| Honor Among Thieves | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Brandos |
| Cover: | Honor Among Thieves (The Brandos album).jpg |
| Released: | 1987 |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Label: | Relativity[1] |
| Producer: | Dave Kincaid |
| Next Title: | Gunfire at Midnight |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
Honor Among Thieves is the debut album by the American band the Brandos, released in 1987.[2] [3] The first single was "Gettysburg", which was a minor hit on radio and MTV.[4] [5] [6]
The album peaked at No. 108 on the Billboard 200.[7] The band supported the album with a North American tour that included stints opening for INXS, the Georgia Satellites, and the Cars.[8] [9] [10] Honor Among Thieves won a New York Music Award for the best independent debut of 1987.[11]
Most of the album's songs were written by singer Dave Kincaid, who also produced.[12] He strove to make the songs sound similar to each other.[6] Kincaid's slide guitar playing was influenced by his love of the Allman Brothers Band's At Fillmore East.[13]
Honor Among Thieves was mixed at Power Station, in New York.[14] "Strychnine" and "Walking on the Water" are covers of songs by, respectively, the Sonics and Creedence Clearwater Revival.[15] "A Matter of Survival" is about domestic abuse.[16] "Nothing to Lose" describes the possibility of death by murder.[17]
Newsday deemed the title track "a threatening tune with an interesting hook and some chords borrowed from that Tom Petty-Stevie Nicks classic, 'Stop Dragging My Heart Around'."[18] The New York Times determined that the Brandos "make sturdy, grim-spirited guitar-based rock in the mold of Creedence Clearwater Revival."[19] The Chicago Tribune labeled the album "tough, muscular, guitar-oriented rock 'n' roll with a kind of haunted-souls feeling to the vocals and guitar lines."
The Washington Post wrote that "this New York quartet has studiously fashioned its Americana-drenched sound and image."[4] The Boston Globe called Honor Among Thieves "an impressively rootsy album."[5] The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that "the music is quirkily original: Big, punchy song ... that for the most part achieve their elaborate ambitions." Trouser Press opined that "though too much of the band's material lacks real distinction, Honor Among Thieves is a generally impressive debut."[12] The Oregonian listed the album among the 10 best of 1987.[20]
AllMusic wrote that "the Brandos play with great verve on this strong set of compositions."