Green Jelly formed back in 1981 in New York. The band took on various cartoonish costumes in order to keep their identities unknown and anointing themselves as the world’s worst band. Originally known as Green Jello, the band was able to establish a core following and then signed on to ZOO Records as a “video only” band around 1988. They went on to release the video album Cereal Killer. The video album created quite a stir when MTV began spinning the video for “Three Little Pigs.” With a popular video hitting the mainstream, Green Jelly eventually released their first CD to go along with the video album calling it Cereal Killer Soundtrack. And of course, with fame comes those legal problems. The band was being hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit and forced to change their name, hence the new name Green Jelly.
The Cereal Killer Soundtrack, released in 1993, is a fairly simple form of pop metal. The band has been known to not take themselves so seriously; therefore don’t expect a musical masterpiece here. It is one for those who enjoy foolish and fun careless rock. What else can you expect with such song titles as “Misadventures of Shitman” or “Flight of the Skajaquada.” Green Jelly also takes the Sex Pistol’s punk anthem “Anarchy in the U.K.” and adds a twist with numerous references to The Flintstones. Without out a doubt, their enormous popularity faded fast after their success with “Three Little Pigs.” It is indeed a very humorous and catchy track. One track that does have its moments is “Electric Harley House (of Love).” The song “Trippin with XTC” hits a more funk vibe along the lines similar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Overall, it’s an okay album to pass the time for a little humor and uniqueness. It definitely does not rate up there with your heavy metal classics like Master of Puppets or Paranoid, but for some strange reason it’s just one of those albums that is a must have for rock music lovers and collectors. It’s somewhat of a cult favorite.
Green Jelly went on to release 333 in 1994, but was unable to capitalize on their success of their previous album. Over the many years, the band has gone through roughly 74 different members. They have remained active over the years on a more underground basis.
Source: http://www.rockrage.com/retrorage_archive/greenjelly.html
