Customer Reviews

Don't Be Scared By These Hands

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While not as uniformly excellent as his 1984 solo debut "Read My Lips", Tubes front-man Fee Waybill offers up some interesting, if uneven, melodies with his trademark lyric comic zest. He is aided by friend and part-time collaborator Richard Marx, on whose 1st album Fee can be heard singing background vocals. (Marx's wife, Cynthia Rhodes, once toured with the Tubes as a dancer back in the early 1980's). Though Fee's attempts to record more "serious" tunes may not remind fans of the magic of his Tubes heydey, there is just enough gusto in this record to remind us why he is one of the more interesting songwriters/singers in the biz. But if you only buy one Fee solo disc, "Read My Lips" is the better choice.

much more sedate than his first release, it's as if Fee had a couple of great tunes left over from his 1984 Read My Lips session (ex: I Know You) and decided to round these tunes out with some ballads and other more "intimate" musical ideas. As a result it is very uneven. Still there are some moments on here where he really shines. Oddly, just like he did with his Read My Lips LP and the Tubes' Love Bomb, this CD was released about the same time as the (new) Tubes' Genius of America...when will Fee ever learn.

I purchased this about 3 years ago at a TUBES concert. Lukather's guitar work is absolutely stunning as are all the production values of this disk. "Fools Cry" and "Surprise Yourself" or "Somewhere deep inside" are beautiful ballads with lyrics that adults and mature people can connect with on many levels. You need to have "lived a little" to appreciate the sentiments of "I know you" Fee has matured along with his fans (I'm 58). He still hasn't lost his great wit "Tall dark and Harmless" Just a great album in the class of "old school". No frills, just REALLY great musicianship and songmanship.

Don't Be Scared By These Hands is the second solo album from The Tubes frontman Fee Waybill featuring his unique vocal style backed up by some seriously high quality musicians. The musicians involved include guitar legend Steve Lukather from Toto, session ace Bruce Gaitsch, Swedish guitar maestro Tommy Denander, Randy Jackson on bass, Jonathan Moffet on drums, and Richard Marx who produced the album in addition to doing backing vocals. Most of these guys also had a hand in cowriting the material presented here. Fee Waybill is known for his quirky lyrics that often tell a cynical story and this album has plenty of his style to keep you entertained. Highlights include the upbeat acoustic opener "I Know You", the groovy guitar riffs of "Tall Dark & Harmless", the smooth vocal melodies of "Fools Cry", the melodic power ballad "Surprise Yourself", and the killer groove of "What's Wrong With That" which also featured on the Richard Marx album Flesh And Bone. Despite the fact that this second solo album didn't quite hit the heights of Fee Waybill's previous classic solo album Read My Lips, it's still a killer set of tunes that showcases the talents of some of the best musicians of the LA session music scene. Highly recommended to fans of quality melodic rock focussing on good songwriting and killer musical performances.