Customer Reviews

History

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I accidentally discovered Loudon on NPR, half-heartedly sought any of CDs for about a year, and, happily, discovered this one at a book sale!! History quickly became one of my favorite CDs. The songs are alternately funny and poignant. They are catchy and well-written. My favorite is Picture, about a B&W photo of Loudon and his sister coloring outside--it is a beautiful snapshot of siblings, shared history, nostalgia, and loss. Doctor is a hilarious journey with a middle aged man through the rigamarole that accompanies doctor's appointments--my fav line, "it's all in your head and spreading on down to your toes." I highly recommend this CD to anyone with interest in personal folk music. A lot less angry than Ani DiFranco, but no less biting.

"History" is a jewel lost in the vast wasteland of "popular" music, it is Wainwright's crowning achievement, showcasing the multiple facets of his songwriting genius.

Loudon shows off his brilliant sense of humour on the middle aged man's lament "Doctor". The painful regrets of that same mature man are beautifully expressed in "Hitting you". The nostalgic childhood memories of sisterly love found in "The Picture" will bring tears from the hardest heart. "Father and Son" eloquently describes a father's struggle with the "teenage vs middle-age war".

These are just a few highlights from this CD which is superb from beginning to end. This CD does indeed merit the title "History". and Loudon has lived up to the "New Bob Dylan" label that was stuck on him all those years ago. Every song on this CD is a winner, give it a listen, you will thank me later.

WOW! This collection is the best by a singer/songwriter I have ever heard. From the raucous opening, "People In Love",to the gentle paranoia of,"When I'm At Your House",he covers a lot of styles and subjects.I was laughing out loud and choking back tears,sometimes during a single cut.His ability as a vocalist was the biggest surprise of all. No use trying to describe any more of this album.Listen to it.You won't be disappointed.

A classic album, an unparalleled mixture of pathos and humor, sometimes in the same song. There are few other singer-songwriters who can pull this off; you owe it to yourself to listen to one who can.

Honest, moving lyrics. Great music. Loudon's catharsis is our musical gain. His best album.

What can I say? Years ago, I was surprised to discover Loudon and find I LOVE THIS CD. I had heard the "Hitting You" song on my local community sponsored radio station, and was totally taken with it. The whole CD is like that, the humorous songs are really funny (yet cool!) and the serious songs touching and moving. Beautiful tunes. One of the last songs, where his father is gone, really moving, moreso now that my father is gone. So I've had this one for yrs, and today, looking for a gift for my friend who lives overseas. This will be the one (of two). Go for this, it's amazing.

This is easily one of my dozen favorite CDs, period. Wainwright has found just the right balance of wit, confessionalism, and warmth to make these songs unforgettable. Not every single cut is a winner (I'm thinking of maybe one, two at the most that I could do without), but by far there's more here to cherish than on dozens of other singer-songwriter collections put together, and the best songs here are as good as anything Randy Newman or John Prine ever wrote.

This album will always be a treasure in my collection, one I will turn to again and again. The songs are so heartfelt, so honest, and touching, anyone could find something of value in them. "The Picture" and "Fathers and Sons", in particular, are songwriting art at its highest.

I came across the post-Dead Skunk Wainwright rather late, in 1994. The song was "The Picture." I was driving down the Bronx River Parkway. It is hard to drive a car on a New York parkway when tears are running down your face. Not cheap tears, but tears that come from the knowledge that time will get us all, some earlier than others. Wainwright is simply one of the best songwriters alive.

All the mixed up, sloppy beauty of living and dying wrapped up in the heart of an uncomfortable, aging troubador. All the pain that results from having seen the little mysteries of life and them taken away, the loves that outlive love, the mistakes, regrets, furies and resignations, ironies and laughs all wrapped together, cursed and blessed by human emotion and seared by memory.