Innocent Eyes

Graham Nash | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Label: Atlantic
• ASIN: B00023DI5Y
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,627 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. See You in Prague

2. Keep Away from Me

3. Innocent Eyes

4. Chippin' Away

5. Over the Wall

6. Don't Listen to the Rumours

7. Sad Eyes

8. Newday

9. Glass and Steel

10. I Got a Rock

Editorial Reviews

Out of print in the U.S.! UK reissue of this 1986 solo album from the former Hollies member and one-third of the legendary trio Crosby Stills & Nash. His first solo release in six years, Innocent Eyes was a collection of songs that showed the world that he was still a fine songwriter more than willing to update his sound to the then-trendy modern Synth-based production values. Features musical assistance from Waddy Wachtel, James Taylor, Leland Sklar, Kenny Loggins, David Lindley and others. Warner. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Graham Nash goes synth-pop, and believe it or not, he pulls it off big-time, May 3, 2006

By 

Dave "missing person" (United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Innocent Eyes (Audio CD)

If you happen to pick this album up at a garage sale or something based on name recognition, without bothering to look at the year of release, you may be in for a hell of a surprise here.

Released in 1986, "Innocent Eyes" is Graham Nash's fourth solo album, and it ain't hard to see why it would have a lousy reputation among fans of Nash and the 'law firm'. Why? Because it sounds way different than what most anyone would probably associate with Mr. Nash, plus of the 10 songs, four of them weren't at all written by Graham. This album is flat-out EIGHTIES-style rock with a vengeance: super-slick production, booming electronic drums, 'metallic' and/or heavily chorused guitars (courtesy of session ace Michael Landau), and in-your-face synthesizers.

Thing is, this is slick Eighties rock at its best, and no, I don't mean that to sound like an oxymoron--this album is a BLAST. Sometimes the lyrics ARE 'dumb', but in an amusing, intentional way--Graham seems to have his tongue firmly in cheek on songs such as the riotous, insanely catchy opener "See You In Prague" and the intentionally 'annoying' and repetitive album-closing peace cry "I Got A Rock". The Paul Bliss-penned title track is TOTALLY 80's for sure, thanks in part to the additional vocals from Kenny Loggins, but it's a hook-fest that you simply can't deny. "Newday", written by Nash and longtime associate Craig Doerge, has lyrics that look bare-bones on paper, but the catchy guitar riffery, melodicism, and positive energy make it uplifting and impossible to resist. Nash also supplies a couple of raging gems with the cathartic, lyrically creeped-out "Keep Away From Me" and the massively-catchy, uptempo protest rocker "Over The Wall".

Graham wrote a couple of great ballads for the album as well. "Glass And Steel", the one song on the album NOT to feature a drum machine, sounds as though Graham may have written it about David Crosby. And "Sad Eyes" is an uplifting love ballad, with great vocal contribution from James Taylor.

Only on a couple of songs do the lyrics start to reek of mindless drivel. "Don't Listen To The Rumours" has lyrics that are just too dumb and unresolved for their own good, but dammit, it's just so appealingly catchy anyway. The reggae-fied "Chippin' Away" has a fairly dumb and predictable chorus, but the verses are irresistibly catchy, and the song's feel-good vibe really gets under your skin (Taylor is clearly audible on this track as well, despite not being credited).

It certainly doesn't hurt that Nash is in peak form vocally throughout the album, often double-tracking his lead vocals to excellent effect. If you're looking for concrete proof of Graham Nash as a brilliant singer-songwriter, you're better off starting with "Songs For Beginners". But if you're already a Nash fan and are able to appreciate fun, well-executed '80s synth-pop, then tap into your sense of humor a little, give "Innocent Eyes" a try, and you'll get a real blast out of it. "Innocent Eyes" is a true winner!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Last Nash Solo Album, May 12, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Innocent Eyes (Audio CD)

Nash's last solo album to date is a successful attempt to place his voice in a synth-pop musical setting. It worked, and so did most of the songs - more political consciousness raising in action, right in the middle of the Reagan era, which was a brave deed.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not His best work, May 15, 2011

By 

Siamak Marzban "PersianAmericanDoc" (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innocent Eyes (US Release) (MP3 Download)

I just love Graham Nash's music. He is modest and some of his best work is in his non-solo albums. This album came out when some MAX HEADROOM types started doing to music, what G Bush did to our country. It contains one of his best ever love ballads, Sad Eyes, and the title track and Glass and Steel are OK. The rest is NOT the Graham Nash we know.