Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology [2-CD SET]

Graham Parker | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 1993)
• Original Release Date: September 21, 1993
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Rhino / Wea
• ASIN: B00000332P
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,732 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. White Honey

2. Back to Schooldays

3. Howlin' Wind

4. Don't Ask Me Questions

5. Soul Shoes [Live]

6. Heat Treatment

7. Pourin' It All Out

8. Fool's Gold

9. Hold Back the Night

10. Stick to Me

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. No Holding Back

2. Another Grey Area

3. Temporary Beauty

4. Life Bets Better

5. Anniversary

6. You Can't Take Love for Granted

7. Break Them Down

8. Wake up (Next to You)

9. Don't Let It Break You Down

10. Back in Time

See all 19 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

This 2 CD set is an out of print collectible! It is the 1993 Rhino release. Catalog R2-71425. Two CDs in idividual jewel cases with booklet and slip cover. Cover is slightly worn on the back edges. Jewel cases have small drill holes in spines.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parker is no ordinary man, February 12, 2005

By 

Thomas E. Davis (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

Graham Parker is a growling, howling volcano of a performer backed by a roaring band that melds soul and punk on terrific songs like "White Honey," "Fool's Gold," "Temporary Beauty," "You Can't Take Love for Granted," "Break Them Down," and "Get Started, Start a Fire." He collaborated on this 1993 Rhino Records collection of tracks from 11 albums produced for four different labels over a period of 15 years, from 1976 through 1991. It's a great showcase for an immensely talented, intelligent, and passionate writer, singer, and instrumentalist. With his corruscating guitar licks, switchblade voice, irresistable hooks, and provocative lyrics, Parker shows us what rock and roll is all about.

Four cuts on the anthology come from Parker's groundbreaking first album, "Howlin' Wind," three from his second release, "Heat Treatment," and three from his next LP, "Stick to Me." His greatest success, "Squeezing Out Sparks," deserves no less than six excerpts, including the songs "Discovering Japan," "You Cant Be Too Strong," and the fiery song for which this compilation is named, "Passion Is No Ordinary Word." The album "The Up Escalator" is up next, showcasing four tracks, while "Another Grey Area" and "The Real Macaw" are represented by two and three cuts respectively. Four other releases are excerpted: "Steady Nerves," "The Mona Lisa's Sister," and "Human Soul," with three tracks each, and "Struck by Lightning," with four. Three live performances, "Soul Shoes," "Hold Back the Night," and "Soul Corruption," round out the set.

The anthology also includes a booklet with an in-depth essay, numerous quotes from the man himself, and a characteristically self-deprecating and snort-inducing preface. There are 39 tracks in all, two-and-a-half hours of brilliant music on two discs, making this the definitive overview of Parker's early career. "Burning Questions," the album that followed this one, is also recommended as uniformly excellent.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Passion is not ordinary in the Regis & Kathy Lee audience, April 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD offers a pretty good sampling of Graham Parker's career through 1991. Except for the strange omissions of "A Brand New Book" and "Protection," the anthology includes all the Parker classics this long-time fan expected. Otherwise, as what seems to be the norm for these anthologies, the PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD selections favor the artist's older music. The souvenier booklet adds value. To promote PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD, Graham Parker appeared on the "Live With Regis and Kathy Lee," TV show. Kathy Lee Gifford did a fine interview with Parker, but when he sang a reggae, acoustic-guitar version of "Get Started, Start A Fire," Graham dumbfounded the white-bread studio audience. (Good thing the applause sign worked.) Just for that, pick up PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIT TREATMENT, November 11, 2011

By 

Jukebox Dave (RECORD TOWN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passion Is No Ordinary Word: The Graham Parker Anthology [2-CD SET] (Audio CD)

GRAHAM PARKER-PASSION IS NO ORDINARY WORD/THE GRAHAM PARKER ANTHOLOGY 1976-1991: Squawling pub rocker GRAHAM PARKER boasted some of the purest white soul slinger pipes of the 80s, a slimey vinegar and saccharin cocktail that gave raspy hacksaw voice to his scathing sabre-pen and world weary mix of punk, folk, and island vibes. Opening salvos on this chronological career roundup reveal HEAT TREATMENT and HOLD BACK THE NIGHT, barnstormers dripping with roadhouse sweat and red hot RNB horn blasts, while DON'T ASK ME QUESTIONS lurches along on a shuffling ska plane. Peak period album SQUEEZING OUT SPARKS boasts a steampacket of riches from would-be smash LOCAL GIRLS to sardonic slasher DISCOVERING JAPAN, and I WANT YOU BACK packs a bona fide wallop unlike few MOTOWN classics ever tackled. PARKER's twisted wit and thorny wordplay inform MERCURY POISONING, an odious grenade lobbed at his old record label that's in sharp contrast to the harshed mellow of TEMPORARY BEAUTY and WAKE UP (NEXT TO YOU). Later efforts SOUL CORRUPTION and MUSEUM OF STUPIDITY are the scalding kiss-offs their titles imply, suggesting that PARKER sacrificed precious little of his sardonic edge as time marched on, always a man with something important to say.

RATING: FIVE GROWLS