Customer Reviews

Mosquitos

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had this cd for years and it is always a pleasure to revisit. I'm not going to grab the cd and start reviewing song by song. I am not writing this from the context of all the prior reviews; just straight from the hip. Maybe I'll grab the cd one day and bang out a "real" review.

Like I suppose is true for some others who have grown to be ardent Stan fans, I discovered this cd by accident - 12 years ago in my case. Sure I had heard of Wall of Voodoo and I owned "Call of the West". "COTW" is lot of fun and also highly recommended -4 stars would be my score, with Mosquitos scoring 5. Maybe because the music on Mosquitos seems a bit more timeless and thoughtful, while Wall of Voodoo is more of that early 80's moment - great moment though it was.

I thought this was MY "find", a gem that I wanted to share with others, a gem I wasn't hearing on the radio.

Fortunately, a good many people felt the same way. The album got a lot of good exposure from positive critical acclaim and from the strong word of mouth from those who owned this masterpiece. Some of the more adventurous radio stations even played it.

Stan's work here is both dark and uplifting; funny and bittersweet. I would compare it to a smart, witty drama - the kind that isn't for everyone in the way a "Memento", "Local Hero" or a Woody Allen, Robert Altman or David Lynch movie can be. Stan's music and this cd should be heard by more people. It is accessible. And it is smart. Liken it to an adult film (not THAT kind) such as Gosford Park versus the vacuous "popular" drivel of Pearl Harbor/Armageddon-type movies. Cinema is an apt metaphor for songs/stories from Stan whose music/lyrics are oft cited as cinematic/noirish. Though, staying on this film tack, Stan's music might be better characterized cinematically as Gosford Park/Altman-type sensibility crossed with Repo Man crossed with a bit of Local Hero mixed in with a bit of Groucho Marx. Film examples aside (again Stan's music brings me to analogies related to film for some reason - listen to Mosquitos and you'll hear why), Stan Ridgway's music is not as well known because it is a bit deeper, a bit smarter than lowest-common-denominator. What a musical oasis provided as it was released during the Motley Crue/Poison/Ratt era of rock music.

So what if "everyone" has not discovered the unique brilliance of Stan Ridgway and what I, and many others, consider his masterpiece, "Mosquitos"; it doesn't mean YOU can't!

If you like Tom Waitts, John Prine, Springsteen, Van Morrison, Joe Strummer, Lyle Lovett, Pete Townshend, Bob Dylan and the like, then add this to your music collection and enjoy. Mosquitos is one of the best albums of the 80's and still sounds great today. Listen and you will hear why it is appropriate to include this Stan Ridgway work with the stellar group of musicians/songwriters mentioned above. Those artists are vital and so is the music of Stan Ridgway.

Many of America's best songwriters never get even a smidge of what they deserve. One of these, Stan Ridgway, sadly wallows in relative obscurity while performers with .00001 of the talent and skill bask in fame and fortune. Why this continually happens remains one of the music industry's greatest unsolvable mysteries. Some of the greatest albums ever recorded just somehow fall between the cracks. "Mosquitos" is one of these great lost albums. But don't look for it on critics' top 100 lists or even "sleepers of the 1980s" lists. The thing just plain disappeared from view.

As many know, Ridgway started out in the late 1970s/early 1980s with the now cult band "Wall Of Voodoo" (no, he didn't write "Mexican Radio" but he sang it brilliantly). He left the band after things started to get crazy (and apparently the record label and manager took them for nearly everything). Following 1986's "The Big Heat", Ridgway, with his drawl somewhere between Micheal Stipe and Neil Young, then made this pop music masterpiece. All albums from the 1980s should have been half this good. And it does sound like a 1980s album. But that's not a bad thing at all because Stan Ridgway made it. Doubtless Geffen groped for hit material with this one. Strangely they didn't get it; because "Mosquitos" contains some of the catchiest and most unforgettable songs of the 1980s. Just try to not sing along with "Goin' Southbound" or "Dogs". You'll fail. Try not to be moved by the seriously tongue-in-cheek "Newspapers" or the deeply poignant "A Mission in Life." You'll fail there, too. No duds mar this album. No "ehh" tracks act as mortar between "acceptable" songs. Everything shines.

Ok, so maybe some explanations exist as to why this album didn't climb the charts like Kong. It starts slow. The intense instrumental "Heat Takes A Walk" leads into the very laid back country-ish "Lonely Town". Many listeners looking for pop/dance hooks may mindlessly finger the "stop" button after hearing these two tracks. Of course after that the pace picks up with a vengeance. And the lyrics. They're neither vapid nor insipid. Some of them contain dark themes. "Goin' Southbound" follows the story of an unfolding crime, complete with death threats and corrupt police. "Dogs" refers to tombstones, death, and manglings (and contains an absolute killer horn riff). The narrator of "Peg and Pete and Me" gets hornswaggled into killing a rich man by his seductive wife. The ending isn't a happy one. "Can't Complain" tells the story of poor Bert. A piano falls on him. Ow. And "Newspapers" lampoons the entire concept of news and the strange dependency we all have on it. Even the album's title suggests a not so rosy view of human nature (just reflect on what mosquitos can represent and juxtapose that with the themes of the songs). All in all not exactly top-40 lyrical material. But all in all a great album from beginning to end that still sounds fresh years later.

Another interesting tid-bit: a then unknown Tori Amos provided backing vocals on "Dogs", "Peg and Pete and Me", and "The Last Honest Man".

Ridgway still writes, tours, and records songs. Many of his albums are as hard to find as 1989's "Mosquitos". Some have even seen re-release, but strangely not "Mosquitos". This album never received the chance it deserved. It remains bizarrely out of print. After hearing it a few times you'll likely bang your head in confusion and say "Why?"

Hardcore fans of Stan Ridgway (all 6 of us) may disagree, but I find this to be at once Stan's most accessible, and also his best album. After the promise of "Call of the West" (his last hurrah with Wall of Voodoo), and "The Big Heat" Stan created his most beautifully melodic album, with "Mosquitos". Stan's songwriting has remained strong over the course of his entire obscure career, but here he simply seems to have found the right musical mix to complement his songwriting. His modest use of synths, harmonica, and yes, even trombones, is inspired, if not typical Stan. I disagree that this album is quintessentially 1980s - it is quintessentially ageless. There are no weak songs on this album - mainly because, finally, Stan's musical talent matched his storytelling mojo.

"The Big Heat" got me interested, and "Mosquitos" sealed the deal. No matter what Stan does from now on (and I hear "Blacktop" is great), he will always have this masterpiece under his belt.

It is June 2005. I'm 44 years old and just got done listening to Stan for the first time (Mosquito 3 times in a row to be more precise). I can not believe what I've been missing. The good thing is I now have Mr. Ridgway's entire career to enjoy as brand new music because it's all new to me. Mission in Life has got to be one of the best songs of any genre ever written and performed by anyone who has ever done anything. Good god.
Everything I've heard so far just moves me. Songwriting at this level is phenominal. Bob Dylan who?
We'll, Stan Ridway is just absolutely pure talent and I have everything by him that I can find on it's way from Amazon.com. All you folks out there who have been listending to Mr. Ridgway all these years, I commend you on your extremely good taste in music. Glad to be a part of the brotherhood. I just can't get over this man's talent. Wow.

This CD was so good I went out and bought all of his albums and Vodoo ones as well. They are all gone now but this one remains. It's an 80's "progressive" classic like "Infected" or "Skylarking". An entirely original sound with a narrative style like Donald Fagen. For those who retrospectively are digging for gems in that decade, this is a must have.

Stan is an artist no doubt. This album was the second after the crazy/dark/magik experience with the Wall of Vodoo. A lot of expectations ($) from the record company, but it didn't sell enough. Why? Well i don't know or maybe i do but in anycase the bottom line is that Stan deserve more recognition and this album is a PEARL, i still can't live without it. Try it. Sincerely Giovanni

Stan Ridgeway has a way of telling short stories in song. I believe this was his first solo album after being with Wall of Voodoo for umpteen years.

The song "Southbound" was very popular on LA's KROQ radio when it was released.

If you like Stan Ridgeway's unique music, this is a must have.

This record is one you must own - now.! Its a whole story..kinda like a real good movie. I think of "THE LAST PICTURE SHOW" or "THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE" ,it is that good. Stan Ridgway is a great americn songwriter. Kinda like Henry Miller or Jack Keroac writing songs instead of books. Buy this. You will not be sorry. Bill Goland in West Virgina...so there...

Maybe not much people gave attention to this work, but please give it a try: you'll not be disappointed. I like jazz as my main "lovin' baby" but had the opportunity to know just by the case this cd and just could not take off the cd player for days. The ones that love "Gaucho" (Steely Dan), "The nightfly" (D. Fagen), will welcome this piece of undefinable music. To give a little idea, it combines the highly expressive voice of Stan with mainstream yet "fresh" melodies and truly original "vocal paintings" (read beautiful little stories that help you to think) Buy it!

In 1980 Wall of Voodoo crawled out of a dank basement to give us some of the best music of an era. The EP that is now known on CD as "The Index Masters", and its successor, "Dark Continent", were original, imaginative, melodic and well-delivered. The final WOV release, "Call of the West" spawned the song that pegged the band as a one hit wonder, "Mexican Radio", but unlike the first two WOV releases it was a little more inconsistent. The band broke up after a performance at the US Fest.

A few years later Stan emerged with a promising debut solo album, "The Big Heat". The sound would appeal to WOV fans, but Stan avoided overtly mimicking his previous band. It included three Stan classics in the title track, "Camouflage" and "Drive She Said". For WOV fans who enjoyed the sideways western instrumental "On I-15", Stan's debut provided a sequel in the album's closer, "Rio Greyhound".

Then Stan got signed to Geffen Records and delivered "Mosquitos", the best album of the first portion of that solo career. Start to finish, no filler, every track a Stan classic. Continuing with a sound similar to that of "The Big Heat", the second solo album was more evocative and cohesive. Narratives that sound like instant urban legends, stirring memories of dark desert nights, decaying outposts of civilization dotting the interstate, sordid motel room trysts at the place with the flashing sign, dubious business activities being conducted from sedan trunks in shadowy parking lots...you get the picture. Here was a solo album that was the equal of "Dark Continent".

Stan would deliver one more album on Geffen, "Partyball", which included a couple of favorites in "Harry Truman" and "The Roadblock", before withdrawing for a few years to regroup. Stan returned in 1996 with a new sound, sometimes labeled "Alternative Folk", and a new album, "Black Diamond". But of the three solo albums that make up this phase of Stan's music career, "Mosquitos" is the trump card.