Customer Reviews

Repossessed / Third World Warrior

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These two CD's are wonderful. Third World Warrior is political and I think a masterpiece. It is about U.S. involvement in Central America in the 80's, and it is still relevant today. Kris cuts to the core with truth, his words evoking priceless imagery as always. I wish I had bought it the first time. I wondered how the music could be that good, considering the subject of the songs. Was I pleasantly surprised! The music and words are perfectly paired(more in his rock style with some Latin American touches.) By the way, his spanish accent is mesmerizing. "Aguila Del Norte(Eagle of The North) is powerful and stunning. "Sandinista" is beautiful and uplifting. Every song is great and it all goes together perfectly.

Repossessed is also excellent. It has a varity of great songs on it. "Shipwrecked in the Eighties" for the Vietnam vets is very touching. I like "This Old Road" about living and growing and getting older, it is hopeful and sad at the same time. All the songs are good.

After listening to this set, I couldn't help but think that maybe KK is a modern day prophet. He points out injustice, consequences of actions, suffering of the innocent and downtrodden as he has always done, but in "Love is The Way" he points to God and love as the way. There are other clues. Prophets are often misunderstood and under appreciated. I am pleased to see his spiritual growth showing through. Thanks Kris, for sharing with us.

Kris Kristofferson is without a doubt the best songwriter of our time. I have been a fan from the beginning. Over the years, I have found comfort in his music, words and voice. I know these two CD's will get a lot of play---already have. If you are a fan, don't miss the beauty and power of this work.

It was another 'poet and a preacher and a problem when he is stoned', Kurt Vonnegut who said, "let your language be the slave of your idea" and this, in a nutshell, is what this album is about. The music, lyrics and voice are still pristine but what knocks me dead after all these years is still his "ideas". The courage and the sacrifice of Kristoffferson to take this path has to be applauded. When many lesser musicians would play safe, Kritofferson has always been true to himself and this leaps out at you in this album. He laughingly admits to being 'distinctly less employable' as he made these songs. Yet he kept on. Kristofferson effortlessly exudes the cool of moonlight. What more can you say of a man who has shown us the nobility of all the blue patches that life has to offer and then goes on to play on the side of all the mistreated forgotten children of other worlds. He does it again and again with stunning effectiveness. Try "Broken freedom Road" (live and exquisite)and "A moment of forever" (more recent).Bless you KK.

The only reason these albums were not mega hits upon their first release is that they were too far ahead of their time. Krisofferson's perception and insight are (and always have been) so advanced, that it will take the general public years to conceive the significance and accuracy of his description and predictions. It saddens me to think that Kris himself, probably won't be arround to realize the full impact of his wisdom upon the world. I wish the record company would publicize the release of his material more, so that everyone (not just his enlightened following) would have the opportunity to experience Kris and his truth.

I'm referring to the 1980 Sandinista! album by the Clash, a 3-disc monstrosity that was the beginning of the end for a great band. Kristofferson, of all people, is the one who eulogized the Nicaraguan revolution brilliantly in popular music. Third World Warrior is the kind of in-your-face political album Sting wishes he could do. Kristofferson's band is one of the best country-rock aggregations ever assembled. Even when his voice starts to wear, Kristofferson can depend on the musicians. The songwriting tells a unified story, in which Kristofferson unashamedly makes the case for honoring the Nicaraguans who withstood, but only for a time, the brutality of the most powerful country on earth in the form of the Carter, Reagan, and Bush I terms. Kristofferson understands something has to be said about the destruction of a nation that helped its own people survive, and did no harm to the U.S. He says it well.

This is a brilliant collection of songs that tell a harsh truth. No one writes with the beauty and power of Kris Kristofferson and it is a shame that all to often his work has been overlooked. Whether he is writing of lost love or as in this case political and social injustice Kris cuts To The Bone (another great album) and writes with a passion and lyrical beauty unsurpassed by anyone.

Two Kristofferson CD's are represented here: "Repossessed" and "Third World Warrior."

The first one is a pure delight for songwriting enthusiasts. "Mean Old Man" features Carl Perkins. "They Killed Him" compares Ghandi, King, Christ, and the Kennedy brothers in a moving tribute that looks at the inner evils of humanity. "El Coyote" is a rompin tribute to outlaws, while "The Heart" is a song about life.

"Third World Warrior" is an album that revolves around American involvement in Central America in the 80s. "The Eagle and the Bear" is an autobiographical piece, while the romping title track says it all: "Ain't no chain as strong as the will to be free." "The Hero" is a powerful number that says you can be great if you only try. "Jesse Jackson" is a song of impending world peace, sung with Willie Nelson.

Kristofferson is the best singer/songwriter there is. These two albums showcase his talents, while sending out a stark message: it doesn't matter who you are, the future is in your hands--you can do wonders with it, or you can toss it aside in exchange for material gains. It's your choice, but Kris Kristofferson has already made up his mind; thank God, he decided to sing it to us.

Here are two great Kris Kristofferson albums for the price of one. The songs on Third World Warrior are more overtly political than those on Repossessed. The personal is so often political.

As do so many of the song's in Kris Kristofferson's songwriting oeuvre, the main theme is about looking beneath the surface of people and things and seeking out the real, the true. Seeking out the truth. While his songs are very much grounded in everyday reality, often-painful realities, they speak up for people and values that are so easily submerged and forgotten in an overly materialist world. These are great songs written by someone with a precious thing indeed, namely a conscience.

The songs on these two albums also deal with love and justice, in both the personal and political arenas. As Kris says in The Heart, a song where he addresses his father, "the heart is all that matters in the end"

Thank God for this re-issue! Kristofferson writes songs of freedom (political and personal) that hit you right in the gut. One would think because these are mainly political songs, that they are inaccessible and boring. Not so! If these songs had lyrics about drunk cowboys, they would have been hits when they where originally released. Kristofferson couldn't care less about pleasing mainstream Nashville and Middle-America.

Buy it and prepare for major goosebumps!

These CDs are a reminder that there was a time, not so long ago, when even Americans criticised their leaders and didn't swallow all the lies fed to them.
The inglorious Reagan years of CIA thugs running amok in Latin America are vividly recalled by many of Kris Kristofferson's songs. I recommend these
DCs to those who prefer to think for themselves.

Kris Kristofferson is the true renaissance man...someone I admire greatly...who has experienced much...and still speaks out against injustice and imperialism.

Thanks Kris.