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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Al in the 80's, January 26, 2008
After not listening to this for a long time, I got the cd. This was the first recording Al put out after a long hiatus I believe was forced on him by lawsuits. I saw him at the Bottom Line in NYC when he released this. The LP came out in an American and European version - the differing tracks were Lori Don't Go Right Now instead of One that got away, and The Gypsy & the Rose instead of Night Meeting. Thankfully they're all on this cd along with some bonus tracks. The One That Got Away is an upbeat and good start to the CD, similar to Year of the Cat. Rumors of war which has great lyrics is a song that I loved in 1984 and hate now. It is plodding and sluggish with an annoying sythesizer riff. Night Meeting is a song that amazingly sounded much better live than on this recording. Accident on 3rd is a Dylan-like song about a car crash and is humorous. Strange Girl is like a punkish version of Bob Dylan's on the road again. The title track is a very good song, pretty. Cafe Society is an excellent song, wild guitar and some pretty great sax playing. 1-2-3 is a political rewrite of the 1960's tune "Primitive country rich in minerals you pay them with beads, tip the generals it's easy..." I love it except for the chick singers in the background. The Candidate is an uncharacteristically folkish tune, pensive, short, nice. The Gypsy & The Rose is nice musically, but the lyrics annoy me, Lori is a very pretty tune - Stewart at his best. In Red Square is the same as The One that Got Away with different lyrics, How does it happen quite literally sucks, and Garp is ok. This is a respectable album, but sometimes that slick 80's sound makes me ill. Phil Kenzie blows the sh@* out of the sax, and sometimes a little subtlety would be preferable to a Clarence Clemmons imitation which wasn't the best type of sound for Stewart anyway. If you skip the annoying songs like Rumors and the others I mentioned, this is an enjoyable album, but for the misses I can only give it 3 and 1/2 or 4 stars not 5. If you want great stuff, check out some of Al's other CD's except for 24 Carrots.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Pivotal Moment, August 19, 2006
This review is from: Russians & Americans (Audio CD)
I remember when I first found this album...when it was on vinyl! I was a volunteer DJ at a community radio station in Dallas, TX and I was helping to catalogue their record collection. I was intrigued and had to listen to it.
The title track grabbed me and reminded me of the lessons I learned when I took world history in high school. (The teacher was a former CIA agent who also taught Russian.) I remembered the lessons from those days about how the Russians were really quite enamored of Americans and how very much like us they were even in the days before Glasnost.
Perhaps partly due to this album, I chose to become part of the Great Peace March in 1986. There were other reasons as well, but I cannot help but think of that year without my bringing up this song in my memory's soundtrack.
When the CD was finally released, I bought it immediately and still enjoy listening to it today. The last two tracks (added to the CD version) are nice to hear as they are presented. Even so, my favorite songs--besides the title track--are "Strange Girl", "Café Society" and "Accident On 3rd Street" (a haunting, bitter song about the loss of an innocent life due to a careless drunk driver).
While this wasn't a hit album--after all, this came out during the "evil empire" rhetoric of the Reagan Administration--I hold it in rather high esteem. My hope is that more will discover the rare pearls within this Al Stewart classic.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
O.K., BUT OTHER STEWART ALBUMS ARE FAR BETTER, July 7, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Russians & Americans (Audio CD)
Although I enjoy almost all of the Al Stewart albums, this one is a little too "poppy" for my taste. I think this is because it was released during the 80's (the dancing decade)and it shows. Instead of concentrating on great melodies and lyrics as he normally does, Stewart appears to mostly worry about making rhythmic, danceable music here. However, there are a few good ones in there for the true Stewart fan.
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