Customer Reviews

Calico

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

 

 

This CD is a rarity in todays world of music. It's not often that you can find an album that you can play from the first track, and just let it play right through to the last track. This is one of those discs!!! It opens with Zig Zag, a catchy single that is a perfect introduction to Ben Arnold's unique, but completely accesable style. The album takes you through a lyrical landscape, matched with a visual musical style that reaches far without ever being unreachable. It's full of honesty that is easily related to. This album has it's rockers, and it has it's ballads, and they all seem to flow from one to another flawlessly, keeping the integrity of the album flowing right through the end... ZAG OUT!!!

If rock albums were judged purely on the basis of quality songwriting and musical arrangement, then Calico by Ben Arnold would be somewhere near the top of anybody's list. Whether the themes are personal or universal, Ben's songs are tinged with a depth of feeling and a sense of true humanity which confirm his status as a real rock poet.

Nor is he afraid to tackle even the darkest or most painful of subjects without looking the slightest bit insincere: I refer here to his two masterful tracks on the subjects of 9/11 and the assassination of John Lennon, which are given total credibility through intelligent highlighting of the hugeness of these events through the use of snapshots from everyday human life.

There is much to admire here and I leave it to the listeners to draw their own conclusions. I first became acquainted with Ben through his mid-nineties album "Almost Speechless", in itself a great album, a delightful terse collection of songs, against which the only possible criticism could be a slightly overly strict adherence to brevity. In "Calico", Ben has retained all the qualities of his earlier work, with the extra benefit of a rather more relaxed attitude towards its presentation.

All in all, I can't remember any rock album which has given me more all-round musical satisfaction than this, and I hope that this review can contribute to a wider interest in this accomplished artist.

I completely agree with the above reviewer - in today's .mp3 world it's hard to find albums good enough to listen to all the way through. But this is one of them! Highly recommended.

Came across '4 way street' and was very happy to learn that all of you guys work solo as well.
Keep going! Great album!

Ben happens to be both my teacher and my friend, so I suppose this is a rather biased little review, but here goes:

Ben Arnold's album Calico is, in my humble opinion, his best. Ben's music is fairly honest; he isn't just pulling lyrics out of... thin air. His songs on this album are easily accessible, without being sappy or simplistic. His music is complex enough to hold your attention for the entire album without being pretentious or boring.

If you like the samples you can hear on this page, than you'll like the album: Ben's consistency is such that if you like what you hear you'll like the album. If you don't... well, I'd advise you to try listening again.

Ben has a real easygoing style that grows on you with every listen. Ben's first album was in 1991, so he has been around, but he is still pretty unknown in my part of the west coast. The first song is a jazzy upbeat number, Zig Zag, one that will make you smile. My favorite is # 3- Blacklight, it is haunting-Ben really shows a way with words, he is a real story teller.

If you are a Dave Matthews fan, give this guy a listen.