Customer Reviews

Poet Game

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've worked as a backup musician for years, and tend to be a somewhat cynical judge of songwriters. I flinch easily. But when I heard "My New Book" from The Poet Game on NPR one day, I had to stop and stay in my car until it was done. Simply his best work overall, with nary a misstep or excessively sentimental turn. "64 Dodge" is a masterpiece - it talks about nothing and says everything. Yes, yes. This is the stuff.

One of the best albums, ever. The songs all stand alone and all stand together. An album that's all regional and all universal. Bob Dylan probably fantasizes that he is Greg Brown. Although I am not particularly partial to the singer/songwriter genre, some albums just shine through all the navel lint and this one certainly does just that.

I prefered Dream Cafe to this one, but only slightly. With these two cd's Brown is at the top of new folk music, and the singer songwriters revival. Great music and great lyrics. You ow these two cd's to yourself after a hard day's work.

Greg's unbelievable songwriting gets placed on a pedestal with this album. He put his heart and soul into this album and it shows. With the title track he opens his life to his listeners and lets them feel what it is like to live his life. Of course it wouldn't be a Greg Brown album without a little fun so in walks Boomtown. The cynical views take on a lightness that pounds his message in even further while your toe taps rhythmically. Great work.

The first Greg Brown album I owned, and it didn't take long to get me hooked. Layers upon layers of poetry, gorgeous tunes, and an unmistakable, masterful delivery. The disc is worth buying for "Driftless" alone - it's amazing, it's like a hymn, I want it played at my funeral - but that doesn't do justice to the rest of the album. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is my all-time favorite album.Sad,moving,personal.Brand New 64 Dodge,and One Wrong Turn are standouts on a standout album.Bo Ramseys guitar is the perfect compliment to Gregs lyrics.Greg is in my opinion one of the absolute best artits recording,and this record tops them all.Buy it!!!

OK so I'm almost a Greg Brown groupie. This is a fantastic CD. If you don't have it, order it today.

The first two paragraphs have been used in other reviews of folk musician/singer/songwriter Greg Brown's work.

Greg Brown is a particular kind of folk singer who before I listened to his "Greg Brown-The Live One " album reviewed elsewhere in this space I had not really paid attention to since the days of my early youth when I listened intently to Woody Guthrie whose songs were seemingly forged from the very heart of Americana. As a child of the urban folk revival of the 1960's I got caught up in listening to the more political message songs provided by the likes of Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs. As a poet/singer/songwriter Greg has come out of the heartland of America, like Woody, in a fury to write and sing his tales of love, remembrance, tragedy, desperation and, on occasion, just pure whimsy. He is thus in very good company, and belongs there.

His songs evoke, under more modern conditions to be sure, the days gone by when the community spirit of small town life meant something. A strong bass voice grainy with the trials and tribulations of life lend authenticity to his words, as does strong guitar playing when necessary. Needless to say the variety of topics covered in his songs speak for themselves from Grandma's food cellars to vanishing Iowa family farms to sweaty nights of lovemaking entwined with the up and down battles of love and, of course, the ubiquitous bouts of fishing that gain more than a nod in his albums.

Outstanding here, although the whole album from start to finish is probably the highest quality that Greg attains in one album, are the lyrically rich title track "the poet game", the seamy, steamy `ballingall hotel", the nicely counterpoised (maybe) "jesus and elvis", the elusiveness of "my new book", and "driftless". As always Greg is on top when singing about the seamy side of life, love and the mysteries of human existence out in the heartland.

sublime commentary from america's best folksinger. no filler, no fluff, just a blindingly original collection that ends with a flourish of brilliance. This was my first listen to Mr. Brown and I became an instant fan.

Sounding like a cross between Tom Waits and Lyle Lovett, Iowa's Greg Brown sounds like a true grandmaster of the poet game, a bard with vision, heart, and humor. Not quite as gruff as Waits, not quite as cutesy as Lovett, but definitely in the same league in terms of talent both in composing and performing.