Customer Reviews

Born Again

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

 

 

In the liner notes for the recently re-issued "Ragtime" sountrack, Newman makes a confession: "I made 'Little Criminals' when I ran out of money and had to work". From that point on, Newman's albums contained production that more or less reflected the era. 1977's "Little Criminals" sounds like an album from 1977 (of course, having members of the Eagles perform backing vocals emphasized this to a hyperbolic degree). "Born Again" sounds like an album from 1979, and its follow-up "Trouble in Paradise" sounds like a 1980s album, and so on up until 1995's "Faust". This isn't to fault Newman at all, but merely to point out that Newman's music took a not so subtle production turn in 1977, for better or worse. Perhaps Newman allowed the record labels to have more control over his product purely out of necessity? Regardless, Newman's albums didn't suffer much, if at all, from the more mainstream production they received throughout the 1980s.

The extreme synthesizer that invades some of the tracks on "Born Again" may shock some who only know Newman's earlier work. It's not bad or unlistenable, just jarring at first. "Born Again" departs from Newman's previous efforts in many ways, and the synthesizer presents only one example. The almost complete lack of orchestra is probably the second most salient change. Newman hadn't abandoned orchestra to this extent since 1970's "12 Songs". That may have been a money saving move (orchestras aren't for the frugal) or Newman simply wanted to experiment with synthesizer as an alternative. Either way, its absence shapes the distinctive sound of "Born Again".

The opening track, "It's Money That I Love", justifies the existence of the entire album all by itself. It's one of Newman's best songs (he included it on 2003's "The Randy Newman Songbook Volume 1"), though the heavy synthensizer may make some recoil at first. In "Mr.Sheep" Newman paints probably the cruelest portrait ever of another human being. The narrator of the song jeers and sarcastically insults "poor Mr.Sheep" to a painful degree. Be prepared to cringe. "Ghosts" is a classic Newman ballad. It would fit nicely in any of his best albums. The song evokes the question "are these ghosts still alive or not?" Newman takes on intolerance to homosexuality for the first time in "Half a Man". And then there's "Pants". It features the most obtuse and obnoxious synthesizer on the entire album. But it's really really funny. It may be one of Newman's funniest.

It's not too hard to see why many consider "Born Again" to be one of Newman's worst albums. In it Newman experimented, played with his style, and diverged somewhat from his previous albums. Newman fans will still love it nonetheless. It represents the turning point for Newman's projects that ended with 1999's amazing "Bad Love". Can this phase be explained by the aforementioned simple confession that Newman had to start working? Hard to say. Either way his fans still benefitted.

"Born Again" is Randy Newman's follow-up to "Little Criminals" and it's big hit single, "Short People." It continues in the same vein as "Criminals," in that the songs are set against a more '70s rock backdrop. At the time of it's release, it was dismissed by critics (and Newman himself who called it simply a "comedy record") who accused Newman of pandering to a younger demographic with more "Short People"-esque lyrics designed to "outrage." Looking back, the album is not really that bad at all. The worst one can say is that Randy's targets this time out are a bit obvious (corporate drones, pretentious rock bands, etc.) and that the whole affair, while containing his typical sardonic lyrics, lacks the poignancy and warmth Newman often brings along with the biting humor. But, even weaker Newman contains fine music and a couple of guffaws. It may not be "Sail Away" or even "Bad Love," but how many albums are? If you like Randy, you will like this title. If you're just discovering him or only know him from his work on soundtracks, start elsewhere ("Sail Away," "Good Ol' Boys") and work you way towards this title. All in all, a pleasant offering from one of the great singer-songwriters of his generation.

From the opening chords of Sail Away in which Randy Newman translates the deplorable and tragic conditions of the Atlantic Slave Trade into a Travelogue worthy of Arthur Frommer, it was perfectly clear that Newman not only reveled in his reputation as a musical shape shifter (comfortable in any musical genre) but was unafraid to speak the unspoken and bring real truth to power.

Fast forward seven years and we arrive at one of Newman's most maligned recordings, 1979's Born Again - a misunderstood, minor release that has him uncomfortable in the rock star afterglow of his out of nowhere ride to the top 40 on the stubby little legs of his novelty hit, Short People. As a follow-up, an artist as mercurial as Newman would probably be repulsed by a "slightly taller people" sequel and go completely out-of-body - embracing and experimenting with synthesizer and electronic orchestra laden production techniques that were so prevalent in the popular muzak of the time.

Consequently, every song on this pristine recording is written from his world-weary comfort zone - the money chase, suburban conformity, homophobia and imbecilic exhibitionism are all cleverly ridiculed and lacerated under Newman's jaundiced eye and set to music against a late 1970's wall-of-sound that might have been de rigueur for Boston or Kansas but unintentionally hilarious when set against Newman's sardonic landscape.

For those who cry foul due to some very pointed and cruel lyrics - you are undoubtedly not listening to the personal soundtrack of the modern 13 y/o - where f-bombs explode like Chinese pyrotechnics and misogyny flows like Red Bull. By comparison Born Again seems almost quaint but is nevertheless tough, trenchant social commentary. If you were expecting Short People II, put that dwarf down and pick-up one of Randy Newman's most unheralded (and enjoyable) releases. A mini masterpiece that is still capable of hitting a nerve today! Highly recommended.

Yes, I'm a Randy Newman fan. I had all of Randy Newman's studio vinyl between Sail Away and Land of Dreams. But this was the first CD of his I bought.

Okay, the synthesizers indicate when this album was recorded. But c'mon, folks -- get over it!! There is more wit and melody on this album than you're gonna find most anywhere else. And some fabulous chord changes (notably on Mr. Sheep).

It's Money That I Love was too risquée for top 40, but it's hilarious. Story of A Rock & Roll Band is a brilliant send-up of ELO. William Brown and Ghosts are as poignant as anything else Mr. Newman has written shy of In Germany Before the War. ...

I could go on, but just buy the album and enjoy.

No, it's not as eloquent as Sail Away or Good Old Boys. And there *is* one track, Half a Man, that I think is less than weak. But it's still a Randy Newman album -- and if you're still reading this, then there's probably more on this album for you to enjoy than on most others.

This is one of my favorite Newman albums. Mr. Sardonic is at his best here, from the album cover(a comment on the success of Little Criminals), to the very last song. Favs include The story of a rock and roll band(a tribute to ELO)Pretty Boys, William Brown, and Half a Man. Extremely under-rated, it's a must have for fans of Randy Newman.

Randy Newman / Born Again: "It's money that I love" is prototypical tongue-in-cheek Newman, and very funny. Randy follows that with a unique song in which one artist tells the story of another band (E.L.O), also very funny. Then we have 8 tracks that are great examples of Newman's usual songwriting talent, but they seem tame compared to the first two songs, and the last. That last song is his musical threat to get naked, "Pants". This is a 4 ½ worthy album, but I'll give it 5.

This is "classic" Randy Newman. Before he became a movie soundtrack retread, before he soldout, before all his music sounded the same, THIS is what Randy Newman was about. Musical uniqueness with far better humor than he has today.

I have always found this album to be as playful in its nature as Mr. Newman has ever gotten. His self-parody on the cover says it all. And no particular strata of society is picked on. It's almost as if he's written songs about what he saw in the paper one morning. Spies, gay truckers, English rock bands, sheepish men, exhibitionists, silly rich people, a man telling about the women in his life, etc. Just random stuff. When you listen the songs compliment each other so well that the cd ends well before you are ready. As ever, the sound and musicianship is top notch. "Half a man" makes me smile every time I hear it. The picture he paints in my mind is truly hilarious.

Born Again is definitely a "really like it" or "couldn't stand it" kind of album. For the record, I really like it. It's Newman's oddest record. In listening through the album several times recently, I came to the conclusion that Randy is thumbing his nose at his core audience with many of these songs - the hipsters who "got" what Newman was about.

He does this through the use of abrasive, almost rasberry like synthesizers and backing vocals that can throw a whole song off kilter. "It's Money That I Love" does this in a few spots, and to be honest I think it detracts from the song. It's a great cut nonetheless. He does a similar minor sabotage effort on "They Just Got Married" by adding ad-lib lines like "Oh, No...what's going to happen to her?"

"Ghosts" and "William Brown" are both classic Newman ballads, quiet and letting the sparse instrumentation frame the great lyrics (especially Ghosts).

"Pretty Boy" is a harrowing take on machismo, with instrumentation to match. You can almost feel the violence emanating from the protaganist.

I enjoy "Spies" "The Women in My Life (Part One)", and "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band" even if the latter is a little over the top. And though it's fun, it blurs the line between the usual detachment he has on his songs. This can be a little disorienting - is he really attacking ELO? Not that I really care one way or the other, but it's more personal and a bit more mean-spirited than anything he recorded before.

So we have 8 solid entries, but then there are the three songs that undoubtedly turned off a huge number of people: If the ELO song is mean-spirited, what about "Mr. Sheep"? Cruel to the point of being unfunny and generating not even a minor sliver of empathy for the character singing the song. I suppose it's a caricature of your classic junior high school bully grown up. "Half A Man" is a more interesting but in retrospect seems to be a misguided effort. And then there's "Pants". When the wild swirling music at the beginning settles down to the subject at hand, it's the crowning thumb in the hipsters eye - reinforced with the leering "Will you take off my pants?" near the end of the song.

For those who listened to this record once and gave up, I'd recommend another try. Anyone who likes Newman should also listen to this if only for "It's Money That I Love", "Ghosts", and "William Brown".

One of the most mainstream sounding albums in Randy Newman's discography is also one of his wickedest. "Born Again" found Newman startled by the fluke success of Little Criminals and managing a hit single with the controversial "Short People." While Newman had found success as a songwriter (everyone from Harry Nilsson to Three Dog Night had made his songs into hits), the unlikely stardom shifted his focus. As a result, this is the most "rock" oriented of his wide selection of albums.

Newman takes aim at the excess of seventies rock and let loose with both barrels. From the Pseudo-Gene Simmons face paint of the cover to the biting opening track "It's Money That I Love," wrapping up with the bizarrely flamboyant "Pants," sex and drugs and rock and roll are all here. There's also one of his best satirical rock songs here, the Electric Light Orchestra goof "Story Of A Rock and Roll Band." It is probably the least rancorous song here, actually coming off as gentle parody.

But there is something else here, and it drags my rating down by a star. Newman gets downright mean-spirited on a few of the tracks here, with songs that sound like they sacrificed bite for bitterness. In particular, the homophobic "Half a Man" and "Pretty Boy" are crude jokes that even the guy who wrote "Short People" should have known better than to lay down on tape. The condescending "Mr Sheep" is little better.

There's still enough of the classic Randy Newman observational wit on "Born Again" to keep it from total fiasco-ville. "Ghosts" and "William Brown" are the kind of sketches that Newman excels in, all narrative without the dripping venom, sarcasm veiled but still there. Add "It's Money," "Story of a RnR band," "Spies" and "Pants," and you still get a decent album. The follow-up, Trouble in Paradise, is a better album, following the same map but minus the bitterness.