Customer Reviews

Ludlow 6:18

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

 

 

I love the Love American Style reference below and just had to somehow connect with it somehow here. Hence the above title.

That said, what you have to know about this album is that it's kind of like a greatest hits album from a parallel universe: It goes from one unbelievably good song to the next. You've probably never heard any of these, but once you do you will come back for more -- time and time again.

Am I to believe that these guys started out with punk aspirations? Maybe, but the styles here are melodic pop with a fairly good sized dollop of classic R&B sensibilities.

If you really want to spoil yourself, buy this one and Marsland's "You Don't Know Me." They seem like companion pieces, although I would be hard pressed to rate one higher than the other. Well, maybe Ludlow gets a couple of points docked for the two throw-away tracks at the end, but the unbroken string of keepers that preceeds those more than makes up for the dif'.

Perhaps my review is shaped somewhat by suffering through a Coldplay album. I made an honest attempt to understand a currently popular band that is supposedly brilliant. And just as I was about to write off an entire modern era in music, I turn my attention to the incredible recordings from Adam Marsland/Cockeyed Ghost.

Adam takes a look at the side of the industry that most people see, the struggling musician that doesn't quite make it to the stardom level of all the musical heroes of the 60s and the 70s.

And in doing so, Adam ends up making the breakthrough album that is every bit as good and strong, if not more honest, that the albums of our heroes.

Don't ask me why, but the title track, every single time, reminds me of the pure pop brilliance of the "Love, American Style" TV theme (red and blue and white, I see fireworks from the series opening . . . .). But the lyrics mean so much more. For a road traveller who has been to all 50 states, and look for the significance along the way, Adam finds that the journey is every bit as satisfying as the goal. (kind of what Cameron Crowe tried to say in Elizabethtown but didn't do as well).

And, in the refrain of "How Can You Stand It", Adam hits on the key observations: Indeed, how can we stand the boredom and frustration along the way, he then throws in some SAT words showing us he is no dummy ("ennui", look it up), and instead makes an album for all bright people who are also cool enlough to know 'what's what' and when they are making it and when they are not. That awareness is what usually leads to self-doubt along the way, but Adam blazes through it all and therefore, becomes, a modern rock hero himself. Well done.

The new "You Don't Know Me" is great as well (although I hate the title, just as I hated Sting's "Still Know Nothing 'bout Me" . . . I mean, as artist, isn't that your/his fault?) .. . . . but an artist can only have one breakthrough album in which they come into their full power but don't quite realize that is their moment. Therefore, the greatness is caught without any pretension whatsoever. The Beatles were there with Rubber Soul, Elton on 'Madman', Brian Wilson on 'Pet Sounds' (I mean can he ever really write such a sincere song as 'God Only Knows' again? Answer for the honest: 'no')

Adam Marsland had that moment with Ludlow 6:18. Just as all road travellers should read 'On the Road' by little Jack Kerouac, they should also slip in this brilliant disc for the journey.

Adam knows how to record an amazing record. It's better than you'd ever hope. Buy it on faith.

Adam Marshland is one of the greatests solo preformers o the circiut these days. He gives an incredibly intimate show with great communication with the audience. His new cd is great and really deserves listening to. Ludlow 6:18 is a great album with amazing artists on it.