So why is The Hippos’ Heads Are Gonna Roll on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
When I first moved to California in late 1998, I spent a lot of time exploring my new town of Berkeley, in San Francisco’s East Bay. Inevitably, I’d end up at Amoeba Music on Telegraph Avenue, flipping through racks of CDs and cassettes, hunting for sonic treasures. Back then, stores like Amoeba didn’t really have listening stations, so sometimes you just gambled on cover art, band names, or the vibes alone.
One of those gambles was Heads Are Gonna Roll by a ska-punk outfit called The Hippos. I’m pretty sure I snagged the cassette from a bargain bin for about three bucks, and it turned out to be money very well spent: this is a fantastic late-’90s pop-punk-meets-ska record loaded with hooks and harmonies for days. And, come on — the cover alone, with the band in oddball retro haircuts and faux-’60s uniforms? Instant buy.
Ska’s brief “moment” in the mainstream music limelight was already in full fade by 1998, but I already knew at that point that I was a lifer, which originated with seeing early live shows by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Toasters, and The Scofflaws — all legends of third-wave ska.
So adding The Hippos to my rotation helped to round out my third-wave education, proving great ska can thrive in many different shapes and moods.
Heads Are Gonna Roll is the kind of album where there’s not really a right or wrong starting point, so I’ll just dive in with the first track: “Lost It” pops out as strong as anything here, with the organ producing a sound that set The Hippos apart from the average late-’90s ska-punk din.
“Wasting My Life,” with its irresistible organ riff and huge hook, might just be the album’s peak.
“Pollution” reminds me of what a central influence Weezer is on The Hippos’ sound. They’re nerd rock meets ska (pop) punk at heart, really. Which, yes please.
The only stumble is their take on Naked Eyes’ “Always Something There to Remind Me.” It’s fine, just unnecessary.”
Other than that small stumble, this is ska-pop bliss, a hidden gem that too few people have stumbled across.
Some stats & info about The Hippos – Heads Are Gonna Roll
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Third Wave Ska Revival, Alternative Rock, Ska Punk, Pop Punk, Rock Music, SoCal Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was Heads Are Gonna Roll released? 1999
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #560 out of 1,000
The Hippos’ Heads Are Gonna Roll on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Hippos’ Heads Are Gonna Roll that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Something in the way she never looks my way, I’m in love, I’m in love.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.