Customer Reviews

Heat Treatment

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There is simply no way to describe the raw emotion and passion that GP has in his music. Has there ever been so large a talent that has gone unrecognized in his lifetime ? Maybe Van Gogh is the only one. GP and the Rumour (the tightest back-up band this side of E-Street) rock out like their lives are on the line, with total commitment and a beat that won't quit. If you like Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen or Elvis Costello you'll love this. An Incredible CD.

4+, that is. Many call this classic rock 'n' roll. If they're comparing it with Boston, Dave Matthews, or other such over-blowns/watered-downs, I see their point. However, I hear a delightful hybrid, the sort of merging more likely when most of the sources are faraway (as with the Beatles and black "girl groups," producing something derivative while different). Elvis Presley or Johnny Burnette & the Rock 'n' Roll trio, who in their day had never heard of Otis Redding, could still kick the Rumour's ass at bare-boned ROCK AND ROLL. But who cares? This is great stuff. Back when it came out, and my friends & I were 20-something, it revealed a mature yet fresh approach to what would later come to be called Alternative Rock, Rock - let's not start that whole argument again. While stages were being dominated by a bunch of boys, or boyish personas(the Ramones, Sex Pistols, et al) Parker & his cohorts, like distorted reincarnations of Frank Sinatra or Louis Jourdan, jumped up and said, "Wait a minute - we can play - and we have experience!" - very sexy. My girlfriends & I consistently helped pack sweaty dance floors at Parker's U.S. tours. Think we'd have trouble relating to the viewpoint of "Hotel Chambermaid"? The song, which is written & played in a wonderfully circular/resolving fashion, is so convincingly joyful as to transcend such considerations. Along with "Turned Up Too Late," "Back Door Love," "That's What They All Say," & a handful from Howlin' Wind & Stick to Me, it's a timeless reminder of the innocence, hope & raw oomph that lived before AIDS & a host of other plagues drained some of the roll out of rock. As to why Parker didn't make it "bigger," he was able to ride the New Wave's coattails but his aforementioned maturity (& lack of standout physical appeal - he was already going bald, for instance) placed the band in a relatively unmarketable nether zone. Elvis Costello was no handsomer but got lumped in with the New Wave and benefited from Stiff's dead-on marketing. Dave Edmunds had been around longer but was cuter and able to go in a more Pop direction. It didn't help that Parker was sometimes confused with Costello. Years later, I think Parker's music has aged better. And I'm certainly less sick of it - one of the benefits of lack of extended airplay?

If you have Howlin Wind, Stick to Me (which you may be able to find used) and this one, you have collected some of the best rock and roll of the last 30 years.

This one is not QUITE as good as Howlin Wind in my opinion, but that was a damn hard album to top.

GP came pretty close here. The songs here, especially Pourin It All Out, Thats What They All Say, Black Honey, and Fools Gold are truly GP at his most eloquent. The Rumour truly rock and are one of the most soulful bands I have ever heard. They will knock you down.

The man is an underrated genius who has spent the last 23 years trying to sell albums to people other than rock critics. Why don't people buy his music? I have no idea... but you should. If you like rock and roll, lyrics with an edge and music with soul (which is something music seems to lack these days) - then you will like Graham Parker.

This along with Struck by Lightning is Parker`s best album. His second and really the one that marked out Parker as something unique. It`s hot,sweaty--perfectly titled--with a great cover photo. It`s guys rock without being neanderthal. The Dylan,Stones and Van Morrison influences are more subdued, and gritty black soul makes its entrance. The stand-outs are Pourin It All Out and Fools Gold; truly you have never heard rock and roll until you have heard Pouting it All Out; a hardrocking riff,wounded Dylan lyrics spat out,a band so tight it`s unbelievable...you can almost hear the musicians scorching their instruments. Fools Gold is like Sam Cooke meets Otis Redding over Roy Orbison guitars and soul-boogie keyboards. Hotel Chambermaid,Heat Treatment,Something You`re Going Through (Van MOrrison meets ska and reggae) That`s What They All Say and Help Me shake It all drip passion,groove and gorgeous melodies. Produced wonderfully with a raw country-blues sound by Robert Mutt Lang,who incidentally is now married to and produces and writes with Shania Twain. Strangely enough this album isn`t that far away from the sounds Twain has,along with Sheryl Crow,Counting Crows,Shelby Lynn and a host of present day `country` rock type people. This just has a hell of a more kicking bass. The ballad side isn`t too represented; Turned Up Too Late and Black Honey; but they`re just breaks in an unbelievably intense group of songs. That intensity soul music is supposed to have,but rarely does? Here it is.

I grew up thinking that the Beatles, Who, Led Zeppelin and the Stones were everything that was good about rock music. Hey, I was pretty naive! One late night in 1986, I was listening to my favorite San Francisco radio station when they aired their feature called "rarities". Well, one of the featured artists was named Graham Parker (never heard of him) and the song played this night was Heat Treatment. I was instantly drawn to this mans music: it sounded awfully vital for me to have never heard his name before. I figured it must be part of some government coverup, or perhaps his record label didn't want to sell his records...(I hadn't even heard Mercury Poisoning yet! ) Anyhow, I made it to the used record store the next day and purchased my first GP record. It was a compilation, and not that good a selection of his recordings, but I soon righted the situation by finding his first 2 albums, Howlin Wind, and this one, Heat Treatment. I've never been able to prove that there was any government conspiracy to conceal his musical offerings, so I've decided that the reason that I had never heard of Graham Parker was because he was so talented and wrote such great songs that he would never fit in with the likes of Peter Frampton, Toto, Neil Diamond and the purveyors of disco. Thank heaven he quit his job at the gas station to make these records!

If you don't have any Parker or want to introduce his work to someone, forget the compilations (trust me!) and start here.

The other reviewers have done a fine job of commenting on this album.

I was in college reviewing rock albums/concerts in '77 when it was released. At that time, the airwaves were wall-to-wall Linda Ronstadt, Toto, Journey, the Eagles, and disco.

Parker (along with Blondie, Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, etc) came along and kicked the moribund body of rock and roll until it began gasping and started kicking back.

On this album, Parker and his legendary band, The Rumour, demonstrate just how tough and tightly pared-down their music was, how intelligent their lyrics.

I listened to the original album tonight (7/99) and it kicks just as hard and sounds just as fresh and tough as it ever did. The hooks immediately get under your skin...and a number of the songs will have your "soul shoes" dancing around the room.

A true classic that has stood the test of time brilliantly.

This sounds a lot like The Clash's London Calling. Ahead of it's time in way of it's eclecticism mixed with punk rock.

I purchased this album when it was first released on a cassette so I could play it in my car (yeah I'm old)and I damn near wore that tape out it was played so often. There is not a dud track on it and has a some of my all time favourite songs on it,listen to "That's What They All Say" "Pourin' It All Out" and "Fool's Gold" and you will know what I mean. A deadset classic

GP's "Heat Treatment" along with "Howling Wind" are considered 2 of the greatest records in the history of rock. Anyone unfamiliar with GP should begin here. These are the first 2 albums of a 30 year recording career that should have him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yet, his name is almost never mentioned at voting time. The sound on these remasters is very good as well.

ANY 40+ WHO DOESN'T RESPECT THIS MANS' EFFORT IS A NUMBSKULL.
WHERE ARE YOU GRAHAM?, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP
I HAVEN'T THANKED YOU ENOUGH YET FOR
'MAKING ME GLOW".
TWENY YEARS TODAY AND THIS GUY SAVED MY LIFE AGAIN! WITH A SNIPPET OF "FOOLS GOLD"