Mission Temple Fireworks Stand

Paul Thorn | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 13, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Narada
• ASIN: B00006CTEK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,508 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #48 in Music > Indie Music > Folk > Singer Songwriters

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Want Alternative Music? Here Is The Real Thing, October 18, 2002

By 

Crabby Apple Mick Lee (INDIANAPOLIS, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mission Temple Fireworks Stand (Audio CD)

I am one of the host of people who first met Paul Thorn on the Bob And Tom syndicated radio program. This guy has to be one of the most engaging personalities one is ever to meet. A former professional boxer--son of a revival tent minister, Paul Thorn is an honest and very funny man. Like all of the rest of his albums, Mission Temple Fire Works Stand is a winning collection of comical, tender and heartbreaking songs. Typically the listener first thinks "what the hell is this?" But soon you will take these songs to heart. As strange and unlikely as some of the characters are in Thorn's songs, you know they are real. Anyone who has ever travelled off the main highways and onto the country roads most of America lives on knows that the United States contains millions of wonderful people living the most pecular lives. Paul Thorn has met them--hell, he's one of them.

We here a lot of talk about how we hate the slick and over processed music that is offered to us by the record companies. We seem to buy it anyway. But if you want real alternative music--music and songs that grew from the land and not some creative writing workshop, buy this album. And then buy the rest of Paul Thorn's catalog.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HOLY SMOKES.....REALLY SMOKES!, December 17, 2002

By 

George Andrus "Bluesman" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mission Temple Fireworks Stand (Audio CD)

There I was at the Tower Records listening station, and there was Paul Thorn's new CD. Now the title alone should have been my first clue that this was going to be something....well, let's say different. By the time I was into the first 30 seconds of "Everybody looks good at the starting line" the spirit grabbed me...The spirit moved me... and a little voice said BUY THIS CD NOW!

By the time I got to my car I had the wrapper off and popped this gem into my CD player and I was off to the highway for the 15 minute ride home. Forty minutes later I pulled up in front of my house, sat there and listened to the last two tracks. I decided to miss my turn off and keep driving just to keep the music going. Mr. Thorn knows how to create a picture with his insights to some of lifes little oddities...Folks, the man can flat out write some tasty, funny, heart grabbing & soulful lyrics. "Angel Too Soon" is one of the most touching, immotional songs I've ever heard.

This CD has it all...Paul's "Jack Danials" dipped voice, a major groove, great musicians and intelligent lyrics that catch & give you pause for thought...."MISSION TEMPLE FIREWORKS STAND" IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Spirit and the Street, September 17, 2002

By 

Polysyllabite "RBlythe" (Birmingham, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mission Temple Fireworks Stand (Audio CD)

Rock-and-blues-influenced singer-songwriter Thorn has produced a release that's strong on several counts. His throaty growl shapes these songs about the street, the mixture of the sacred and profane, and the everyday downtrodden in loving, if occasionally jaded, ways. The songs themselves are eminently accessible and listenable. His lyrics are genuinely moving ("Everybody Looks Good at the Starting Line," "Downtown Babylon") and poignant ("Mission Temple Fireworks Stand," "Rise Up") and wear their heart on their sleeve nicely ("I'm a Lucky Man"). He really seems to have something spiritual (not religious) to say without taking the easy or preachy route (Ain't Livin' in Sin No More," "Nothin' But the Devil"). The musicianship is superb, reminiscent of the snap of a good Hiatt or McClinton CD, but Thorn has his own voice and style even in his given genre, a rare find in this dime-a-dozen musical climate. Highly recommended.