Hooba Dooba

Paul Brady (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: PROPER AMERICAN
• ASIN: B0037M5XAK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,083 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Hooba Dooba is the 2011 album from one of Ireland's finest singer-songwriters, Paul Brady. Brady played in Dublin based bands The Kult, The Rootzgroup, The Johnstons and Planxty and in a duo with Andy Irvine before going solo in 1978. This is his 15th solo effort.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Here Kind Stranger., March 5, 2011

By 

Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hooba Dooba (MP3 Download)

Being a Paul Brady fan in the United States is difficult. First, you can't talk about Paul Brady because almost no one knows who you're talking about. Second, you never know when he has released a new album. Case in point, "Hooba Dooba". You have to look at sites like Wikipedia or Paul's own website just to keep up because there is no promotion in the States. Third, Van Morrison gets all the accolades even though Brady has been down the same road as Morrison and the two are native Irish.

It was 1991, and VH1 was playing the video for "Nobody Knows" from Paul's 1991 album "Trick Or Treat". I instantly liked the song and bought the album and became a fan. Twenty years later, I own all of Brady's albums except his first solo album, 1978's "Welcome Here Kind Stranger". As always, when preparing to list to a new album from an artist, I go back to the start and listen to every album the artist has released in chronological order prior to writing a review on their latest album. For me, that meant starting with Brady's first proper pop/folk/rock solo album, 1981's "Hard Station".

Let me just say that Paul has not lost any of his songwriting chops. You must know that his songs have been used by other famous artists such as Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt. As each year passes, Brady only gets better and writing lyrics. However, since 1995's "Spirits Colliding", his musical arrangements have taken a hit. "Hooba Dooba" plus his last two albums, 2005's "Say What You Feel" and 2001's "Oh What A World", have all been lacking in cohesion and memorable melodies. I'd even go so far as to say that Brady is a singles artist rather than an album artist as most of his albums contain at least four or five songs that are really good mixed in with five that are just okay. The same is true for "Hooba Dooba".

Of the 12 tracks on "Hooba Dooba", Brady's first album in five years, "You Won't See Me" is a cover of The Beatles song of the same name. Brady does a very nice job of covering this. "Cry It Out", "Rainbow", "Follow That Star", "Mother And Son" and "Money To Burn" are all nice songs, but not up to Brady's best work. He finally covers his own song, "Luck Of The Draw", which was used by Bonnie Raitt in 1991 for her album of the same name. Brady's version is good, of course, if not all that different from Raitt's interpretation.

The worst track here is the hip-hop flavored "The Winners' Ball". Paul over-steps his musical boundaries here, but at least at 62 he was trying something different. Nothing wrong with experimenting.

Overall, "Hooba Dooba" is fine. Nothing new, nothing to get excited about, just Paul doing what he does best--delivering adult contemporary folk/pop with strong lyrics. His vocals remain intact, if not slightly roughened by time.

Here's how "Hooba Dooba" compares to Brady's other works:

1978 Welcome Here Kind Stranger (don't own it, haven't heard it)
1981 Hard Station: Four Stars
1983 True For You: Three and a Half Stars
1985 Back To The Centre: Four Stars
1987 Primitive Dance: Four Stars
1991 Trick Or Treat: Five Stars
1995 Spirits Colliding: Five Stars
2001 Oh What A World: Three and a Half Stars
2005 Say What You Feel: Three Stars
2010 Hooba Dooba: Three and a Half Stars

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth a listen, March 14, 2011

By 

J. Hendricksen "swede2100" (The Right Side) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hooba Dooba (Audio CD)

Good CD, some great songs on here. Theres also some filler material unfortuately. Thats what you get with Brady at times. Lookings at his body of work he's a great talent. Only a few of his CD's carry that greatness from beginning to end.