i dunno, his sense of humor seems really academic and leaden to me. i say this as a pretty big fan of his first 2 1/2 records.
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:39 (nineteen years ago) link
I also love his "Mae Jean Goes to Hollywood," done brilliantly by the Byrds...and I just heard a good version of it by Johnny Darrell, on this Raven Byrds-associated song comp called "Byrd Parts 2."
I mean, I think that's his best song ever.
Overall, though, not someone I go back to. I kinda think "Running on Empty" album is all right. He was on the road and all. I share Alex's wish to consign the Eagles to some eternal hell, though--even though I admit to liking "Take It to the Limit" and sort of halfway respecting some of what they did otherwise, like "Life in the Fast Lane," which is, uh, really well performed and recorded...
― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 16:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:31 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 May 2005 17:35 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:39 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:01 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:05 (nineteen years ago) link
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 27 May 2005 19:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Friday, 27 May 2005 22:46 (nineteen years ago) link
The other day I had a sudden, intense need to hear "Tender Is the Night" and "The Pretender" and maybe also "Rock Me on the Water" and even "Lawyers in Love." Just for grins I thought maybe I also needed "Running on Empty" as well.
Holy moley. The dude is catching some very specific range of Boomer middle-aged melancholy that I'm going to find irresistible for a week and then put back on the shelf for another couple decades, but don't harsh my mellow just yet.
I never want to hear "Doctor My Eyes" again but there are a few lyrics of his that I absolutely need to have exist. God sends his spaceships to America. I want to know what became of the changes we waited for love to bring. Looking into their eyes I see them running too. Tender are the hunters. Just make sure you've got it all set to go before you come for my piano.
The production values show some of the worst late-70s excess and bigness/slickness, but then he mostly stick to recognizable, basically timeless rock instrumentation--few synth drums, few sax solos--and it has some agreeable white-t-shirt purity to it. His voice can be too earnest and a bit laconic, but at the same time, the way he sings "the benediction of the neon light" and "now we've got all this room, we've even got the moon" charm me.
― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 01:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 02:29 (eighteen years ago) link
― prince rupert, Tuesday, 24 January 2006 02:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― stockholm cindy (winter version) (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 02:59 (eighteen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 03:28 (eighteen years ago) link
just yesterday a friend tried to convince me that Jackson Browne is better than Tom Petty. i wasn't having it, but i need to hear more browne
― jaxon (jaxon), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 06:04 (eighteen years ago) link
― retrogurl, Tuesday, 24 January 2006 07:49 (eighteen years ago) link
But yeah, "Tender Is The Night" is prolly my POO...
― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 19:08 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 19:27 (eighteen years ago) link
the albums are pretty uniformly excellent in my opinion all the way up through The Pretender
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 20:17 (eighteen years ago) link
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 21:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 21:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 01:47 (eighteen years ago) link
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Wednesday, 25 January 2006 05:18 (eighteen years ago) link
― derrick (derrick), Sunday, 22 October 2006 20:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 22 October 2006 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 22 October 2006 22:30 (seventeen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 22 October 2006 22:46 (seventeen years ago) link
― derrick (derrick), Sunday, 22 October 2006 23:04 (seventeen years ago) link
However, Springsteen's Tunnel of Love is his only album to approach the delicate filigrees of "In the Shape of a Heart."
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 22 October 2006 23:20 (seventeen years ago) link
Solo Acoustic is utterly wonderful - the live version of "Looking East" is terrific, the solo acoustic "These Days" is great, there really isn't an off moment in the set.
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 23 October 2006 00:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 23 October 2006 00:29 (seventeen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 23 October 2006 01:06 (seventeen years ago) link
I sure do. Note the tone of his vocal on "Downbound Train" -- it's almost querulous; the character can't believe things have gotten so bad for him. Browne's voice works for what he does -- it communicates the narcissism of his lyrics and the hermetic predictability of the L.A. arrangements -- but it also just sits there. When he's on, though, he's great; the only person I want to hear singing "Lawyers in Love" is Browne, in part because Browne probably hangs out with lawyers more often than Springsteen and thus knew whereof he spoke.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 23 October 2006 01:14 (seventeen years ago) link
this isn't true btw
once again however generally speaking I gotta agree to disagree with you Alfred
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 23 October 2006 12:47 (seventeen years ago) link
this could be a shorter post if I just said "me thinking Alfred's opinion is totally insane in an endearing kind of way" but I like hearing you unpack yr stuff
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 23 October 2006 12:55 (seventeen years ago) link
― is anyone anticipating the new Baaderonixx? (baaderonixx), Monday, 23 October 2006 13:24 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 23 October 2006 14:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 23 October 2006 14:26 (seventeen years ago) link
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 23 October 2006 14:29 (seventeen years ago) link
Is anyone still wondering about this? I'll explimacate it if necessary, but one hates to kill the magic and all.
― hearditonthexico (rogermexico), Monday, 23 October 2006 17:07 (seventeen years ago) link
"Late For The Sky" is indeed fantastic, but some of his later work is surprisingly good too. I would particularly like to mention "I'm Alive", which was his "breakup album", released as late as 1993, and which contains a lot of great songs.
― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 24 October 2006 08:49 (seventeen years ago) link
One underrated record is Lives In The Balance. He spent the eighties getting upset about US policy in central America, which isn't the best recipe for making timeless music. But that record has In The Shape Of A Heart, which is in his top 5, and Black and White, which is another excellent record.
And the solo acoustic thing is way better than anybody could have imagined.
― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Wednesday, 25 October 2006 00:30 (seventeen years ago) link
"the words had all been spoken / and yet somehow the feeling still wasn't right / so we continued on through the night..." sort of epitomizes what i'm talking about. that's a great opening line, but also sort of clinical, and the song doesn't really fulfill all its expectations,and i don't know what the clincher (the title phrase) means exactly.Is anyone still wondering about this? I'll explimacate it if necessary, but one hates to kill the magic and all.
― hearditonthexico (rogermexico), Monday, October 23, 2006 12:07 PM Bookmark
yeah, i'd like to know
― figuratively, but in a very real way (amateurist), Thursday, 31 December 2009 18:31 (fourteen years ago) link
me too.
― banjoboy, Thursday, 31 December 2009 19:48 (fourteen years ago) link
anyone?
― by another name (amateurist), Tuesday, 30 March 2010 10:16 (fourteen years ago) link
funny "Running on Empty" (the song) came up last night - strange how much I wanted to like this stuff 5 years ago.
― licorice oratorio (baaderonixx), Tuesday, 30 March 2010 10:47 (fourteen years ago) link
his live album with David Lindley this year, Love Is Strange, is pretty fucking great - I think in the absence of a producer with hunger & vision, his studio albums have really suffered (although I love his schtick so much that at this point I will even rep for "I'm the Cat" from Looking East), but his live records are just insanely good. his live singing voice - I don't know how they mic'd him on the last studio album, but it muffled him & made him sound tired; live, he's a little weathered, but singing with this sort of studied ease - enviable, awesome. and Lindley...I mean, cards on the table, we're from the same town so I know him some, but ask anybody, what an incredible musician he is.
― aerosmith: live at gunpoint (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Sunday, 19 September 2010 03:43 (fourteen years ago) link