Customer Reviews

Sail Away

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Not one song on this disc rocks in anyway shape or form. No songs like Lady Red Light, Once Biten, Twice Shy, or Stick It, but it doesn't matter. On this record we found that Great White was more than just a Led Zeppelin inspired blues rock band. not one song about hookers, groupies, drugs, or any of the other cliches that may have been writen about in the past. song by song, here is why i think this is one of the best cds of the 90's

1. A Short Overture... and that is what it is
2. Mother's Eye is a very slow opener, gets the record started and puts the whole record in prespective
3. Cryin', Another slow song about a lost relationship. Heart felt lyrics and soft melodies
4. Momma Don't Stop, An accoustic uptempo tune compared to most of the rest. The best sounding song this 1994 release
5. Alone, Great song! Flows so well with the record. A great bridge is heard here!
6. All Right, Another Upbeat Accoustic number with a catchy chorus. Probably could have been a big single if there was a little record company push
7. Sail Away, Title Track...has a litle of a jazz feel. When I first heard this song on the radio I had no idea it was GW. It made it's way to rock radio in 94'
8. Gone With the Wind, Best song here. Blues Songs With a sax solo by long time Bruce Springsteen sidekick Clarence Clements and what a sax solo. Mark and CC match notes and the sound is unreal. Song brings shades of Led Zeppelin's Since I Been Lovin' You, but with more passion
9. Livin' in the USA, the cloesest to Great White of the prior records. Toned down a little more to fit the record, but still a classic
10. If I Ever Saw a Good Thing. Hey, I can't give away the whole record!

I'm not sure if there is still a bonus Disc (it is live stuff), but if there is it only makes this even more worth the money. Some of the Live stuff was released prior, but makes this a great contrast with all the hits on the live 2nd disc.If you heard GW on the radio and want to hear more of what this artist can do, this is something to get

I'm a big GW fan... liked "Once Bitten Twice Shy" at the time, but didn't really get into them until I was given a copy of Psycho City, which I thought was great, and then I went back and collected their previous three releases (I've only gone as far back as Once Bitten).

I love GW for their blues-based rock'n'roll with the perfect combination of guitars, rhythm section, vocals, and frequent piano use. Psycho City was a fantastic album with some edgier stuff mixed in with some mellower bluesy tracks, and I had high hopes for this album when it came out. I was surprised when the first track on the album was a slow number, and even more surprised when the second one was a ballad also. In total there are five songs-of-the-slower-variety ("Mother's Eyes," "Cryin," "Alone," "Gone with the Wind," and "If I Ever"), but they're all fantastic, emotional, bluesy ballads of the sort that only Great White can do. Powerful stuff.

The songs that do rock ("Momma Don't Stop," "All Right," "Sail Away," and "Living in the USA") are primarily acoustic, but they rock just the same. There aren't any heavier songs like "Step on You" or "Psycho City", but the songs that are here stand on their own merit. I think GW's choice of a more toned-down, mostly acoustic album made for a perfect companion to the heavier Psycho City, and I think it was a fairly bold move for them to take a step in a different direction instead of just restricting their amazing rock 'n' roll song-writing talents to 'more of the same'.

These two albums together I think present a perfect picture of what Great White are all about and what they are capable of.

Notice that on 'Sail Away',the band is trying to recapture their formula that put them near the top of their heap in the '80's.A major downfall for them is it didn't fly.However,both long time and new fans JUST might like what they hear on this disc.Vocalist Jack Russell is in fine form as the rest of the guys are too,as for their playing.As for the tunes,there are some good ones,like "All Right",the bluesy "Mothers Eyes","Gone With The Wind" and "Livin' In The USA".If you're looking for an outstanding lp like their 'Once Bitten' or 'Hooked',you won't find it here.

One guy from above wrote that the whole album was full of ballads. Obviously he didn't really listen to it. This album is a real mellow album with some great singing, song writing, piano, and guitar work. The 2 best songs got some airplay in 1994 even though the airwaves were full of meaningless rock at the time. They are "Sail Away" and "All Right". Any time you are having a bad day listen to "All Right". It is an excellent pick me up and a very positive song. "Momma Don't Stop" rocks pretty hard along with "Livin In The USA". The only ballads are "If I Ever Saw A Good Thing" and "Mothers Eyes". The first of which is really good, and I don't usually like ballads. The album opens with a nice Overture. It also happens to be a 2 cd set, with the other cd being a live one called Anaheim Live. It only has 7 tracks, but hey it's free with Sail Away. Anaheim is a few miles from where they played there last show on NewYears eve 12/31/01. Go buy this cd right away. It's well worth it, and it's out of print. Rock On!

What a wonderful album. I found it to be a great follow-up to Psycho City (my favorite GW album), as it slowed things down considerably. Several other commenters have gone into great detail, so I really don't need to now, but suffice it to say that out of over 1000 CDs I own, this is one of only a few that I could play in an endless loop.

The only negative comment I could possibly make about this CD is that it contains only 10 songs. Considering the groove they were in during the recording, I wish they had done at least 4 or 5 more. My least favorite tune is probably "Mother's Eyes", but that is admittedly like saying that out of a garage full of sports cars, I like the Corvette the least.

The first time I heard the album in 1994 I actually didn't really care for it much, since I probably was expecting Pyscho City Part II, but after a couple of spins, I completely "got it". In retrospect, this should have been played all over the radio, but thanks to the bland, spoiled, and unexplainably-rebellious grunge scene it had a really short radio run.

Fans of unplugged music may want to avoid this one, however, since they may never want to listen to their other "official" unplugged albums again...

Great White has been one of my favorite bands for almost a decade now and I consider this to be their best album. An acoustic album, this is an album full of really great songs. Mostly emotional ballad-like songs, but a few party rockers as well, like Livin' in the USA and Mama, don't stop. Jack's voice is fantastic as always, as is Kendall's guitar-playing. Even Springsteen's old buddy, Clarence Clemons shows up with his saxophone on Gone with the wind! The album I bought had an extra live-cd with seven tracks, some of which are also included on the Stage album. As always, the band sounds fantastic live as well. Check out the Stage album!

Great White is now most infamously known for the horrible nightclub fire that occurred at one of their shows a few years ago, killing hundreds of people. It was a terrible tragedy that should have been avoided. Prior to the fire Great White was best known as a band from hair metal's glory days in the 80's and early 90's. In reality Great White was in my opinion a cut above your average hair metal band. The band always incorporated a lot of blues into their material, and if you got into some of their non radio album cuts there was a significant amount of substance to be found. This two disc set was put out when for the most part the band's popular radio years were behind them. The first disc Sail Away, is an acoustic oriented album of (at the time) new material. It is quite different than most of the stuff they had put out previously. The 2nd disc is a live album recorded, as the title suggests, in Anaheim California, containing most of their best known songs along with some album cuts. The Sail Away disc is a nice departure from the usual heavy rock that Great White is famous for. More than half the songs are ballads and even the rockier stuff features mostly acoustic instruments. It is not a fully unplugged album, but leans in that direction for most of it. Highlights for me are Mothers Eyes, Sail Away, Alone, and the terrific little blues tune Gone With The Wind with a guest sax solo by Clarence Clemmons. The whole thing is nothing that will go down in the rock history books, but I always enjoy it every time I put it on. The 2nd live disc features the bands two big hits Rock Me and the cover of Ian Hunter's Once Bitten Twice Shy. They both sound great live. They also do a cover of Led Zeppelin's Babe (I'm Gonna Leave You) which is very well done. Throw in some killer blues like Old Rose Motel and the power ballad Love Is A Lie and what you have is a nice little sampling of that the Great White live experience was about. I saw them opening for Judas Priest years ago and enjoyed what they did live. This album is a good representation of that. Unfortunately unless you find this used I don't believe that the live album is included in the Sail Away package if you buy it new today.

Sail Away is a great album to mellow out to. Generally slower music, and very musical and melodic. It does have some faster, up beat songs, but even those seem mellow in the whole mood of the album. One of my favorites of Great White. The Anaheim Live is a nice bonus, too!

Great White surprised a lot of people with their 1994 album Sail Away. It was the band's first release since grunge replaced hair metal as the dominant force on radio and MTV, and most of their peers were either making a half-hearted attempt to sound alternative or disappearing entirely. Great White decided to do something that defied all expectations, even those of their most dedicated fans.

Sail Away is an almost entirely acoustic album. That's right, the power chords and hard-hitting guitar hooks from albums like Shot in the Dark, Once Bitten... and ...Twice Shy...all gone. What's left though is pretty breathtaking. Great White always had a bit more to offer than the average hair metal band, and by stripping away the electric elements of their sound you can see just how effective this band really is. Calling Sail Away an album full of ballads is just not fair. First off, there are some really rockin' songs here. Plugged in or not, songs like "Momma Don't Stop" and "Livin' in the USA" are upbeat and wickedly catchy. Second, the slower songs are hardly all "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." They're soulful, moving songs as only a blues-rooted band like Great White can deliver. Think "Lovin' Kind" from Hooked, only more melancholy.

I get how people could be apprehensive about Sail Away. What I don't get is how any real fan of Great White could come away from this album saying it's the worst thing the band has done. I love the more rocking Great White albums as much as anyone, but Sail Away is a work of art, and should be considered one of the band's greatest achievements.

If all you're looking for is another Once Bitten or Twice Shy, then no, you're not going to get much out of Sail Away. If you're open-minded and want to see just what Great White can do, give this album a try. You won't regret it.

Edition Notes: Early editions of Sail Away came with a bonus disc called Anaheim Live that featured seven live songs, including some of their bigger hits and a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Babe (I'm Gonna Leave You)" and of course Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy." It's a nice addition, and probably helps lessen the blow for people who were expecting a more rocking album.

I first heard this in the winter of '93. I remember it like it was yesterday. This album re-inspired me. The music on this album is not representitive of the music they produced in the 80's. It has hooks like only Great White can set. But it is a much more mature aproach. They sound so relaxed and the music soothes out of their souls onto this disc. I highly recomend this disc if you love great music. From the opening note of A Short Overture to the last note of If I Ever Saw A Good Thing, Jack and the boyz put it out their souls onto this disc. A refreshing change of pace. I was totally impressed with the way they went "back to their roots'. Keeping it real. If you were fortunate (like I was) to pick up a copy when it first came out. There is a bonus disc of a concert recorded in Anaheim, CA, in July 1993. If you can find a copy with the bonus disc somewhere, used, I recommend you do so. The best disc of music they have ever made. Mother's Eyes, cryin' Sail Away and Gone With The Wind are my favorites.