Customer Reviews

All Out

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

 

 

This album is fun, it's a kick and an easy charm at the same time. This CD will complement very nicely Nils & Grin's other masterpiece, "1 + 1". This is easy to get into, a very accessible record listening wise, it should be released domestically again on CD so it is more accessible to the would be buyer. Nils fans, it is mandatory listening. Boy he had range; this one is so light-hearted for the most part throughout, but the man could be also be serious and heavy when he wanted to be (listen to Beggar's Day off of the Crazy Horse album - yes, I said Crazy Horse, a group he was once part of in his illustrious career). This may show you a side of Lofgren you hadn't reckoned on if you only know some of his solo work. This is rock and power pop trio at its most creative. Good times here listeners, this may become like an old friend. Grin as a whole and Nils deserved better, and this album in particular should be considered an essential part of a knowledgeable Lofgren fan's library.

i have owned several copies of "all out" since the time it hit the stores... each one met with an untimely death...i have been trying to replace it for years. this is a great album with nils lofgren at his best.

Grin were a great band, and this was a good record. After hearing and loving the first Nils Lofgren solo LP, I had to go back and get all these Grin albums that were not easy to find in the '70's. The original "All Out" album had a flip over mouth cover that was rare, but I found it. I didn't love every song, but "Love Again", "Love or Else" and "Ain't Love Nice" are still a few of my favorite ALL TIME songs. To me, nothing beats the emotion of the lead guitar fills in "Love or Else". I think "1+1" is the best Grin album, but those songs and "Direction" from their first LP are the best that Grin had to offer. I don't remember another artist that was on Spindizzy records.

Take two heaping handfuls of prime-era Stones records and a young hotshot guitarist; throw 'em in a blender, set the time machine for 1970 and move to Washington DC, and here's what you'd get: DC's best "almost famous" rock band before the promises of show biz broke them up.

All four of their albums are more like each other than themselves; stylistically, they're all over the map, chewing up rock, country, and R&B with equal enthusiasm. If anything distinguishes this album from the others, it may be that Nils was given a little more solo rein; the title track is largely carried by his barroom piano playing, and the final track "Rusty Gun" is really unequalled in rock music: a mini-Western for strident acoustic guitar, just as exciting to hear in concert as it is on this album.

Meanwhile, there's the simple good humor here: "Ain't Love Nice" has just the right balance of goofy fun and gentle satisfaction that befits such a sentiment. "Love or Else" is a fairly hilarious offer on its surface, though the music seems to take it a bit more seriously. "Heavy Chevy" is more gleeful, celebrating a young man's first car the way a young man would ("the back seat had a radio" he offers as clinching detail). "Don't Be Long" seems to be a country song sped up to hootenanny pace, with plenty of fast licks; dance to this one in boots. "Love Again" is another prime example of youthful joy and naivete, moving along at an easy tempo as Nils outlines a young man's life; we don't even realize how it's been building up until Nils cries out "pick it up!", and the band kicks into double time. Finally, how can anyone not love this line from "She Ain't Right":

"They don't call me 'good for nothing' / for nothing, baby ..."

Like the other three albums, ALL OUT has a couple weaker tracks ("Heart on Fire" goes on rather longer than necessary, and the opening track "Sad Letter" plods a bit to my ears); should this matter to you? Absolutely not. I doubt any Nils fan can deny that the Grin records rank among his best work, and no given compilation (or combination thereof) covers all the best tracks.

These albums are just about equal in their pluses and minuses, but some are "more equal" than others; ALL OUT may very well be best overall, so skip it at your peril. Better yet, play it loud!