Arizona Bay

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arizona Bay
Arizona Bay cover
Studio album by Bill Hicks
Released February 25, 1997
Recorded November 1992 - October 1993
Genre Comedy
Length 65:56
Label Rykodisc
RCD 10352
Producer Kevin Booth
Professional reviews
Bill Hicks chronology
Relentless
(1992)		 Arizona Bay
(1997)		 Rant in E-Minor
(1997)

Arizona Bay is an album by comedian Bill Hicks, posthumously released in 1997 through Rykodisc. It was released alongside Rant in E-Minor, marking three years since his death. The album's title refers to the hope that Los Angeles will one day fall into the ocean due to a major earthquake. Hicks, perhaps in jest, contends that the world will be better off in L.A.'s absence:

“ Ahhh, it's gone, it's gone, it's gone...All the shitty shows are gone, all the idiots screaming in the fucking wind are dead, I love it...leaving nothing but a cool, beautiful serenity called Arizona Bay. That's right, when L.A. falls in the fucking ocean and is flushed away, all it will leave is Arizona Bay. ”


Contents

[edit] The music

Several of Hicks's albums are unique in that they feature background music, meant to enhance the album's mood. Such additions were made well after the initial recordings and are the product of Hicks's own musicianship.[1]

Upon learning that he had developed cancer, Hicks used his time to mix music into Rant in E-Minor and Arizona Bay, calling it his Dark Side of the Moon. [2]

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Goodbye You Lizard Scum" – 3:52
  2. "Step on the Gas (L.A. Riots)" – 4:50
  3. "Hooligans" – 4:20
  4. "Officer Nigger Hater" – 5:27
  5. "As Long as We're Talking Shelf Life (Kennedy)" – 5:00
  6. "Elephant Is Dead (Bush)" – 1:57
  7. "Me & Saddam" – 3:10
  8. "Bullies of the World" – 1:22
  9. "Shane's Song" – 2:03
  10. "Dinosaurs in the Bible" – 5:45
  11. "Living God" – 1:05
  12. "Marketing & Advertising" – 4:38
  13. "Don't Talk for Me" – 1:40
  14. "Clam Lappers & Sonic the Hedgehog" – 3:02
  15. "She's Got a Broken Heart" – 1:09
  16. "Pussywhipped Satan" – 4:40
  17. "L.A. Falls" – 3:54
  18. "Elvis" – 8:05

[edit] Personnel

  • Bill Hicks - Guitar, Vocals
  • Kevin Booth - Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Producer

[edit] Pop Culture References to Hicks

The computer game Deus Ex, set in the mid-21st century, features a reference to an earthquake destroying Los Angeles in 2030 and creating Arizona Bay [3].

The band Tool released a song, "Ænema", from their album Ænima, which repeats the theme of Los Angeles being drowned in the Arizona Bay. The song includes the lyrics "Learn to swim, see you down in Arizona Bay." Bill Hicks has always been a heavy influence on Tool's albums:

"Who's that talking at the start of "Third Eye"? - That would be the aforementioned Bill Hicks; those are snips of comedy routines of his, from "The War On Drugs" (off his CD Dangerous) and "Drugs Have Done Good Things" (off Relentless). In fact, on his CD Rant in E Minor, he refers to the power that heavy doses of hallucinogens have to "squeegeed his third eye." [4]

Northern California punk outfit Rancid also referrences the idea in their song Antennas on their 2000 self titled album with the lyric "...and California will fall into the fucking ocean."

Bill Hicks discography
v • d • e
Official albums: Dangerous | Relentless | Arizona Bay | Rant in E-Minor | Philosophy: The Best of Bill Hicks | Love, Laughter and Truth | Flying Saucer Tour Vol. 1 | Shock and Awe | Salvation
Video: Sane Man | One Night Stand | Ninja Bachelor Party | Relentless | Revelations | Totally Bill Hicks | Bill Hicks Live
Other: Bootlegs | Bill Hicks: Slight Return