Customer Reviews

Small World

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought "Small World" when it was first released, and I was a bit disappointed. Of course, their prior two albums (Sports, Fore!) where jammed packed with hits. "Small World" had fewer obvious hits, and indeed only "Perfect World" hit the Top 10. However, in retrospect, the CD sounds great and has much more diversity than their other CDs. Several songs have a terrific zydeco/Louisiana flavor, such as "Old Antwone's" and "Bobo Tempo." They also have a couple of instrumentals that sound great and highlight their growth as musicians, such as "Small World (Part Two)."

Sadly, "Small World" was the group's last major hit CD. If they had continued on this trajectory, they may have ended up making music pretty similar to Hootie and the Blowfish and other early 90's hitmakers. However, much of their later music took on the sound of 50s and 60s rock (their "Four Chords..." CD featured remakes of old rock songs). Don't let the lack of success of these later CDs scare you away. Huey Lewis and the news are a great, under-appreciated rock band.

If you really like the band (and I do), then this will be a refreshing change of pace. We get a glimpse of a great group of musicians doing songs that take them beyond the norm, not the usual music fans would be eager to buy. This is NOT Heart and Soul or The Power of Love, so if that's what you're looking for, pass this one up. Small World, with the addition of the late Stan Getz (Pt.2 features a driving tenor sax solo that brought to mind his best days in jazz) make the trip well worth the effort. To hear them at their commercial best, go for the Sports and/or Fore CD's.

I am a HLN fan...be forewarned

It's a great album that even as a fan I didn't really appreciate until many years later. It's rich, solid sound with a real emphasis on the bands talent. They never sounded better. There are quite a few gems on this disc that never saw the light of day...an absolute shame.

Huey Lewis is one of those rock n' roll musicians who never forgot the heart was the beat,the rhythm and the blues.After the two massively successful (and satisfying) albums Sports and Fore! Huey & The News decided they just wanted to do something a tad more....artistic.So they turned away from being precieved as a singles act and made a genuine album 'Small World'.One of the best things about this is the two part title song,still that great,funky rock n' roll Huey and his band did so well but ads on still extra funk from the hot Tower Of Power horns and the gritty jazz sax of Stan Getz.Unlike some earlier albums 'Small World' is very strong on New Orleans R&B and jazz stylings;there's even a little bit of a light West Indian rhythm present in the bluesy "Bob Tempo",one of those ultimate party songs!Actually a similar feel is present on the hit "Perfect World".Bruce Hornsby shows up on "Old Antone",another great New Orleans kind of strut.The bouncy "Walking With The Kid" and the fine crafted "World To Me" are great pop and have really great hooks."Better Be True","Give Me The Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)" and the the hard groove of "Slammin'" are all extremely funky and the latter again showcases the Tower Of Power horns.As I well remember critics were quick to ravish 'Small World' with every scathing review they could think up when it came out and even though it went platinum like the bands other records it doesn't get the recognition that even the previous album Fore! did.Being an R&B,funk and jazz lover 'Small World' is one of my favorites,even though I love all of Huey's stuff.All of it has a great groove and great sound.But music lovers are not critics;if these Amazon critiques are correct 'Small World' has impacted regular music listeners very well and I happen to be one of them.So I say this is a CD worth checking out.

I pulled out this CD last week after collecting dust for years, and have been listening to it everyday. I can't believe how musical they were back then. They really stretched (and abandoned alot of fans) with "small world."

I had forgotten how different the band had sounded compared to eariler hits. I did remember Stan Getz's tasteful solo, recorded just before he died, but having the all instrumental Tower of power feature was a nice memory forgotten. But though the cover, doesn't say it, it's all about Chris Hayes (guitar). Not only does he show his chops, but he really shines and I think proves that he was one of the best guitarist of the 80's. His solos are more complicated than almost all of the 90's grunge guitar solos combined and he proves he has much more technique than previously heard.

Sean Hopper is also front and center on most of the tunes.

Yeah this a treasure not to be missed if you are a Huey fan

Sports & Fore were huge sellers for Huey Lewis & The News. They are both great albums, but for their follow-up to Fore, the band decided to stretch their musical horizons. Small World doesn't follow the path of their previous four releases. Instead of sticking to a strict, well produced, four-minute song, the band stretches things out. "Small World", parts one and two are great songs (part two is basically a continuation of part one) where the band lets things loose and jams. "Old Antone's" has a New Orleans jazz feel to it. "Perfect World" was a number three hit and is brilliant track. "Bobo's Tempo" is a basic jam song built around a chanting chorus and loose riffs. "Give Me The Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)" is a more traditional News song and is a fun song. Small World breaking of formula was a shock to fans of the band and it didn't sell well. But the band showed they were capable of expanding their sound and that makes it a very compelling listen.

If this is it, i mean likeable rock&roll with a big smile all over. Huey Lewis is the man. As a flashback to the 80 ths if you look for the effective and joyfull soundpicture , Huey makes the day. He kicks the mood right in gear on Track 1 Small World (Part 1) with springiness. It`s funky and straight to your`e nerve string. Hip is probably the right word. Track 2 Old Antone`s has a certain cajun feel over it, with the funky mood intact. Great. Track 3 Perfect World, has a certain big band beat, mixed with reggae rythm, which works quite ok. Quality shines. Track 4 Bobo Tempo is the weird reggae one . A letdown, which doesn`t has the right mood. Just put together, with a disturbing harmonica spread all over. Track 5 Small World (Part 2) fades in as Part 1, but this is just somekind of an "overlong "instrumental saxophone solo over the same theme. The saxophone delivers, but that`s it. With Track 6 Walking With the kid, we are back in business again. Effective and funky with a "big band beat" urban city life mood over it. Track 7 World to me, is the first " slow song/ballad hybrid on the CD, and it has that good backbone chill that tickles your`e soul. Track 8 Better be true is back to funky business again, that has the right 80 ths touch of the genre. Track 9 Give me the keys is not straight up there in quality heaven, but it certainly has it flairs. Track 10. Slammin, it`s back to the "tower of power" big band beat. Quite nice, and deadly funky . Yo, man, it swings. Anyway Huey is the Man, if you want relaxable and joyfull rock&roll.

After being pegged as a party band for yuppies, Huey Lewis and The News decided it was time to make the big statement. The result was their fifth and most ambitious album, "Small World." Unfortunately, the MTV and party crowd wasn't all that interested in The News's musical ambitions and made this a relative failure, only charting as high as #11 and producing one top ten single, "Perfect World." By contrast, Fore! hit the top spot with five top ten singles and two number ones, while Sports was the band's first chart topper and yielded four top tenners.

One of the main reasons was the lack of 'good-time rock and roll' type numbers. "Give Me The Keys and I'll Drive You Crazy" was the obvious nod to this crowd, and it sounds like Lewis could have written it in his sleep. The rest of the album flirted with jazz ("Small World Pt 2," complete with Stan Getz's sax solo), deep zydeco "Bobo Tempo" and the bluesy "Old Antones." (Antones being a legendary Texas music club.) The music was more sophisticated than "Power Of Love: fans might have been ready for, but Lewis has been quoted as saying "Small World" is a personal favorite in his discography. A step off the commercial goldmines of their last three albums, "Small World" is still a decent HL&TN record.

Small World appeared around 1988 and had to top the two previous albums by Mr. Lewis and Co. I was at this time tiring of Huey Lewis and did not even bother to listen to it. MISTAKE!!! This is quite possibly their best. The whole album just rocks from beginning to end and I am looking at it from a stand point of just having bought it in 2008! The production is 80's, but it still works wonderfully due to great musicians and good song writing. Amazing.

Huey Lewis & the News took big risks in making this album, like hiring jazz saxophonist Stan Getz as a sideman, experimenting with zydeco arrangements, and doing some nearly all-instrumental tracks that were very unlikely to become hits. But that kind of creativity and risk-taking is what makes this album a great achievement for an extremely popular band of the day, and sets it apart from the rest of their catalog.

The songs here are sometimes jazzy, sometimes funky, often rooted in classic 1960s rock, but consistently good. In this sense, Small World shares a musical pedigree with some early Santana and Chicago albums that had a lot of horns, organ, world music influences, and broke the boundaries of mainstream rock. There is a high level of variety, musicmanship, and just plain fun in this album.

I wrote to Huey Lewis years after the album was released and let him know how much I liked it, even though I considered myself mostly a jazz fan. Mr. Lewis actually wrote back and expressed how much he enjoyed working on the album and collaborating with Getz. If you like music that defies category and takes a few risks (and succeeds), give this one a try. You may be pleasantly surprised.