Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wow, April 5, 2005
This is my favorite album of all time. Period.
I saw Parker and the Rumour when they toured for this record, at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. I was 15 or 16. It was the best live show I have ever witnessed, by anybody. I've seen hundreds of shows, and never seen anything like it before or since.
The stage is low, about a foot higher than the seats in the front row. There is an apron around the stage, sort of like an orchestra pit without the hole. From time to time Parker would drag his mic stand around with him and prowl across that apron at the front row. It was menacing and scary.
The force of the performance was overwhelming. I have never seen a band play with commitment like the Rumour did that night. They played as if their lives depended on it.
During the show keyboardist Bob Andrews (stage left, the side I was on) kept encouraging people in the front rows to get up and dance, which they did. By the end of the show the stage was packed with people while the band played "Mercury Poisoning". And they were all about 100 feet away.
I might suspect that my memories were idealizated versions of what that concert really was, if not for Live Sparks. Listening to it now, I've still never heard anything like it. From Parker or anybody.
I saw Parker again on the Another Grey Area tour, he was good. I saw the Rumour back up Garland Jefferies (also at the Guthrie) and they were very good.
But can anyone find another live album that sounds like this? It's hard like hard punk, but it swings like R&B. It's very simple song structures, played simply, by a band that can play very complicated music. The confidence in their playing is overwhelming. The lead guitar playing is incredible. The rythmn section sounds like a pissed off clock. The rythmn guitar playing...etc.
|
|
|
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Brilliant and Sophisticated Ending to the Seventies, July 25, 2000
Squeezing Out Sparks closes the seventies British pup rock era on a high note. Yes, the music is loose, unpretentious and back-to-basics rock & roll; however, there's something left out, and something new added. Gone is the rebellious "angry young man," and in his place is an intelligent adult burning with a need to speak his mind. Past the point of "playing for the hell of it," Parker's compositions are eloquent expressions of passion and understanding.The emotional center of the album is the burning acoustic ballad `You Can't Be Too Strong.' I understand how the line "It's just a mistake I won't have to face / Don't give it a name, don't give it a place / Don't give it a chance, it's lucky in a way" is easily interpreted as an indictment of abortion. Another interpretation may be that Parker is resentful that after releasing three albums, critics have pigeonholed him as a "good time" pub rocker. `Passion Is No Ordinary Word' questions the selfish act of sexual conquest: "Everything's a thrill / And every girl's a kill / And then it gets unreal / And then you don't feel anything." And although critics may have approved of his previous work, Parker names himself as his worst enemy ("Nobody hurts you...harder than yourself" from `Nobody Hurts You'). `Love Gets You Twisted' again examines the value of romance, sex and relationships. Parker faces his fears in `Protection' pleading "Turn off all the information," but is unable to escape to a safe haven. If peace and tranquility are not possible on Earth, they may be awaiting in the skies above (`Waiting for the UFO's'). Both `Saturday Nite Is Dead' and `Local Girls' are aggressive, peddle-to-the-metal rockers from the Rumour. Squeezing Out Sparks is a brilliant and sophisticated ending to the seventies ushering in, well, how about five skinny punks from New York.
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SQUEEZING OUT MOTTS, October 18, 2001
If they ever write the film score to Pattaya, they do not need to look any further than this album for the soundtrack, just take a look at the song titles to get a quick idea, in fact they should write the film around these songs.
In 1979 in the after glow of pub-rock, Graham Parker was leading the pack being tipped as the next big thing to follow in the footsteps of Bob Dylan, Bruce Sprinstien, et all, well it never happened but there was some high quality stuff before he sunk back into mediocrity, and this collection of songs highlights the twisted genius that was Graham Parker at this time.
Backed by the equivalent of a pub rock super group, they blazed a trail through the musical hemisphere, with the dapper Brinsley Schwarz & the laddish Martin Belmont on lead guitars, Andrew Bodnar & Steve Goulding nailing down a rock steady beat & the quite frankly mad Bob Andrews on keyboards, they were as tight as the preverbal duck's back.
The album is superbly produced by the normally erratic genius of Jack Nietsche who came to fame working with Phil Spectre, here he keeps every song sharp & concise, with it's own uniqueness, keeping the band on, whilst never letting them cut completely loose, except possibly on the last song where Belmont & Schwarz get a chance to fly.
"Squeezing Out Sparks" was not only Parker's finest moment, but it's still stands up today as a classic rock album. When it was first released, Arista also released a promotional live album only distributed to radio station's and such like, that featured the same songs in the same order just in a live setting plus a cover version of the Jackson 5, "I Want You Back" & Parkers vitriolic kiss off to his former label "Mercury Poisoning". In the latest release of "Squeezing Out Sparks" these extra 12 radio recordings have been added on as bonus tracks making this a very good quality & quantity C.D.
Although the album is chock a block full of great up tempo Parker songs, the emotional center of the album is the slow burning acoustic ballad, "You Can't Be To Strong" Parker's anti - abortion statement with the wince inducing lyrics "Did they tear it out with talons of steel, and give you a shot, so that you wouldn't feel & washed it away as if it wasn't real. It's just a mistake, you won't have to face, don't give it a name, don't give it a place, don't give it a chance, it's lucky in a way".
With lyrics like this the critics were never able to pidgeon hole Graham Parker and the Rumour as mere good time pub rockers.
Sadly after this album Graham Parker very much seemed to lose his way, but we have this album to remember what a powerful time we had of it all and remember as Graham Parker said in his previous single "Silly Thing" "If it aint got that swing it don't mean a thing".
Mott the Dog.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Graham Parker shares his favorite music with Amazon customers. See all artists' picks on our Music You Should Hear page.
~ Graham Parker
~ Graham Parker
~ Graham Parker
~ Graham Parker
~ Graham Parker
by Graham Parker & The Rumour 
