Songs and Other Things

Tom Verlaine

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 25, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thrill Jockey
• ASIN: B000ELJ8WQ
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #170,633 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Verlaine has truly shaped the sound of modern music, from his early days with the Neon Boys and Television, throughout his solo career, and most recently, as the guitarist in Patti Smith's band. Always ahead of the curve, Tom's influence is immeasurable throughout the rock world with bands as diverse as The Strokes and Dos. No one, however, has been able to replicate his sounds, from delicate lace-like details to soaring and singling lines. "Around" and "Songs And Other Things" are his first new releases since "Warm And Cool" in 1992. "Around" picks up where the last one left off ? varied tones move effortlessly from melody to rhythm and are at once panoramic, pastoral, and atmospheric. It's largely an improvised record and features Tom's old Neon Boys bandmate Billy Ficca on drums. "Songs" is his first vocal album in sixteen years and it includes instrumentation from Television bassist Fred Smith. This record finds Verlaine's songwriting at its most colorful. With so many years between this and his last vocal record, he's got a lot of storytelling to catch up on, which makes every track here a gem.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best solo album, April 28, 2006

By	Hank Schwab (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This one starts a little slow, and there are a few missteps in the first couple songs, but once it gets going, it is astonishing. If this were an LP, I'd play side 2 to death.
It seems odd to issue this in tandem with "Around", but they are two sides of the same coin. The emphasis here is on guitar work. Verlaine has always been more of a cult guitarist, underrated by the mainstream, but his work here is a showcase. The songs seem written and structured expressly to show off his guitar work; it's hard to imagine the songs played by anyone else.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As always, nuance wins out......, June 3, 2006

By	T. G. Ellis III (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Like many I discovered Tom Verlaine in the early 1980s, through the pages of New York Rocker, and became an almost instant fan. I was lucky enough to see him out on his first solo tour and was blown away with the band and the songs from Flashlight. Later, when Dreamtime came out I felt that Verlaine had created a great masterpiece, an album full of fascinating, interlocking guitar parts textured with energy and moments of searing emotion; I know I'll be chastised for this, but Dreamtime was greater than anything Television did.

But as much as I loved Dreamtime (and Words From the Front, The Wonder, Flashlight and Cover)I always wondered how it could ever sound as good live. With Songs Verlaine has produced a set that you can hear from the stage, he and Jimmy Ripp going at one another as I'm sure they are on tour right now. He's also, significantly, expanded his sonic textures: There's a lot of guitar work here that tonally is new and different from anything I've heard. But the attack and resonance is still pure Tom.

If I'm not mistaken TV's in his late fifties about now, and he is still a more interesting songwriter, guitarist, and most importantly, arranger than anyone else who came out of the CBGB scene with the exception of his buddy Patti Smith. On Songs, his arrangements are just terrific, and repeated listenings reward you with growing awareness of the nuance of the playing by all bandmembers and how TV uses this to shape the feel and reach of each song; not as dense as what you'll find in Dreamtime or Flash Light, the guitar work is still surprising me with every listen--great with headphones, great but different with the stereo cranked. Like all of Verlaine's work, this is adult rock and roll for the discriminating listener who wants to think and rock at the same time, and it should be GREAT live. My only complaint is I'd like a lot more Jay Dee--his drumwork on "Wierded Out" takes a simple 4/4 over simple chord changes and explodes the song to greatness (and listen to all the nuance in his playing, too). Five stars.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful and mature music, May 11, 2006

By	S. Shindell (baltimore, md) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm listening to this CD as I write and realizing that someone has to break this tie. So far this CD has received one very positive and one very negative review, and you may be wondering which one to believe. The positive review is, IMO, the one to go with. I've been a Tom Verlaine fan since the early 1980s and I think this is some of his best work. To be honest I was hoping for a repeat of the full-blown, sonically dense music on his Dreamtime and Flashlight cds, but I now see that he's given us something even better: new, different, and unusual music that will reward repeated listening.