Customer Reviews

Subtle As a Flying Mallet

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

 

 

What a great record! Dave Edmunds outdoes himself as a performer/instrumentalist/engineer/producer/etc. This is a one-man tribute (with some borrowed help) to some great and influential songs. He does a fantastic job of honoring these songs, and reproducing them with his natural ability as a producer, while adding what only he can add. Definately well worth a critical listen, and when you do so, please appreciate what it took to produce this record. You'll not only hear great songs, but you will hear 'Beach Boy' harmonies and Spector-esque production qualities... as well as a just plain well produced collection of great songs. My hats off to Dave for this one. Enjoy!!

This is Dave Edmunds' one-man-band love-letter to the songs of yesteryear. It's interesting to hear him recreate the songs, instrument-by-instrument and voice-by-voice, but he never really transcends the originals.

For those unfamiliar with the singles he's covering, or for Edmunds fans, this could be a real crowd pleaser. But given how many of these tracks are available in their original form (including The Chantels' "Maybe" and the Crystals "Da Doo Ron Ron"), Edmunds lack of substantial reinterpratation (although this works to his ironic advantage in the gender-specific songs that he sings from the girl's point-of-view) leaves this disc a best buy for Edmundsphiles.

If your a fan of Dave Edmunds, this CD must be part of your collection. This 1975 release is All Killer and No Filler.

When this came out, lots of the songs he covers were difficult to find, so it was nice to have these covers to enjoy. Truth is, it isn't produced that well, for some reason Dave had a penchant for recreating a murky echo heavy sound that nobody was nostalgic for. But remember, this was done in 1974, and the idea of doing a tribute was pretty new to rock audiences. Also, he decided to be a one-man band here and sometimes it works (Let it Rock, No Money Down, Shot of Rhythm and Blues, I Ain't Never) and sometimes it's flat sounding. If you're an Edmunds fan then it's worth it if it's cheap. Because I have fond memories of this, I'm probably not the most impartial judge, but it sure beats the stuff that he did with Jeff Lynne. That's not a dig on Lynne, it was just a bad combination. And for the "fan" who complains that this album is full of covers, you aren't fooling anyone and you're not a fan. All Dave Edmunds albums are full of covers.

This album features badly conceived remakes of classic pop songs, recorded in what was apparently supposed to be authentic period sound, but gives the impression that poor Dave is wailing from the bottom of a barrel (and off-tune to boot, on more than one track). If you've ever wondered what Phil Spector might produce while suffering from a monstrous hangover, try this one out.

Tops on the "what were they thinking" list are inexplicable covers of "Baby I Love You" and "Da Doo Ron Ron". "Let It Be Me" and "Maybe" provide solid evidence that being a balladeer was not one of Edmunds' strengths. Even decent covers of songs like "Let It Rock" and "No Money Down" are weighed down by the murky sound.

There are a few salvageable numbers like "I Ain't Never", but overall this is one of Edmunds' weakest efforts.

This is probably one of most regretted cd purchases of the past year. How American Beat Records decides on what to re-release is beyond me.

A rehash of classic pop/rock, country and blues songs. He didn't even change the lyrics on one of the songs, so he ends up singing about going home with "Bill".

I'm a fan of most of his work, but this I just can't bear. Hey, American Beat, who's picking these re-releases, a deaf monkey?