The Album Review Club - Week #196 (page 1316) - Aja - Steely Dan

Having enlisted the help of my wife, the good journolady last week to review the Pixies this week it was the turn of the (not so) juniorlud my 21 year old son. For some unaccountable reason he has a love of country music, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and he is currently obsessing with perfecting the finger picking style of Jerry Reed playing Dylan. Maybe it's the many hours he spends on the road delivering groceries for Ocado or maybe it's the even longer hours he spends on his truck simulator on the hot dusty roads of the good old US of A. I'm inclined to think though that it's just a recessive gene that is having it's day...

Not that we're listening to a country music album here. Are we? And if it is? I think I've been here before with my preconceptions about country not being for me and then circling back through a bit of Neil Young to say well, it could be, in certain circumstances.

My son didn't provide me with the level of analysis I'd like to provide for any pick on here and he did admit to "skipping a few tracks" and wasn't specific about his likes and dislikes but did give it a solid 7. He's just had a weekend away with his girlfriend and I suspect she might have scored it lower...

But they're not scoring it...

I think someone said about this album that he plays his aces early and that was certainly the case for me. Living With the Law and Big Sky Country I liked, thereafter it was a bit of a struggle if I'm honest. No problem with his voice and no problem with the production although I have no yardstick to measure it by. If anything I liked what I thought were some of the flourishes, if that is indeed what they were.

A comparison that I don't think is likely to be made often but in it's most engaging moments I got tinges of Jeff Buckley, both in the sound and in the voice although I don't think Whitley evokes as well as Buckley.

For me the album meandered after a strong start. Lyrically it was OK but also those kind of hard luck battle against adversity type of things are ten a penny in the musical canon but I can see where more knowledge of and investment in the back story helps bring resonance.

I'm a bit stuck on where to go score wise, I was veering towards a 5 but it's not a clunker which 5 or below would be. It just doesn't engage me. As my son got more out of it from me though I'll import a point from him, and go for a 6.

(There is an older juniorlud but he is unlikely to be co-opted onto this thread unless someone outs forward Kanye West or someone of that ilk. Country music and that rap stuff. They're good lads but they have a subtle form of rebellion!)
 
journolud said:
Having enlisted the help of my wife, the good journolady last week to review the Pixies this week it was the turn of the (not so) juniorlud my 21 year old son. For some unaccountable reason he has a love of country music, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and he is currently obsessing with perfecting the finger picking style of Jerry Reed playing Dylan. Maybe it's the many hours he spends on the road delivering groceries for Ocado or maybe it's the even longer hours he spends on his truck simulator on the hot dusty roads of the good old US of A. I'm inclined to think though that it's just a recessive gene that is having it's day...

Not that we're listening to a country music album here. Are we? And if it is? I think I've been here before with my preconceptions about country not being for me and then circling back through a bit of Neil Young to say well, it could be, in certain circumstances.

My son didn't provide me with the level of analysis I'd like to provide for any pick on here and he did admit to "skipping a few tracks" and wasn't specific about his likes and dislikes but did give it a solid 7. He's just had a weekend away with his girlfriend and I suspect she might have scored it lower...

But they're not scoring it...

I think someone said about this album that he plays his aces early and that was certainly the case for me. Living With the Law and Big Sky Country I liked, thereafter it was a bit of a struggle if I'm honest. No problem with his voice and no problem with the production although I have no yardstick to measure it by. If anything I liked what I thought were some of the flourishes, if that is indeed what they were.

A comparison that I don't think is likely to be made often but in it's most engaging moments I got tinges of Jeff Buckley, both in the sound and in the voice although I don't think Whitley evokes as well as Buckley.

For me the album meandered after a strong start. Lyrically it was OK but also those kind of hard luck battle against adversity type of things are ten a penny in the musical canon but I can see where more knowledge of and investment in the back story helps bring resonance.

I'm a bit stuck on where to go score wise, I was veering towards a 5 but it's not a clunker which 5 or below would be. It just doesn't engage me. As my son got more out of it from me though I'll import a point from him, and go for a 6.

(There is an older juniorlud but he is unlikely to be co-opted onto this thread unless someone outs forward Kanye West or someone of that ilk. Country music and that rap stuff. They're good lads but they have a subtle form of rebellion!)
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A 7 from a "youngster" - I feel like my work is done!
 
Soft rock/country vibe with a touch of late Springsteen especially 'Dust Radio' probably my favourite here - that last couple minutes is very good, the catchy 'Big Sky Country' has splash of Chris Isaak - enjoyed this one.
Impressive acoustic 'Phone Call from Leavenworth' probably the best lyrically also, 'Living with the law' and 'Poison Girl' the other stand outs.

Not sure why the production is so talked about so much, I mean, it's good but nothing out the ordinary.

Nice pick, nice listen, a few forgettable tracks here and there

7/10
 
I was expected/wanted to like this more than I did sadly. There is nothing wrong with it, but for me not a huge amount that jumps out and grabs me. The opening few tracks are okay, as others have mentioned. His falsetto tones really irritated after a few listens, and I think I would prefer it more if he just occasionally dropped these in and concentrated more on his ‘normal’ voice.
He clearly was a very talented music and I quite like his guitar playing, but I just wished sometimes he’d have let rip a bit more with some more extended solos. Whatever genre this is/was maybe extended guitar work doesn’t fit the style, but I think fundamentally the country vibe isn’t for me. If it were more bluesy with tales of leaving wives and dead dogs I may have got it a bit more.
That said, I appreciate the musicianship and it’s a solid 6/10 from me. Sorry Rob it just didn’t grab me. One man’s Revolver is another’s Doolittle I guess. Your review is still the best I’ve read though!!
 
GornikDaze said:
I was expected/wanted to like this more than I did sadly. There is nothing wrong with it, but for me not a huge amount that jumps out and grabs me. The opening few tracks are okay, as others have mentioned. His falsetto tones really irritated after a few listens, and I think I would prefer it more if he just occasionally dropped these in and concentrated more on his ‘normal’ voice.
He clearly was a very talented music and I quite like his guitar playing, but I just wished sometimes he’d have let rip a bit more with some more extended solos. Whatever genre this is/was maybe extended guitar work doesn’t fit the style, but I think fundamentally the country vibe isn’t for me. If it were more bluesy with tales of leaving wives and dead dogs I may have got it a bit more.
That said, I appreciate the musicianship and it’s a solid 6/10 from me. Sorry Rob it just didn’t grab me. One man’s Revolver is another’s Doolittle I guess. Your review is still the best I’ve read though!!
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I think the point about Chris Whitley was that he didn't want to be a run-of-the-mill bluesman. He didn't want to do the same as everybody else and play extended solos, he wanted to mix up styles.
 
I was going to call this one early as all of the regulars have voted.

Living With The Law saw 14 voters cast their beady (ears?) over Chris Whitley's debut at an average of 6.71.

OK @FogBlueInSanFran, you're on.
 
Thanks as always Rob.

I am sticking with my long-held guardrails of American bands and records not in the top 1,100 of the other thread.

I picked a release year unrepresented so far in our list, and as with Chris Whitley’s “Living With The Law”, we’ll stick with the West . . . well, sort of.

One of this band's records is in the most recent list of Rolling Stone's top 500 of all time (it used to be two on earlier lists), though not the record I have selected.

My record was this band's major label debut.

The band and album clues are below.

vintage-railroad-crossing-sign-circa-1960s-EF2YAC.jpg total-solar-eclipse-artist-rendition.jpg
 
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