Customer Reviews

State of Our Union

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

 

 

"State of Our Union" might not be the best effort by Long Ryders, but it still qualifies for one of the best albums of the 80's. Great guitar rock with a strong roots feeling. And great lyrics. Long Ryders is on the top of the list "Great Bands You've Never Heard Of" - alongside with bands like Del Lords, Plimsouls and Del Fuegos.

Conceptually, this is awesome front-to-back. Taking song-by-song, it's not the Long Ryders' best efffort, but for the most underrated, unheard band of the 80s, this is still strong. The title cut, "Looking for Lewis and Clark," is perhaps the best song of the 80s. I'm not kidding. If you're reading this, you're probably either 1) A Long Ryders fan (there are, at last count, 6 of us) or 2) You happened upon this accidentally. If you fall into category 2, buy "Native Sons" first, and if you like it, come to this one. Seriously, though, the Ryders had their fingers on the pulse of the everyman. Sure, John Mellencamp and The Boss are touted as the great middle-America dudes as far as carrying the flag for the 80s disenfranchised. But this album goes deeper: reaching back to the Depression, the late 1800s, anywhere, to show how the s**t had come down in the Reagan era. Plenty of references to truck driving, train riding, race car watching, prison-time serving, and whatnot. This is really folk rock at its finest. If you can't understand what I'm talking about, get this album and listen to it. Then grab your napsack and your copy of the Constitution and a harmonica and hit the road. You won't be disapppointed.

A correction to the "editorial review" above: it was Sid Griffin, not Steve Wynn, that fronted The Long Ryders.

Steve Wynn never "fronted" The Long Ryders, but he did have a fine band called The Dream Syndicate at this time.

Also, the Danny & Dusty - The Lost Weekend LP, also released this same year, featured members of Dream Syndicate, The Long Ryders and Green on Red.

Graduating from the indie Frontier label (where they waxed the EP "10-5-60" and the LP "Native Sons"), the Long Ryders moved to Island for this 1985 release. Their roots-rock sound was intact, but mostly shorn of the neo-psych inflections of the Paisley Underground. Their new songs went deeper, with lyrics that surveyed the inequities of the Reagan era. The guitars were tougher and bluesier and dropped the chiming tones of the Byrds. In many ways the Long Ryders followed the same path Steve Wynn charted for the Dream Syndicate, shucking off the retro shackles to get at something more personal and original. Heavier times begat heavier music, which is satisfying for its depth, but just isn't the hummable, sing-along ear candy of their first two releases. 3-1/2 stars, if allowed fractional ratings. [©2007 hyperbolium dot com]