Alive on Arrival

Steve Forbert | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000025DX
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #147,979 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "THE NEXT DYLAN?", February 8, 2000

By 

"craig_paul" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alive on Arrival (Audio CD)

No. But then again, nobody else has been either.

I saw Forbert in concert last week and decided it was time to revisit ALIVE ON ARRIVAL, one of the greatest debut albums ever recorded.

The songs are filled with pain, humor, optimism, truth. It has never failed to amaze me that someone so young (at the time) could write with such style.

This collection of songs, mostly dealing with the young Mississippian's foray into the seedier side of life in New York, is as good an album as anything in it's genre.

It is impossible to single out one or two songs as being any better than the others, as all are excellent. Perhaps "It Isn't Gonna Be That Way" proved to be prophetic. After Forbert's minor hit "Romeo's Tune," from his second album, Forbert became a faint memory to all but his die hard fans, a group of which I'm proud to be a member.

Steve Forbert has put out a lot of great music. It all started here.

Check it out. It's not too late to hear what you've been missing.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Album I've Ever Had, November 28, 1999

By 

June Dudley (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alive on Arrival (Audio CD)

I am 66 years old and I can truthfully say that this Album is one of my all time favorites. I have gone thru 3 records and still continue to like it. I now have a CD player and want to order it as well as another of his CD's. My daughter took me to a small club in Houston,Tex.to see this young artist she was wild about. I can say that"He blew me away".His voice, and guitar playing are among the best I have heard and I am"Hard to please".Of all his albums,(and I want all of them now on CD),"Alive on Arrival" is my all time favorite. I am listening to it right now.Steve Forbert deserves more recognition that he has gotten!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest debut album of all time?, August 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Alive on Arrival (Audio CD)

When you think of all the classic debut albums: The Cars, Elvis Costello, Led Zepplin, Rickie Lee Jones, The Clash, Talking Heads, Stones, Dylan, Van Halen, Gomez, Pearl Jam, Cream, Velvet Underground, not to mention the BIG five, Elvis, Beatles, The Doors, Hendrix, and Sex Pistols, you start to see how a quote like 'The Greatest Debut Album Of All time' can be a little hard to live up too. Well, at the time of this release, Steve Forbert was saddled with a quote almost as daunting. 'The New Dylan'-tag had stopped many careers from ever taking off in the early to mid-70's and had almost derailed Springsteen's (another great debut album). Steve Forbert's appearance, voice quality, song-titles, lyrical twist and harmonica arrangements do remind one of Dylan, but such unfair comparisons not only kept people from enjoying this album on its own merits, but doomed Steve Forbert's career for not being the artist we wanted instead of letting us discover the artist he is. Simply put, this is a GREAT album. From the opening harmoncia blast of 'Going down to Laurel' to the fun of 'What kind of guy' to the heartbreak of 'It isn't going to be that way', Alive on Arrival introduces the world to an immensley talented young man. And that's all anyone could ask or expect from a CLASSIC debut album. When you think of how fresh, and intense and wonderful this album is, it's a shame that most people only know Steve Forbert from the hit single Romeo's Tune, (from his second album) or the Cyndi Lauper video, (Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun--he's the guy in the tux) or, worse yet, one of the many young singer/songwriters who didn't live up to the The New-Dylan tag. Truth is, Steve Forbert is still putting out wonderful albums, and I doubt if he would like to think that his first album was his best. Many artist spend thier whole careers trying to create a work of this quality. For Steve Forbert, it was just the begining. That's what he should be remembered for.