemic while covid began spreading rapidly, I made the decision to cut Pinsky and Carolla completely out of my media diet.