Customer Reviews

Against the Grain

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Rory Gallagher is the only musician for whom I am an unapologetic evangelist. Is he the best guitarist, the best showman, the best songwriter, the best singer? No, but he was one of the best all-around practicioners of blues-based rock. This is arguably his best album and I consider Side Two of the original album the best side of any of his LPs. I was disappointed that the guitar intro to "All-Around Man" was changed in the remastered product, but that's my only complaint. This album contains some of my favorite Rory songs, "Lost at Sea," "I Take What I Want," "All-Around Man," "Out on the Western Plain," and "At the Bottom." I agree that this was a transitional LP in Rory's solo career, marking a slight style change from his previous work. I never get tired of listening to "Out on the Western Plain," one of my top 3 Rory songs ("Crest of a Wave" and "Sinner Boy" being the other two). If you're new to Rory, this is one CD you must have (lots of people tout his live work over his recorded stuff, but I'm not one of them).

First, I want to comment on the reviewers who give this a one star rating based on what they claim is bad mastering. I no longer own this on LP (though I did at one time), but from the tone of the two reviews blasting the mastering, you would imagine that this was an unlistenable disc. That is an absurd claim. Having not compared the LP and the CD side by side, I can't speak on which is superior, but I will state categorically that no one not doing such a comparison would suspect that the CD is badly mixed. Dropping this from five stars to one based on some slight differences in recording quality is simply absurd.

No one need be afraid of this disc, and I can promise that anyone unfamiliar with Gallagher or this album will be astonished upon listening to it for the first time. Of the guitar gods of the sixties and seventies and eighties, Gallagher remains the least known. Gallagher's curse was that he was an extremely great guitarist, but only a very good songwriter and singer. Upon the departure of Mick Taylor from the Stones, it is rumored that Gallagher was approached to join the band. If true, the possibilities are tantalizing. Gallagher was not merely a better guitarist--whether slide, pick, or acoustic--than Keith, Brian Jones, Mick Taylor, or Ronnie Wood, but was a powerful performer in his own right. Much like Taylor did in his stint with the band, Gallagher, much more firmly rooted in the blues than Wood, would have kept the band focused much more on its roots, and he possibly could have made the Stones the world's greatest rock and roll band than they ended up being. Can you imagine what he would have been able to do on a song like "Tumbling Dice"? Gallagher was also nearly as strong a vocalist, with greater range, than Mick Jagger. It is one of the great could-have-beens in the history of rock.

Gallagher's musical skills are simply off the chart. There are only two musicians in all of rock that are, as far as I am aware, capable of both singing and playing a lead guitar part at the same time. Jimi Hendrix was one, and Gallagher the other. Though Gallagher wasn't the visionary that Hendrix was or as gifted lyrically on his guitar as either Hendrix or Richard Thompson, he can make his guitar sing like few in the history of rock. This disc is filled with a host of amazing moments where Gallagher makes his guitar an extension of himself, expressing his voice as easily with his instrument as others can their voices. With Gallagher he and his guitar are one. Just listen to the way the guitar counterpoints his singing in "Ain't Too Good," or the astonishing slide guitar throughout "Souped Up Ford," the latter featuring some of the greatest playing in all of Gallagher's catalog. Indeed, the only rock performer I know who surpasses Gallagher on on slide guitar is Duane Allman(check his slide work on "All Round Man"). And lest one think Gallagher's playing depends on doubletracking, I strongly urge them to pick up one of his live albums.

As much as I love Gallagher, his songwriting, while strong, is not usually quite up to the level of his playing. This album, however, contains one of the strongest set of songs of any album, perhaps not up to the level of his best album TATTOO, but among the best after that. And I'm not sure he has ever played better than on this one. There is also a wonderful blend of styles and change of pace. For instance, right after "Souped Up Ford," which is pure adrenaline, he moves into the more deliberate "Bought and Sold." Later we get a slow blues with "All Round Man," a lyrical number in "Lost at Sea," and towards the end a magnificent version of Leadbelly's oddball Western song "Out On the Western Plain," with some of the most deliciously fanciful lyrics in the history of American music ("What was the greatest battle ever on the Western plains?/When me and a bunch of cowboys ran into Jesse James").

Any fan of rock, blues rock, or great guitar needs this album. And I promise you that not one in a thousand music fans will complain about the sonic quality of the album.

Like so many people I replace favorite vinyl with the new C D
versions-REMASTERED! EXTRA BONUS CUTS! This is one of my all-time favorites but somehow the record sounds much better! The vocal on Souped-up Ford makes me cringe. On the old vinyl release the vocals were more in the background-where they needed to be. I've never noticed such a change for the worse in any other updated C D I've bought. Am I the only one who noticed this?

This is what I would call one of Rory's definitive albums which are the only 5 stars I award to artists. Of course, the difficulty lies in that all of Rory's albums are good and picking a favorite is difficult. However, I seem to identify Rory's albums grouped in three phases of sound. All of the albums up to this point seemed to be more acoustically and raw blues driven while starting with this album they began to be more rock/blues oriented. This phase lasted through the Stage Struck album which to me seems to be his heaviest. The last phase being the 80's and beyond of which the rock sound comes even more to the forefront as common with the times. Jinx is probably the best example of that phase. Each album has its gems and Against the Grain doesn't disappoint. Personal favorites here include Lost At Sea, Out On the Western Plain, and At The Bottom. Usually, bonus tracks on artists' discs don't seem to add much, but those put on these Rory discs contain some great tracks. If you're wondering about a first Rory album to start with, this is a good choice.

I have waited a long long time to get this cd. it was reviously only available on import at a very pricey rate. I love this album. I love hard driving strat blues rock and this is it. It starts off raging with Let me in. Throws in some nice slide solos, blues, acoustic and HARD DRIVING ROCK AND ROLL. This is an absolute favorite. I also have Callin Card and Irish Tour but those are not nearly up to this standard. Do yourself a favor and sample this one!

This mix and EQ are all out of place on this re-mastered CD. It doesn't sound like the old Crysalis LP or the Castle CD that came out in 1991.

The vocals are WAY too out in the forefront and the bass is overmodulated, giving the tracks a decidely (in my view) mixed edge. Since I grew up with how the LP was mixed, that's the way I expected it to sound, again.

Somebody told me at one of the Rory Gallagher websites that Donal, Rory's brother, couldn't find the masters and had to pick the tracks from different sources. But if he only went to the tapes the Castle CD used, you would get a more true representation of how 'Against the Grain' sounded when it was first released.

I'm just going to hold on to the old Castle release and skip this BMG/Buddah reissue. Even if it does have some bonus tracks that are good, it pains me to hear the original album mixed the way it is.

If you are a Rory fan or have an interest in 70's blues based progressive guitar rock this album is essential. Rory, along with The Groundhogs Tony McPhee, and Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green were the best in this genre. Actually Rory was the most energetic performer of them all. I picked this up after seeing an excellent BBC video of him performing some of these tunes back in the good ole days. "Bought And Sold", "All Around Man", "Take What I Want", and his cover of Lead Belly's "Out On The Western Plain", are my personal favorites.

this album is my favorite. i waited a long time to get it. this is rory at his best form. listen to the samples. hear any better? every blues rock and roller should have this one, every blues rock and roller.

listening to much rory lately , and compared to song remains the same , rory's live performances far surpass page at every level , in clarity tone and technique

As a long-time fan of Rory Gallagher and owner of all his albums on original vinyl, I was excited to see his catalog remastered and reissued by Buddha Records with extra bonus tracks. The first few CDs I bought sounded great: Deuce, Photo-Finish, Irish Tour. Then I bought this one, Against the Grain (one of my personal favorites)... and was shocked to hear how awful it sounds! It is absolutely the worst CD remix of an album that I've ever heard, and sounds nothing like the vinyl. Rory's vocals are brought out in front (and yet somehow manage to sound less powerful), and the original hard-edged guitar sound is buried in a muddy mess. Worst of all, some of the CD-version songs actually contain different guitar lines (intro to All Around Man) and deleted vocal verses (Ain't Too Good)! There must be some good reason behind this- I don't believe Rory's brother Donal can possibly be happy with this CD, on which he is the executive producer. Maybe the original master tapes are lost, as another reviewer has suggested. In any case, I can't listen to the CD without cringing- but that's mainly because I know what it's supposed to sound like. Even the horrible mix can't completely ruin the inherent greatness of these songs. The bottom line is, if you can get your hands on a pristine copy of the original Against the Grain in vinyl, do it and count yourself extremely lucky! And if you can't, be warned that this CD is far from the best reproduction of Rory Gallagher's amazing talent.