I’m not sure if I’m missing anything, but I only have one version of “Ain’t Got Much Time,” a live take from the Extended Hyper Midget Tour dated 2001/11/29. Although never released, it’s even shorter than the recently-discussed “Space Rock,” beginning and ending in a lean 100 seconds. The lyrics are typical Maladroit era excrement — “Why can’t you get me on the line? / I swear to you I ain’t got much time” — and the hard rock-lite riff before the verse is a bit clunky. But the verse’s three-part vocal harmony is pretty awesome, a bit like the classic Beatles intro to the forgotten Weezer gem “O Girl.” From there, the trim chorus has some nicely interwoven lead guitar and vocal melody, and the bridge features some good vocal interplay between Brian Bell and Cuomo. In this context, those metallic riff breaks (and the shredding solo) actually kind of work — even the lyrics feel more forgivable. With a little work, this could have been something; as it is, “Time” is still better than most of the album that passed on it.
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