Customer Reviews

Making Good Noise

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

 

 

My family and I are big fans of Tom Chapin, and we are as delighted as ever by him with his new CD. Plenty of clever rhymes, fun situations, and energetic music punctuate nearly every song in this compilation that celebrates the sheer fun of making music. There are many different styles of music on this CD, with separate songs featuring steel drums, string quartets, bugles, and an almost classical-sounding orchestral arrangement, to name only a few. Great variety, great fun, great music. An excellent addition to any family's quality music collection.

Hot off the success of his "Greatest Hits" compilation, <i>This Pretty Planet</i>, and <i>In My Hometown</i>, Tom Chapin has released another good effort.

<b>TRACKS</b>
The CD starts off well with "Making Good Noise", a catchy sing-along, dance-along track.
Next up is "Bang On The Pan", a rhythmic track with a reggae sound.

"Putting On A Show" is a story-song, which once again follows the adventures of Shirley, Sue, and Bruno, this time in a stage production of "Annie".

After this follows "I Love To Play The Kazoo", a mainly orchestral track.

"You're Not The Boss Of My Brain" is basically a song about... well, you can probably figure it out from the title.

This is followed up by "Cookin' In The Kitchen", a track dedicated to cooking and the great treats that come out of that excellent room known as the kitchen.

In "The All-Purpose Carol", Tom salutes the different traditions observed during the holiday season.
After this is another catchy track, "Singalong, Longasing", which is a mirror song, a round, and a family song all in one. You will probably have fun playing this song-game with your family! :)

"The Hampton String Quartet" is the aforementioned group playing an orchestral arrangement of Tom Chapin's classic "This Pretty Planet".

"Yo Yo's Ma" is a funny song about the famous cellist and how he (supposedly) became a star.

"My B-A-N-J-O" is a great tribute to the banjo and its sound.

In "A Day At Camp Decibel", Tom puts lyrics to ten famous bugle calls, describing a hectic day at a summer camp.
Perhaps one of the best songs on the album, "Sing Me The Story Of Your Day", is a touching ballad dedicated to the relationships between friends, as well as parents and children.

"I Need A Lullaby" continues the soft, quiet feel. It's a lullaby to anybody who needs it.

Just in case the kids were getting bored, Tom finishes off the album with "This Song Is My Homework", a humorous, rock-n-roll track about procrastination and the problems that it entails.

<b>DISC REVIEW</b>
Tom does a good job on his guitar and banjo. He also brought in some pretty talented kids to do backup vocals for him. As far as backup instrumentation goes, however, this disc is not as strong as <i>In My Hometown</i>. Also, the case art and inserts look a bit bland. But that is probably to be expected, as that album was released under the Sony Wonder label, and this one is under the much smaller and less professional Gadfly label.

<b>WRAPUP</b>
Tom Chapin comes through with his trademark lyrics and sound, perfect for a growing family. Although not as good as <i>In My Hometown,</i> which I consider to be his best CD, it will improve a long, boring car ride by engaging the kids and allowing them to sing along. In <i>Making Good Noise</i>, Tom Chapin proves once again why he won those Grammys, providing excellent family entertainment.

I think this CD is excellent. It has 15 interesting songs. The song I like on this CD is called "Cookin' in the Kitchen." This song is by Jon Cobert and Tom Chapin. They run around the kitchen and talk about food. They talk about carrots, tomatoes, and another kinds of vegetables. These songs are not all alike.

My classmates and I enjoyed listening to these songs. One of my favorite songs is "Make Good Noise" and Michael Mark was singing with Tom. My other favorite songs are "I Love to Play the Kazoo" and "Cookin' in the Kitchen." It sounds like it's a lot of instruments. I think the slow songs are nice too. "I Need a Lullaby" is a lovely sleepy-time song.

I wonder where Tom gets all of these great songs from. Tom surely did a great job! How can he make
up like 200 songs. Every song he makes I love.
Your Best Dishyra

I'm a young mother who was recommended this cd by my first grader's class teacher. Boy was she right. My kids love it, I love it. The songs have great ideas, and clever concepts that really spark conversation in my house. And the music itself is really wonderful. (Cooking in the kitchen and Bang on the Pan are favorites) I'm sold on Tom Chapin and look forward to hearing his other albums.

We LOVE Tom Chapin... Our big boys (now ages 9 & 11) still love his clever songs, and mom and dad can enjoy the songs equally, if not more, than the kids! (Very rare with the usual "kids" music albums.) Tom's albums are all "5's" in our book... and we've listened to TONS of children's albums since our big boys were infants. Our newest family member, 2-year-old Quinn, also loves TC's music. His songs are smart, sweet, thoughtful, and often environmentally conscience. Just what our little ones should be listening to!

This newest album; the songs grow on us every day! The kid's favorites are Yo-Yo's Ma; Making Good Noise, and Putting On A Show. Mom's favorites are always the sweet, meloncholy tunes that celebrate the fleeting magic of childhood: On this album, my two favorites are "Sing Me The Story of Your Day," and "I Need A Lullabye."

If you're new to Tom Chapin's music ... I'd highly recommend "Family Tree" as a first album to start with (it's our hands-down favorite of all the TC albums,) -- and then enjoy all the other albums after that... you can't go wrong with any of them :-)