Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
BE WARNED.....YOU CAN'T PUT THIS ONE DOWN, August 24, 2001
El Rayo X is an album no discriminating rock lover shoud be without. This one is a classic in every sense of the word. David Lindley is simply one of the best musicians of our time. He never picked up a stringed instrument he didn't like. With his stringy hair and strange rayon/polyester attire he wore, the last thing this eccentric cat looked like was a world class musician. But if you remember Jackson Browne and his songs like "Redneck Friend" and "Running on Empty", all that explosive lap-steel guitar work belonged to Lindley. He also played on such notable albums as Warren Zevon's debut and Linda Ronstadt's Heart Like A Wheel. On this, he brought in longtime cohort Jackson Browne to produce it. Lindley shows us all sides of the rock spectrum on here with styles from Reggae/Ska to Tex-mex to pop and rock. I love albums like this that presents all styles of music.It's never boring. The music here is all upbeat rockers that are tailor-made for your next dance party. But be warned, the guests may want to take this home with em. This cd demands repeated listens. You won't be able to put it down. Some of the great classic tunes you'll be wanting to hear over and over are "She Took Off My Romeos", "Mercury Blues", and a delicious version of "Twist And Shout", that goes from a reggae beat to a La Bamba dance tune. This is some very contagious stuff! I also recommend his next cd "Win This Record", which serves as a good bookend to this, and is almost as good. But go get this one first, I guarantee you'll love it! Tell em Homebrew sent ya.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Session player's fantastic solo coming out, June 29, 2005
Lindley's probably been heard by many more listeners as a session player behind Dylan, Ronstadt, Zevon, and his guiding hand work on Jackson Browne's best-known recordings of the '70s. But his own work, early-on with Kaleidoscope, and later with El Rayo-X, is easily as interesting and original. This debut of the latter group, released in 1981, showed Lindley to be as capable a leader as he is a sideman.
For his solo coming out, Lindley not only put together a terrific band, but displayed a tremendous ear for material that fit his tinny voice and a talent for molding refreshed well-known chestnuts. The application of a reggae beat to the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" and a zydeco second-line rhythm to the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout" may not be obvious, but they sure work. His buzzing, revved up guitar-and-drum-heavy take of "Mercury Blues" was good enough to become the defining version for many FM radio listeners of the '80s. The album's originals are as good as its covers, with zydeco, reggae, rock and soul all mixed together with great skill and joy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best record you've never heard., September 27, 2000
Reviewing little-known albums like this is basically preaching to the converted, but I'm gonna take the chance and hope that somebody who sees David's name on a Jackson Browne album will look to see if he has albums of his own, and will read this review.There is not a bad song on this album. It has long been my belief that if you're going to record cover versions of other people's songs, do them differently, and David does. A Jamaican-beat version of "Twist and Shout?" It works. A play off of "Rockin' Pneumonia?" It works, too. It ALL works. "She Took Off My Romeos" is one of the nicest opening album cuts I've ever heard. Buy this. Play it for your friends. Everybody likes this album. Wait and see.
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~ David Lindley & El Rayo-X
~ Ry Cooder & Cuban Musicians
~ Mudcrutch
~ Van Morrison
~ Levon Helm
by David Lindley & El Rayo-X 
