Customer Reviews

Abnormal

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This was the first cd I got by Van Zandt. I was feeling down that night. One of those nights when you sit by the stereo with a bottle of red wine and lose yourself in your world; the world no one else can touch. With this album, Van Zandt lets you into his world. I'm a huge folk music fan, but had only heard of Van Zandt. When I got this album that night, it fit my mood like a perfect shoe. He writes dark, sad, introspective songs that are so real it's as if he pulled then out of Appalachian soil. On "Abnormal," those qualities reach a pinnacle. I dare say he never released an album as morbid, yet powerful as "Abnormal." It helped me get through that night and many otherlike it. It offers stunning, haunting versions of "Lung," "Dollar Bill Blues," "Waitin' around To Die," "A Song For," and plenty of other classics-live. It has always amazed me to hear the power one man and his guitar can possess. Since buying this album, I've bought many other Van Zandt recordings, and this remains one of my favorites. It was released just around his death. I believe this was the last live album, or album of any kind, that he released. It's one of his best, no doubt. If you are a new fan or seasoned Van Zandt lover, this is for you. The album's first track, a cover of the legendary song of the folk circle, "Coo-Coo," pulls you right into the bleak, lonely, drunken wasteland in which he lived. But somehow, he mixes those flavors into one masterful piece of work. Many reviewers have described van Zandt as a more down to earth Leonard Cohen. That is as true as could be, and on "Abnormal," there is just no denying the comparison. Buy this album, and prepare to be taken into a new universe.

I love the music of Townes Van Zandt and have a bunch of his albums, studio and live. This one has great song selection, stripped-bare production and you can just hear the pain in his voice on these songs. Heart-breakingly beautiful. Highly recommended for TVZ fans, probably not so much for those new to his music. Marie, Kathleen sequeing (sp?) into Waitin'Round to Die and Flying Shoes are my favorites but every song is good.

you've no clue about what 'two girls' is about but your other assessment of the album is well understood if not well said.

said track is about two different types of lovers (one you love with all your heart and one you do don't really know). the rest of the cd is similarly packed with twisted, but realistic stories, recorded live throughout europe. sound quality is really good, it's just mr. van zandt and his guitar; it's about an hour long. my first TVZ cd, still among my favorites.

For all the lovers of very main stream music this is not for you. This CD is a abnormal, in its themes and subjects and that is what makes it great.

My favorite songs on this CD are Two Girls about two daughters with extreme differences and how it effects a father, old shep is great song about a dog so sad that during the recording Townes's has to stop because he has hard time singing it. There a cover of the Stones Dead Flowers that rivals the orginal. I have heard so few songs as honest and complete in theme as WAting Around To Die. This rich music is so accoustic, so bluesy, so wonderously sad yet up lifting. Abnormal does not fit into a catogory. Yes this is an abnormal, but most treasures are.

The live performances on this album came towards the end of Townes' career. The audiences are enthusiastic, the performer responds. Listen to Blaze's Blues. What a show, with Townes rip-snortin drunk playing the acoustic like a bulldozer.

Every song on this album is fantastic, it's an album that you can listen to from start to finish. Townes definitely deserves accolades like artists including Bob Dylan, Frank Black, and <insert your fav songwriter here>. The songs are often dark.

Take the song Marie, about a man down on his luck, no job, and kicked out of the homeless shelter. But he's got his Marie. And she's got his son, inside of her. And then Marie is dead. He leaves her beside the railroad tracks, and knows Marie would understand that he has to be on his way.

I can't recommend this album enough. You should buy it.