The Album Review Club - Week #147 - (page 1942) - Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan

Thanks @bennyboy I really enjoyed this.

Not necessarily innovative but lots of great eclectic influences whilst still writing really good coherent songs. Can hear all sorts in there Byrds, Hank Williams, bit of Violent Femmes, occasional Michael Stipe vocal styling etc. They seem like the slightly more rocky cousin of some of the other acts who started on Postcard/Swampland and I understand they saw themselves as a bit different from them but equally tracks like Over the Side could easily have been a Roddy Frame pop hit.

Enjoyed Fun Patrol, Over the Side, Texas Lullaby and A Step Away from Home the most so far, but there are half a dozen songs on their that would have made decent singles and there was nothing I really felt the need to skip over. James King vocal style(s) a bit all over the shop at times and maybe the one thing that might have stopped them being big other than apparently being self-destructive piss heads.

I was going to give it 7/10 but have decided their use of I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry on the last track and the fact they admitted that "we mostly managed ourselves which, given what we were like, was like putting arsonists in charge of a firework factory" means they are getting an 8/10.

Definitely a case of what could have been, hope they are reconciled with how it went down and have enjoyed themselves anyway.
 
Lost Songs of the Confederacy – James King and the Lonewolves

Based on the title, I thought we were going to get a rich slice of Americana with Civil War stories, which would have been fantastic. Although the music is not what I expected, it’s still enjoyable and sounds like a breath of fresh air.

OK, as others have already noted, there’s nothing truly ground-breaking, but what is here is very listenable rock. The bass provides a fantastic groove, moving like a snake through a drum of oil, the guitars chime pleasantly and I like James King’s vocal style. The music seems to move from Scottish indie to 70s garage rock to 60s psychedelia with ease.

The first half of the album was a good listen without providing anything that was anything truly outstanding. Then the three-song run of “While I Can”, “(Un)happy Home” and “Pretty Blue Eyes” comes along, which is absolutely glorious. The two tracks that follow are pretty good too, giving the album a strong finish. If the rest of the album was up to this standard, I’d have marked it higher but as things stand, 7/10 feels about right.

Great choice @bennyboy. I’d never heard of James King or his band, but I really enjoyed this pick.
 
Ha Ha, I got excited and thought the same !

However great choice BB, I like this no skips best songs for me
Texas Lullaby, Pretty Blue Eyes and While I can,
I can hear lots of influences , Velvets,Stones ,Doors and they also remind me of a band called The Youngers in sound and vocals.

it’s an album I will play again.

solid 7
 
I'm very disappointed that there was no whiff of anything remotely Americana. What I got was an album full of the same arrangements with the same voice over and over again. And you know me and voices. On the quieter numbers like A Step Away From Home you can hear how bad his voice is. Texas Lullaby suffers a lot for this. A lot of the songs sound like they have been done in a pub singer style a la Vic Reeves.

Things I did like...the bass on Fun Patrol along with the mouth organ.

Did it grab me? Nope. Not at all. Would I listen again? Nope.

5/10
 
BimboBob said:
Did it grab me? Nope. Not at all. Would I listen again? Nope.
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You tend to say this a lot about most picks - yet your nomination (Sule Skerry) is probably the most slowest mundane Album nominated (I actually quite liked it) but still, I’m surprised you can have that as one of your favourite albums but seem to dismiss any album posted that is in that sort of category
 
BlueHammer85 said:
You tend to say this a lot about most picks - yet your nomination (Sule Skerry) is probably the most slowest mundane Album nominated (I actually quite liked it) but still, I’m surprised you can have that as one of your favourite albums but seem to dismiss any album posted that is in that sort of category
Click to expand...
An album has to grab me mate. That album I chose last time out had a few things going for it, where I bought it for one. It took me back to a time and place. This is also the joy of music...one man's love is another man's hate.
 
I'm really sorry -- vacation/family/work/City match in TX interference has not allowed me to get to this one the way I'd like :( It's a shame cuz I liked what I heard. Can give a half-rank of 7/10 after one quick listen but truly disappointed as I like to give @bennyboy picks a long, long listen, and a long review esp. after Drive By Truckers. It could be 6 or 8 on repeated plays -- but definitely above avg and rollicking.
 
Here we go - another unknown band, another band without any big hits and not even got a Wiki page … sigh, let’s give it a whirl

Ok ok… some nice melodies here

Another few listens later I am singing along to each and every song

What a superb album!

Just a real good blend of rock,pop,indie - Texas Lullaby and Bridgeton Summer (when those chords kick in) are slow beauties
Fly Away, Fun Patrol and Even Beatles Die all upbeat gems

Can listen to all this over and over

Great pick

9/10
 
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