Customer Reviews

Near Truths and Hotel Rooms Live

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Todd Snider has finally recorded an album that maximizes on his strengths: namely his clever wordplay and sharp-witted sense of humor. Snider is one of the best singer-songwriters working today, but his studio albums have always cut him a bit short. With "Near Truths & Hotel Rooms" it becomes obvious that Snider is much more comfortable in the spontaneous environment of the live stage than he is in the polished, overproduced world of studio recordings.

It must also be said that Snider is very generous with his fans, putting out a disc that is paked full at 23 tracks and 75 minutes of music. As it turns out a longer recording was necessary as Snider gives spoken word introductions to many of the songs. Snider classics like "Lonely Girl," "I Can't Complain" sound better in the accoustic format, while tunes like "Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern," and "Broke," become epics with their introductions. For those who are not that familiar with Snider's music, I would liken this album to a combination of John Prine and Arlo Guthrie on thier best days.

Overall, an outstanding live album in a style that suits the artist very well.

I agree with everything all the other 5-star reviewers here have said but I have to admit to being late to the Todd Snider party.

I first heard Todd play live a couple of years ago opening for Suzanne Vega. He seemed like a little bit of an odd fit but I liked him though since it was in Seattle and he did a song about Seattle music scene that was really funny, I just assumed he was some local guy. I think I may also have seen him open once before that for John Prine.

So why did it take me until now to get around to discovering his greatness through this record? Well, I think he's taken awhile to reach his peak as a writer and also he makes you laugh so easy and makes it look so easy to do what he is doing on stage that I might have easily assumed he's coasting a bit and not see how good he is. Play this album a few times and you will quickly realize that's just flat out misperception. Todd's a fully rounded songwriter and performer who can make you laugh one song and put a lump in your throat with the next one. For example, if you tend to have just heard him as a 'funny storytelling guy' check out "Lonely Girl", "Waco Moon", "I Spoke As A Child" or especially "Long Year" here. They are just fine well crafted tender songs that show he's as capable of observing about heart ache and the depths of the human condition in his songs as he is at making clever light verse. Oh, and not to discount the funny songs either. They are right up there with anybody's best when it comes to humorous songs. You will find that you can laugh just as much at Todd's lyrics and delivery of them in "Tension", "Beer Run", "Statistician's Blues", "Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues" and "The Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern" after multiple repeat listenings as you might have the first time they caught your ear. What's especially nice is the way they are sequenced and interspersed here with the more straight-up or sobering songs.

He's also best served here by being able to pick from among the best of his material (and he's got some great ones that didn't make it on here - if I have one nit pick here it's that I'd have traded a 2nd version of 'Beer Run' on here for 1 more from his rich songbook) and by presenting it in a solo setting where both he and the audience are clearly relaxed and can settle in and focus on enjoying his storytelling skills and concentrate on his fine well crafted lyrics and his timing and delivery of them. Each song comes off like a rough and ready diamond honed through years of touring and performing but because of his comfort in playing them live this way, they come off as fresh and inspired as if he had just sat down and played them all for the first time.

Buy this album if you love great folk songwriting like John Prine, classic 1960's period Bob Dylan, or Neil Young. I think Todd's best stands up next to the best of those guys if they are left to deliver songs in the solo performance format.

Back in 1994, Snider issued a CD called "Songs for the Daily Planet" which had a half-dozen astounding compositions on it, and announced the arrival of a huge new talent. While in the past ten years, Todd has not had that elusive chart-topper, he has released five additional studio CD's on two labels, each of which has merit. This 2003 live disc presents some of his best songs, done in his best setting, meaning in front of folks. He has some humorous introductions, a few cuss words, but mainly he presents these songs in versions as good as, or better than, they are rendered on the studio discs. His guitar-playing is also wonderful. Here he does a few raucous tunes, but also some of his prettier ballads. It is a great way to introduce a friend to Snider, if you don't own the "Daily Planet" album. And I own all his CD's, yet I am delighted that my son gave me this one for Christmas last week. I'm the Todd fan in the family, although I'm 60 and my boy is 26. He and I saw Todd live in Lubbock, Texas, three years ago. I can vouch that Snider is even better now. If you dig him, you really dig him, and you keep waiting for the world to embrace a song of his and make him some real money. Mainstream country star Gary Allen did put Todd's "I'm an Allright Guy" on a recent CD, and that's a step in the right direction. Todd is a blend of folk, rock, country and blues which is hard to describe. Just listen to samples from his various albums and make up your own mind.

Todd Snider is one of the few (if any) musicians who can engage an audience for two hours with nothing but his guitar, harmonica, stories and songs.
It is a treat to finally have a souvenir of those great live shows that he travels around the country giving under the radar of the mass appeal which he so richly deserves. I have seen Todd play in front of 20 people the same way he plays to 500.
He could throw out the guitar and be entertaining just telling the stories. He is an original, and a great songwriter to boot.
The great banter between songs also recalls Jimmy Buffett's earlier shows.
Go see Todd Snider in concert at the small venues he plays before the rest of the world catches on. And buy the cd and listen to it closely - you will experience a full range of emotions, from the narrative of an AA meeting (Long Year) to the humor of Beer Run...

do yourself a favor, keep a watch out for when todd snider comes to your town. he is about as entertaining a performer as i've seen. great songs. great between song banter. this is an excellent souvenier from his live shows. i hope more live recordings will be available soon.

I am typically not a fan of "Live CDs", but I have to say that this is absolutekly the best Live CD I have ever heard. It makes you feel you are in the Club with him. Todd Snider's music is some of the best for such a youngster. This is obviously not a highly produced/made over cd so the recording quality of some songs is different, but as I said you are in the club with him! There are a couple songs that I would have liked to have on there, but that leaves something for the next one. I have listened to it many, many times and I still laugh at his stories. I have let a variety of others (a wide range of ages and interests) and every one has enjoyed it. I recommend this Cd with out one bit of reservation. The recording issues only adds to the enjoyment of feeling like you are there. Shouldn't that be the goal of a Live CD?

By the time i first saw Todd Snider live he was opening up for John Prine to a Canadian crowd that wanted only Prine.. However, by the end of the first verse of his first song (Can't Complain) he'd won 'em all over.. Now I've seen him a half dozen times between Orpheum halls to smoky taverns and even a few lounge-type settings.. THIS album captures the lounge/tavern T.S. in a way i can't imagine capturing other than going to see him for yourself live... As a fan of Robert Earls and Townes' and even Reverend Prine's live albums, and i've had several months to let the initial shock of hearing this album settle, I've gotta really conclude that this live album stands up alongside any of those... and that includes immortals like "Rear View Mirror", "John Prine Live", and Robert Earles live one in Dallas... The story of the Backbone Tavern is a classic, similar to Prine's story about Sabu the Elephant Warrior... Enough of the comparisons, though.. Todd Snider is an excellent songwriter and tale-spinner (partly truth 'n partly fiction) and this album belongs in your collection by ALL means...

Loved this record! I read the reviews and decided to pick up a copy...in the two weeks I've owned it, I'll bet I've listened to the whole thing 15 times! Todd Snider is a folk singer that I can relate to...funny stories and some surprising hooks. The collection of songs and stories is just great...

This is the best album ever. Some of his songs are short, some are long, some are sad some are funny, and sometimes he goes for as many as 18 mins in between the songs, unless you yell at him then hell just shut up and play

Todd Snider is THE BEST singer-songwriter out there. He combination of sad, funny, and introspective songs puts him in a league by himself. Most hard core fans like myself are glad for a live album, but in the end, it makes you a fan of ALL his albums. The is a great overview of Todd, but in the end, all his albums are great.