{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Billy's Live Bait | type = Album | artist = Gear Daddies | cover = BillysLB.jpg | alt = | released = 1990 | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Rock, country rock | length = 35:54 | label = Polygram<ref name=MH/> | producer = Tom Herbers, Gear Daddies<ref name=MH/> | prev_title = Let's Go Scare Al | prev_year = 1988 | next_title = Can't Have Nothin' Nice | next_year = 1992 }} '''''Billy's Live Bait''''' is the second album by Austin, Minnesota band the Gear Daddies, released in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gear-daddies-mn0000076444/biography|title=Gear Daddies | Biography & History|website=AllMusic}}</ref> It was their first release for a major label.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sctimes.com/story/entertainment/music/2016/11/16/gear-daddies-prepped-once-again-rock-red-carpet/93639726/|title=Gear Daddies prepped to once again rock the Red Carpet|first=Melissa|last=King|website=St. Cloud Times}}</ref>
"(I Wanna Drive the) Zamboni" is often played at hockey rinks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/martin-zellar-1798229764|title=Martin Zellar|website=Music}}</ref>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/billys-live-bait-mw0000309617|title=Billy's Live Bait - Gear Daddies | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref> |rev2 = ''Entertainment Weekly'' |rev2score = B−<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/1991/01/11/billys-live-bait/|title=Billy's Live Bait|website=EW.com}}</ref> |rev3 = ''MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide'' |rev3score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=1267}}</ref> }} AllMusic called the album "sometimes poignant and often humorous."<ref name="auto"/> The ''Chicago Reader'' called it "terrific," writing that, compared to the debut, "the record is less naive, has more shape, and rocks out more confidently."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/gear-daddies/Content?oid=876786|title=Gear Daddies|first=Bill|last=Wyman|website=Chicago Reader|date=13 December 1990 }}</ref> ''Trouser Press'' wrote that "the quartet upgrades its sound and rocks more forcefully, with [Martin] Zellar and [Randy] Broughten bouncing guitar rhythms off one another."<ref>{{cite web |title=Gear Daddies |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/gear-daddies/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=22 February 2021}}</ref> The ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote: "Though often as dark and unsettling as ''Al'', ''Billy'' is more outward-looking, less concerned with small circles."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-12-14-9004130753-story.html|title=THE GEAR DADDIES: FROM SMALL TOWN TO MAJOR-LABEL DEAL|first=Chris|last=Heim|website=chicagotribune.com|date=14 December 1990 }}</ref> The ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that "the Gear Daddies' basic, garage-rock style is brightened by a touch of country-music color and twang, but the heart of the quartet's vision is in the passionate, liberating edge of Zellar's songs and in the warm, almost conversational tone of his vocals."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-11-ca-5829-story.html|title=Gear Daddies Have a Liberating Vision : Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five (a classic).|date=November 11, 1990|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
==Track listing== #"Stupid Boy" #"Sonic Boom" #"Wear Your Crown" #"Don't Look at Me" #"Time Heals" #"Gonna Change" #"No One's Home" #"Color of Her Eyes" #"Goodbye Marie" #"One Voice" #"(I Wanna Drive the) Zamboni" (Hidden track)
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:1990 albums Category:Gear Daddies albums Category:Country rock albums by American artists
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