Customer Reviews

Blast Off!

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

 

 

Here's what it comes down to: Once you have kids, if you want to listen to music, you have to listen to what your kids want to listen to. In the car especially, I find that the choices are no music versus kids music. So it is worth your time to find kid's music that is palatable to adults. Trust me. Otherwise, you will be listening to Rafi or something like that.

Ben Rudnick and the boys are a fun bunch. They play fun bluegrassy music, complete with spacey, jazz jams, as well as other variants of poly-ethnic folksy variety (polkas, tex-mex, zydeco). My family had the luck of seeing them perform live at the Boston Commons at the Watermelon Festival, a subsidiary I guess of "Life is Good Festivals." It was a nice charitable gig, I don't actually know much about it but this is what it says on their web site: "Life is good Festivals help communities come together to feel good and do good. We donate 100% of festival profits to charities helping kids who face unfair challenges to rediscover joy and connection in their lives." The songs are amusing and playful for kids, but with enough for the grown-ups that the parental keenness is not a complete stretch. Isn't that the most you can ask for.

Doing a little self-promotion, Ben Rudnick announced at the Watermelon Festival that their new CD got four stars from DownBeat, "and that's the most they give unless you're Miles or Coltrane."

We get songs such as "Rocket Ship Man," which reads, in part, "It gets a little scary/ On the dark side of the moon/ The radio's not working/ Shadows fill the room..." ending with "When you look up at the stars/ In the old neighborhood/ Smile when you think of me// You know I'm feeling good."

There's the positive messages songs, "I Got A New Friend," and "Reading A Book." And the absurd "Juicy Black Fly" and "Why'd the Chicken Cross the Road."

Then there's my personal favorite: "Dads Can Dance," with the chorus "Dads can dance/ A little goofy but hive him a chance/ Dads can dance the whole night long/ Dads can sing/ A little off key but it don't mean a thing/ Dads can sing the night away..."

But, the best moments, on songs such as Martian Hoe-down, they will briefly break into an extended little jam, sometimes upbeat picking but occasionally loosening up and getting a little spacey, blasting off on harmonica, slide whistles, clarinets, banjos, cellos, mandolins, accordions and percussion from congas to castanets. Good times.

In deference to DownBeat, I'll give them 4 stars, but would throw in a half star of grade inflation if I could.

This is BR&F's best ever! Each time we get a new album from them, it is a quantum leap over the previous one, and Blast Off is no exception. The creativity and hard work that went into this album show in countless details of the music, lyrics and arrangements. It is all new material and current fans and new alike will not be disappointed with the variety.

I have given this CD to my friends with small children, and kids just can't get enough of it. Parents like it too because they get to dance all around the house :-)

As a classroom teacher and a mother of 2, I am always searching for good music. Blast Off is the third CD from Ben Rudnick and friends that is again well worth the money. The music and lyrics appeal to kids and adult ears alike. It is not often that I can find children's music that I can listen to over and over again. These are CD's children have requested to listen to repeatedly. Witty lyrics and sensational music!