Customer Reviews

Home for Orphans

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

 

 

It's the "all-you-can-eat" buffet that gets better with every trip back. If you like the quieter side of Greg "Oblivian" Cartwrights's musical output then you will dig this very much, but if you come expecting the loud guitars that he is famous for then you will obviously be dissappointed(save for one song). This is an excellent collection of out-takes, and material recorded just prior to the line-up change that precipated the "Too Much Guitar" album. They finished this beautiful piece of work and then lost the organ-fellow so they needed an album that better represented the more guitar-oriented live sound. Greg's getting closer and closer to being the punk Gene Clark.

You really need to buy this despite what anyone says. Greg Oblivian can do no wrong (well almost), but anyway if you're a fan of lyric based music that can make you giddy or cry, then this is your band. This album follows where the first album ("Break Up, Break Down")left off. It's better than anything your going to find on amazon this year (well if you don't already have "Too Much Guitar"). I personally love the live cover of "Don't Send Me No Floweres, I Ain't Dead Yet." Have fun with this one.

Buy the new live album Live At Maxwells if you only like Too Much Guitar-style Reigning Sound. I just reckon Greg Cartwright is one of the most important, if criminally neglected, figures in contemporary rock n' roll, and don't give a damn at what tempo he chooses to play. This is not rockin', but it is enjoyable.

I secretly ache for another Time Bomb High School, but really whatever Greg C chooses to do is fine by me, and I'll buy it and learn to love it.

No one seems to have mentioned here that this isn't a proper "album." It's an odds n' sods collection of unreleased material and reworked live cuts. It's far more consistent than "Head Shop," but still lacks the cohesiveness of "Timebomb High School," "Too Much Guitar" or "Break Up...Break Down."

That said, it's a good collection. I'm tempted to give it 3 starts, but the fact that it's Greg Cartwright means I'll give it one extra. Why? Because he writes great songs that don't always hit you right away. There's lots to discover, and I doubt I've "gotten" it all yet.

Highlights are the acoustic reditions of "If You Can't Give Me Everything" and "Funny Thing"; "Carol" and "Pretty Girl" (previsouly unreleased as far as I know), "If Christmas Can't Bring You home" (previously 7" vinyl only), and a great live version of The Gentrys' "Don't Send Me no Flowers, I Ain't Dead Yet."

I'm with "Jumpin' Jesus" - what I really want is another TBHS, but this is good for now.

The last two CDS were great, but this one is a total clunker. Huge disappointment!