Essential

Foster & Lloyd | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 16, 1996)
• Original Release Date: April 9, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WWA
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,762 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Late eighties cutting-edge country music, May 16, 2004

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Essential (Audio CD)

Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd teamed up for three albums in the late eighties. Nineteen tracks from those albums, together with one hitherto unreleased track, make up this excellent compilation. Most people seem to have lost interest in Foster and Lloyd's own recordings, which is a pity. Their music was a wonderful blend of contemporary and traditional music.

Their big country hits were Crazy over you, Sure thing, What do you want from me this time and Fair shake, all of which made the country top ten. They also had several other country hits that didn't make the top ten, but the most famous song here may be Don't go out with him. It was not a hit for Foster and Lloyd but Tanya Tucker and T Graham Brown recorded it as a duet (re-titled Don't go out) and had a country top ten hit with it.

It is said that Brooks and Dunn were influenced by Foster and Lloyd and I can believe this. If you enjoy listening to Brooks and Dunn, you will almost certainly enjoy Foster and Lloyd - if you can find their music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars + 1/2 Stars....Fun Listening, January 3, 2002

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Essential (Audio CD)

This is all that remains of the twangy country duo of Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd. Between 1987 and 1990 they released three critically acclaimed albums before they split up to pursue separate careers. What you get here is a generous 70-minute sampling of those albums plus one bonus track, a 1990 unreleased recording of "White Train" written by the dB's frontman Peter Holsapple. [The remaining tracks were written or co-written by Foster or Lloyd, including a collaboration with Vince Gill on "All Said and Done" and with Guy Clark on "Fair Shake."]

Tracks 1-7 are from their debut Foster And Lloyd, 8-15 are from Faster and Llouder and 16-18 and 20 are from Version of the Truth. These guys were a breath of fresh air with country hits like "Crazy Over You," "What Do You Want From Me This Time?" and "Fair Shake." And if "Faster and Louder" doesn't set your feet to taping, you just might want to check your pulse for signs of life. Like a shooting star, their career was brief, but brilliant. Listen to this album and find out for yourself. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This one's a "Sure Thing", December 2, 2002

By 

"jbesanko" (Crofton, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential (Audio CD)

Although both Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd have gone on to moderately successful careers in the music business since parting amicably in 1990, I think theirs is clearly another one of those many cases where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts...As other reviewers have said, there's just not a weak cut on this 20-song collection, which covers pretty well their output over three albums. Several of these were sizable country hits in the late '80s, when acts like these guys, along with Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle and a few others, were actually making mainstream country radio fresh and interesting--if only for a short while. I'm especially fond of the Everlys-style vocal harmonies on such tracks as "Sure Thing," "Fair Shake," and "After I'm Gone" (though those harmonies are apparent on virtually every song to a greater or lesser degree). The sly humor of "Hard To Say No," "Fat Lady Sings" and "Can't Have Nothin'" is indicative of some clever songwriting. Finally, the Orbisonesque quality of "Happy For A While," makes it a particular favorite, and their one great cover (and previously unreleased track), "White Train," makes this album worthwhile even if you're one of those lucky few with all three of their original discs. Since this is all there is left in print to document the output of this cruelly overlooked and highly literate duo, it's a steal at any price. Essential.