Customer Reviews

CPR

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I arrived a bit late to this party. I recall seeing this CD in a used CD bin, picking it up because of the interesting cover, not really knowing what it was, and putting it back. Fast forward to 2003 when I read an article that mentions David Crosby's new band. Wow! What a great disc. It opens with the tribute to the Doors' Jim Morrison who lived and was buried in Paris. "I have seen that movie & it wasn't like that; he was mad & lonely & blind as a bat," Crosby sings with the pulsating groove the band lays down; this is my favorite track, essential listening. David's lyric on "That House" matches the band's melody and vocal harmonies on this slow dreamy track. "One for Every Moment" is a romantic rock-tango. David's vocals have that soft forlorn quality on "At the Edge." David's son James Raymond lays down adequate lead vocals on "Somebody Else's Town" as Leland Sklar's bass pulses with urgency. Jeff Pevar's electric lead has a blues tinge on "Rusty & Blue." David wrote "Somehow She Knew" with Craig Doerge, "It's what you do with a thing you can't handle, a picture you just can't frame." "Little Blind Fish" is a bouncy toe tapper while "Yesterday's Child" features James Raymond's piano on a pensive piece. The rocker "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" sounds like an answer to "If I Could Only Remember My Name." The CD concludes with "Time is the Final Currency," a wispy cosmic spacetrack. CPR is excellent music any David Crosby fan will consider essential. Enjoy!

I remember David Crosby remarking on Vh1's "BEHIND THE MUSIC" that CPR was the finest or some of the finest music he has ever made" (words to that effect. I remember thinking "Whoa David, better than my beloved CSN??") David was correct. CPR is the finest music he has ever made, in my opinion. From the shimmering harmonies, to the jazzy chords and rythms to that unmistakeable Crosby tone...this album is landmark for the poetic songsmith and his compadres. Often times a father/son project will be less than great, and people stumble across it out of curosity. This is NOT a typical "uh we should do an album, you're my kid" kind of thing NOT AT ALL. The great thing about this album is not only David Crosby in fine forum but his son James is a gifted pianist and songwriter, and sings very well. Like his dad, he writes soulful tunes in that haunting Crosby sound complete with "open" tuning. Jeff PeVar is a fiery, biting guitarist who adds alot of soul in his writing and playing. Furthermore, their is NO FILLER on this album. Every song is dynamic, each song BELONGS. It's a record you'll play again and again.

I just cannot get over this CD--the best thing Croz has done since "If I Could Only Remember My Name", which was almost 30 years ago! His new-found son James Raymond's jazz sensibilities and fantastic piano and composition skills shine brightly, as does Jeff Pevar's smokin' original guitar work. Bottom line: The songs are fresh and catchy, the vocal harmonies brilliant, and the musicianship and production are top-notch; this recording leaves you with a warm'n'fuzzy feeling all over! It's kind of like the best CSN music, but mixed with something more adventurous, possibly akin to Steely Dan. A glorious fusion with no weak spots. Buy it!

This CD really surprised me. I have been a loyal CSN fan for most of my life and David has always been my favorite. I was almost disappointed when I heard he was recording with a new band. I thought, "how could he?" Well, this is the best music David Crosby has ever recorded. The happiness he has found in his "new life" beams from these songs in vivid color. CPR is fresh, beautiful music. An impressive collection of well written songs. It just sounds great. I liked it so much, that I picked up CPR live at Cuesta College and CPR live at the Wiltern (from CPR web site). Live at the Wiltern includes an absolutely fantastic new twist on "Long Time Gone". CSN fans have got to hear this!

After the unjust failing of CSN's "After the Storm" -- (and the subsequent dropping from Atlantic Records), many CSN fans held their collective breaths. "What's next?", they wondered.

The answer was CPR. While the sheer talent of CPR probably scared many CSN fans into thinking there would not be another album or tour by the three beloved gunslingers of the "Cowboy Movie", life would prove otherwise.

The fear, however, could've been real. In reality, CPR was (and is) possibly better than CSN since 1977. The debut, "CPR" proved that with a nail that was a deeper than any coffin could bear.

On June 23, 1998, David Crosby released "CPR", and set the musical world (those in the "know")on its collective ear. In some ways forgotten, "The Cros" was remembered again. His album, somewhere between the Dead, Steely Dan and CSN, was the best thing many had heard in a long time. And for good reason, too!

"CPR" is an album that only builds in its majesty. The second "side" is better than the first. Not often does one see that.

Kicking off with the "hold on tight" strength of "Morrison" that he showed off on numerous talk shows, Crosby only gains strength with the indescribable strength of "That House". The lyrics of "That House" hit many homes -- drugs? abuse? insecurity? all of them? Crosby is back!

The second half of the first side brings "Rusty And Blue". While many die-hards loved this song on Daivd's solo live LP "It's All Coming Back To Me Now ..." (Atlantic 1994), this song rewards the faithful in its studio birth. It's powerful ... and more ... in its studio incarnation.

As with Paul McCartney and his hired bunch of henchmen, Wings, David tries to allow his band the opportunity to shine. Only in these moments does this album falter. The James Raymond tunes "Sombody Else's Town" and "Yesterday's Child" are not up to Crosby's dreamy tapestry. Because of that, the album suffers only a bit.

What may be best about the "CPR" album, though, is David's unimitadable ability to unnerve the listener. Never is this more clear than the resurection of the "Fisher King Song". Renamed here as "Somehow She Knew" the song becomes -- well -- scary. Originally penned in 1993, about Crosby's inability to deal with Christine Hinton's tragic death in 1969, it lives again here.

The albums's final movement comes in a song named after the legenday David Crosby Live LP -- but reaches a head with its final track. "Time is the Final Currency" is a song about growing old and dieing. A song too personal to me to even review.

The Cros did the unimaginable ... he didn't recreate "If I Could Only Rember My Name .... ", he re-defined himself. It's enlightening for the listener to even try to understand it.

The image David Crosby established for himself from CSN forward was that of aggressively boring, substance-addled, politically correct pain in *** who happened to have a great voice. Or, if you liked that kind of character, a truth-telling hippie sage who happened to have a great voice. What was not apparent about Crosby was his depth as a musician. Partly this is because, paradoxically, he was usually at his best in the musical background, adding a layer of complexity to the CSN (and before that, Byrd) harmonies that most casual listeners would not be likely to isolate on. But a close listen to his work with the Byrds (plus his fantastic first solo album, which didn't get a lot of attention at the time it came out in '71), and it becomes more apparent what he contributed, and where his gifts really lay. Crosby is, above all, a melder of jazz and folk. When he wants it to be, his relationship to jazz is akin to Steely Dan's. The music SEEMS to fit into the pop/rock/folk genre, but veers off in directions that aren't easily identifiable as jazz, but gain richness from the borrowing. For the Byrds, this tendency came out in songs like "Everybody's Been Burned," which Norah Jones should cover, to "Tribal Gathering" which paradoxically celebrates the hippie community with beatnik vocalese. But then, with a few exceptions (the song "Deja Vu," some of the wordless songs on "If I Could Only Remember My Name") he left the overt jazzy style behind, to become the Crosby most of us think we know.

CPR takes Crosby firmly back into that direction, and the results are fantastic. I hadn't even bothered to listen to this stuff til now, five years later, but it is instantly arresting and beautiful. His colleagues are musically skilled enough to keep up with the challenging sound Crosby wants to create here. It is much more like Steely Dan (except not lyrically) than it is like CSN--thank goodness.

Four stars instead of five? Only because the album lets the sidemen take the lead a couple of times, and those songs are boring. But Crosby's stuff on this record is stellar and very much worth hearing.

I had gone searching for the Questa College live recording, with no success, before "settling" for this studio album based on reviews here and elsewhere. I am pleased to report to any who care to know, that this album falls in the category of exceptionally good, and almost perfect. How many albums in your collection fit that description? For me, a great song has to have clear, meaningful lyrics, rythm and harmony, something catchy you might find yourself humming out of the blue. One song after the next meets this criteria. The lyrics are moving and so is the music. David Crosby's singing is as good as ever and from the heart. That said, the weakest parts of this album are the few songs where James Raymond performs as lead vocalist. His passable singing, thankfully, is more than offset by the accompanying lyrics and harmonies. I've had the album for 4 days, and have listened to it at least that many times.

No pop record this year has given me more pleasure. The most satisfying Crosby in (literally) decades, since "If Only I Could Remember My Name." State of the art production and even more sophisticated harmonies than one remembers from the old days. Only the lead guitar sometimes sounds a bit dated, but it's still fine. Both this CD and the expanded "Live at the Wiltern" absolutely smoke the new CSNY album, believe me.

Towards the end of a Bio on David Crosby they ran a clip of CPR rehearsing. The sounds I heard were so entrancing I couldn't wait to get the CD. The words are so heartfelt. The harmonies soar. This is the sound of 3 equals creating something true and exciting. What a joy it is to hear David back and inspired! What a thrill to know that it is his son playing piano, and singing with him. These 3 sail together, and you sail with them.

Now, I'm 46 years old...a little younger than David Crosby, but not by much. And I've been a big fan since "Turn, Turn, Turn". Especially after David joined with Mr. Stills and Nash...what beautiful sounds, arrangements that are haunting...But now?? WOW! The arrangements, the harmonies... the tightness of the sound, the vocal breaks, ...is this jazz? Rock? R&B? I can't answer that, and that's the good thing...CPR has served up a new dish that you're going to love! The perfect middle "C" of Mr. Crosby has been made even more perfect...in a way you simply must hear.