Customer Reviews

I Was Warned

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of all Robert Cray albums, over a career that has now spanned 20 years, this is the one I keep coming back to time and time again. I Was Warned is not one of Robert Cray's more critically acclaimed or commercially successful albums, yet for me it's a handsome, undemanding record that is full of great songs and superb playing. As a practitioner of the blues, Cray has been instrumental in it's re-emergence as a popular art-form in the 80's and 90's, however he has never considered himself to be a 'bluesman' - preferring to call his sound a blues/soul/rock hybrid. I Was Warned tends towards soul and rock. There is a definite feel-good factor to 'Just A Loser' and 'I'm A Good Man', both carry an irresistable groove and Cray clearly revels in his everyman tales of love and life. 'The Price I Pay' is a meditation on fading love, it is one of Cray's finest ballads - a side of his music that seems to get overlooked. 'On The Road Down' is blisteringly good also and showcases some fine guitar-work. Blues purists may find I Was Warned a little too slick, but I love the mood that these taut, polished and wholly enjoyable songs put me in.

This is Robert Cray's most soulful and heartfelt CD among the eight that I own, the one that I reach for over and over again whenever I crave quintessential Cray. The first Robert Cray song I ever heard was "I Was Warned", and it sent me running to the nearest music store. "He Don't Live Here Anymore" is so raw that I sometimes have to skip over it. Just technically, emotionally, viscerally a wonderful collection.

I have to say that this CD is a very cool Cd that any true fan of music should have in their collection. "Strong Persuader" was the first Cd of Robert Crays that I owned and from there I have built up my collection. My favorite song on this disc is the title track, to me it is down and dirty blues music at its best. "The Price I Pay" is another slow blues tune that is also worth a good listen to. Other stand out on this disc are 'Just A Loser", "Won The Battle",and "He Don't Live Here Anymore" If you own any other Robert Cray CD, add this to your collection.

Anything Robert Cray does is great!!!!!...needs to put out a new CD. We have all his CD and want more.

This collection of tracks for Robert Cray's "I Was Warned" album is the most enjoyable listening of ALL his albums. How I overlooked it for the last 18 years remains a mystery. Possibly, it's one of those albums that was just ahead of it time? Whatever the reasons... it's very special. Cray's guitar work laced with rhythm and funk becomes a head-jerkin' jam with "Won the War"... and just keeps getting better. Don't mistake this for anything but what it is... "very, VERY hip blues and funk! Any one of the 10-tracks is worth the price of the album. Cool, very COOL!

The more I listen to this CD, the more I like it. The songs are great, and Cray's guitar work is right on. Other reviewers have mentioned most of the songs, but I didn't see any talking about "Our Last Time", which to me is an ideal blues song... very sexy in a heartbreaking way. A perfect ending to a great CD.

This cd may be the greatest and most nuanced album of Robert Cray's career. There are some rather humorous songs (I'm a Loser and Won the Battle) that anybody who has ever loved anyone will appreciate. But Cray also digs deeper into his soul and goes beyond the typical blues repetoire on songs such as "The Price I Pay" and also the gut-wrenching "He Doesn't Live Here Anymore," a ballad about a son who tries to reconnect with his father, but it's too late. Even though "A Picture of a Broken Heart" was originally written by Bozz Scaggs, Cray makes this classic his own here, and tells a haunting story. From the first note to the last, this album doesn't let down once and it's scope of human emotions and experiences will leave you breathless, and wanting to start the whole thing from the top. It's that good.

This record is among his best work in the post Strong Persuader era. High points include a cover of Boz Skaggs song:"Picture Of A Broken Heart", and also contains "Just a Loser", and the title track. Guitar players take note of the song "On The Road Down" Co-written by Steve Cropper. The chord progression on this song is excellent. The album sounds great, and grows on you over time; as apposed to albums that wear thin with repeated playings. Although this may not be his hands down best album, it is certainly amongst his best work. I have Seen Robert Cray in concert on numerous occassions and am alway dissapointed that the songs on this album are left out of the set list. The record itself did not get much attention compared to some of his other efforts. This is why I consider it his most underated record of all time.

THIS IS ONE OF MANY..........ALL OF HIS MUSIC RATES A "10" FOR ME. ROBERT CRAY HAS A DISTINCT SOUND THAT YOU CAN PICK OUT WITHIN THE FIRST FEW NOTES OF ANY SONG. HE PLAYS CLEAN AND WELL-MASTERED. GREAT BLUES, SOME FUNK, SOME SOUL AND ROCK AT TIMES. HE MIXES THEM ALL AND MANAGES TO PUT OUT A GREAT SOUNDING PRODUCT. IF YOU ARE A BLUES GUITAR FAN,THEN YOU ARE A FAN OF ROBERT CRAY.

...on "These Things" alone makes this album worth it. (I have always loved James Brown's screaming on "Prison Of Love", my favorite track from his 1968 album "Live At The Apollo, Volume II". You gotta hear it to believe it.)

This is my second favorite Robert Cray album, right after "I Was Warned", which is amazing.

And his guitar-playing on this and all his albums, it goes without saying, is absolutely first rate.