Customer Reviews

Portrait Gallery

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THIS IS MY FAVORITE Harry Chapin Album. Way back when, I had all of his LP's and I wore them all out. ~ I know all the stories by heart. ~ At first glance, I thought I would choose the boxed set, but, alas, it did not include "Sandy," his shameless love song written to his beautiful wife, Sandy Chapin. ~ Along with "Tangled Up Puppet" and "Dreams Go By," this album illustrates to me Harry the Family Man, the REAL Harry. ~ Harry was my Hero and "my first" Sensitve Man. I was blessed to see Harry twice in concert. I waited in line afterward both times while he signed endless autographs, and promoted his passion to "End World Hunger." ~ Many years later, I now have my own Sensitive Man and our two beautiful children who inspire me, along with Harry, to strive to make THIS world "A Better Place to Be."

What an incredible, varied mix of wonderful story-songs from the master. 'Sandy' and 'Stop Singing Those Sad Songs' are fairly weak and unmemorable, but those aside, this album is art. 'Bummer' is the portrait of an abused infant who focuses his rage to become an unwilling war hero. Raw and absolutely awesome. 'The Rock' can be enjoyed by people of all ages... a song where only a small boy can see the threat against his town, while the majestrates ignore him as a dramatic child. 'Dirt Gets Under the Fingernails' is a light-hearted and joyous look at a couple who make their dreams come true. 'Dreams Go By' is a wonderful, light tale, of a couple who spend their life together making plans only to realize that most of them never did come true, but their life was great anyway. 'Tangled Up Puppet', one of my personal favorites... if you have a child of your own, I dare you to sing along without your voice cracking at the wistfulness of watching your treasured child come into their own. This is one of the more overlooked Chapin albums, but it should be required listening by students of all art forms.

THIS IS A COLLECTION OF SONGS THAT IS VERY UNUSUAL AND PERHAPS ONE OF CHAPINS LEAST HEARD ALBUMS. FROM BEAUTIFUL SONGS LIKE "SANDY" TO THE VERY CAPTIVATING "BUMMER" THESE SONGS AND THAT CHAPIN VOICE WILL KEEP YOU ENTRANCED. AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR ANY TRUE CHAPIN FAN.

I don't know if anyone's noticed this yet, but if you turn the cover 90 degrees to the left you will see the "portrait" is of Harry. All the songs are good, but my favorite is "Dreams Go By."

Got into Harry because of my parents and I could not thank them more for it. His music reminds me of my childhood and I could listen to this one anytime of the day and enjoy it.

Some of his best songs are on this one: Dreams Go By, The Rock, Bummer, and Tangled Up Puppet.

"Portrait Gallery", one of Harry Chapin's albums, has been foolishly discontinued on CD and is now one of his rarest albums to obtain. Shame because this album has produced so many great songs, such as "Dreams Go By", "Tangled Up Puppet", and the epic "Bummer", which I think should have achieved the acclaim of "Sniper". It also has lesser known songs such as "Babysitter", about Harry losing his virginity, "Star Tripper" about the scars of fame, and "Dirt Gets Under the Fingernails", another battle of the sexes. Anyway, this is one of Chapin's best albums. If you can find it, it's worth a purchase.

Seriously, if you are a Harry Chapin fan, is there anything that isn't good? It was just what I excepted and hoped for. A blast from the past and a view into days gone by...
RIP Harry!
5 stars!!!!!!!!!!

I think each Harry Chapin album is good in its own right, but if I had to give a Chapin album the title of "not-the-best", it would be this album. The lyrics are good, but in regards to the instrumentation, it is over-produced.

Granted, I think an album that is over-produced can still work, but this seems to come off as pure self-indulgence. My theory: his album before this, Verities & Balderdash, had gone to No. 4 on Billboard and had given him a # 1 hit with "Cat's in the Cradle". As with the unwritten rule in the music biz, if you have great success with a record, the artist can "have it his way" to a greater degree in the record that will follow. The trouble is, with this album, I think the producers and execs at Elektra Records let Harry "have it his way" a little too much.

The record does have two songs which, I think, sound good: "Star Tripper" and "Sandy". So, in the end, the record is not without some merits, but overall, I cannot help but think that this record could have been better.

- Marc Alan Hosch

P.S. This album is not Chapin's finest moment, but to be fair, Bob Dylan released a slew of horrible records in the 1980s, yet even then, he was still greatly respected.

For those who sat through a Chapin concert you'll understand. For those of you who missed him, I'm sorry.