Customer Reviews

Ghost Town

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

 

 

"Ghost Town" was the first Poco album for Atlantic Records. Known for their AOR prowess, Atlantic was the perfect label for a band that had their beefiest lineup, and most AOR friendly material to date. This album is nothing short of a masterpiece. From start to finish, you sense a Poco meets Hotel California moment. The album's haunting opening title cut, featuring both Paul Cotton and Randy Young on lead vocals is a testimony to the creative power of this duo, who should be recognized for pioneering the marriage between country and rock well before Glenn Frey and Don Henley made it fashionable. And even though the Eagles had packed up and called it quits when this record hit the shelves, the boys in Poco soldiered on without Tim Schmidt who made his mark on "The Long Run". After the epic opening track, the band rocks out on the made for AOR "How Will You Feel Tonight?" with Paul Cotton stradling the line between country rock and polished pop. "Shoot For The Moon" is "Crazy Love" part II, a great soft rock tune that would have done better if it were still 1978. But trends were rapidly shifting in 1982, and "Ghost Town" was largely underpromoted by Atlantic. The song peaked somewhere in the top 50. "The Midnight Rodeo", "Cry No More", "Break of Hearts" and "Special Care" are all great slices of country tinged pop rock with big hooks and sensitive lyrics. Paul Cotton and Randy Young shine on this album and the band is smooth, tight and creative. One of the most interesting pieces on "Ghost Town" is "High Sierra", an incredible country-rock instrumental that could have made any Urban Cowboy era movie a whole lot more interesting. You can sense the old west, the cowboy element and a band hitting on all cylinders. This is a special collection. It captures the revamped Poco at a creative apex. If you don't own a Poco CD, buy this one first. Every song is a winner.

I bought this album a long time ago on vinyl, and while it's not exactly a 'must have' (except for Poco fans, of course), it's always a good album to play.

For the most part, it's a collection of jangly, upbeat, country-rock type of music, alternating between songs written by Paul Cotton and Rusty Young. "Shoot For The Moon" was the single, and it's got Rusty's patented ballad style and rough crooning voice all over it. If only it wasn't so short.

The title track is the most impressive song on the album, however. "Ghost Town" is a powerful, intense track with a haunting sound and lyrics and a good metaphor for lost love. This song alone is practically worth buying the album for (along with the cover art, which captures the same mood).

Still, an overall enjoyable collection of songs, and well-worth getting, even if you're not a Poco fan.

This was the first album Poco did for Atlantic and it was not bad at all. This was the same line up that started Poco's commercial streak in 1978 on the Legend album, and, given the band's penchant for playing personnel musical chairs, it was amazing they stuck together this long. I must have been one of the few who bought this album when it was released on vinyl, and I never had cause to regret it. Songs such as Who Will You Be Tonight only confirmed my belief that no matter who is in the line up, Poco was always capable of making very good (and most of the time, excellent) music.There are other great tunes, such as Shoot for the Moon, and the instrumental High Sierra. So,give this album a chance. And while you're at it, pick up thier latest studio release, Running Horse. If you have the slightest interest in Poco, or simply lost track of them after Legend,give Ghost Town a listen. If this is your type of music, you will not regret it.

I think this is one of POCO's best efforts and I was very happy to find it available in CD form from Amazon's trusted vendors. Once again the quality of the disk and jacket were excellent,the disk plays well with no skips or anomallies noted. I would recommend this vendor to anyone who is trying to enhance their music collection with a
forgotten treasure like this CD, Mike.

WHEN I FIRST HEARD THIS ALBUM YEARS AGO, THE HARDCORE ENERGY OF IT TOOK ME COMPLETELY BY SURPRISE. HAVING BEEN A FAN OF POCO FOR A LONG TIME, FROM THE OLD DAYS OF RICHIE AND JIM, WAY BEFORE THE FUTURE EAGLE APPEARED, MY EARS HAD GOTTEN ALONG QUITE WELL WITH THE DOWN-HOME WHOLESOMENESS AND PLAIN GOOD SOUND OF POCO'S HONEST INSTUMENTALS AND TRADEMARK TIGHT VOCALISMS.

"GHOST TOWN" IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE "NEW" POCO SOUND. GONE IS THE "TWANG", IF YOU WILL. GONE ARE THE NOSTALGIC LYRICS OF RICHIE. THESE ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATELY REPLACED WITH THE SOOTHING CROONINGS OF TIMMY WHICH ARE SET WELL IN CONTRAST TO PAUL'S RAW VOCALS AND CENTERPIECE GUITAR WORK.

ALTHOUGH I DO MISS THE SHOWCASE STEEL GUITAR OF RUSTY YOUNG, THE MEMORY LINGERS, ESPECIALLY IN SONGS LIKE THE TITLE CUT WHERE STRINGS ARE USED QUITE EFFECTIVELY.

THIS IS COWBOY MUSIC, NOT COUNTRY, AND NOT COUNTRY ROCK. IT IS POCO. I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE IF MORE PEOPLE WOULD GIVE POCO A CHANCE. IF YOU LIKE POCO, YOU'RE GONNA LOVE "GHOST TOWN".

I really like the songs "Ghost Town", "How Will You Feel Tonight", "Shoot The Moon", and several others on this album, because they rock.