Customer Reviews

Times Like These

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

 

 

Good album, but I only travel with my Ipod and this album is not compatable with Ipod so it won't be listened to very often. Make sure you don't make the mistake of buying anything on the Sony label if you want to have a normal CD that works. It's not Buddy's fault that Sony did this.

Prime Cuts: Addicted to the Rain, Any Other Woman, Times Like These

While many lesser talents have opted for the route of mere hucksterism where snarling guitars and thundering percussions provide the cover up, Jewell has traveled down the tired and true road of well crafted songs performed with earnestness and verve. Inoculated against the current trend in country music to rave up the rugged and rockier side of the genre, Jewell and producer Garth Fundis (who has had produced albums by Sugarland, Keith Whitley, Don Williams and Trisha Yearwood) has kept the backings on the rustic side with plenty of fiddles, steel guitars and honky tonk piano. Such simplicity is the soul of wit as the spotlight is deftly on Jewell's sturdy yet warm baritone. On this sophomore effort, Jewell is vocally more in command: not only does he sing well, but he is vocally able to nuance the emotional depths of the lyrics to an even greater degree.

Also, another step of vast improvement is the honing of Jewell's songwriting ability. On "Times Like These," Jewell showcases 4 of his compositions and they are all spot on. With an uncanny ability to be able to take the rhetoric of the struggles and foibles of life and transform them into music, Jewell's compositions are indeed this album's cynosure. Mixing just the right dosage of heart and poetry, "Addicted to the Rain," a Jewell co-write with Larry Clark, goes beyond the nondescript ordinary song of heartbreak to disclose the gelidity of a love gone wrong. Top marks also goes to the sensitive title track which articulates the fears and joys of fatherhood performed with such sincerity that it is bound to be a future Father's Day classic. Small town values, a perennial theme in country music, does surfaces in the penetrating moving ballad "Dyes, Arkansas."

Among those not penned by Jewell, lead single "Any Other Woman" is indeed this album's gem. Boasting some dexterous piano licks, "Any Other Woman," written by Brett Beavers, Connie Harrington and Brett Beavers, tells of the glorious power of how love can change the priorities of a man. With Jewell's sensitive rendition, this power ballad is sure bet to make Jewell's legions of female fans swoon. A little more desultory is the Rick Bowles and Josh Leo midtempo "Me Loving You." Though melodious and tailored made for radio, it's a little on the contrived and obligatory side. Craig Wiseman and Tony Lane's "You Ain't Doin' It Right" is a tad better and it's one of the few more welcomed uptempo moments.

However, not everything works here. "So Gone," for instance, is a throwaway 70s pop fluff that is just plain bromidic. Further, though Jewell excels in the ballads department, the uptempo section is not on par. Other than "You Ain't Doin' It Right" and "So Gone" most of the album is in the mid and slower pace. It would have been even better if one or two more well chosen peppier numbers were included. Nevertheless, this is a good country CD with top tiered songs and affectionately sung by Jewell who seems to have live with these songs giving them an inherent credibility. In short, this is country music that matters.

Well, Buddy Jewell... you used to be one of my favorite recording artists, but now you are an artist I have to boycott due to your arrogance in signing with a CD label that does not allow us to make copies of our own CD or even to put the music on our own MP3 player. To be able to listen to your CD I have to carry a large clunky portable CD player IF I decide to keep the CD. I will never buy another of your albums, Mr. Jewell, until you leave Sony's evil clutches. Like the person said below, we are not all piraters of music, but filthy rich perfomer's like you is the reason people like me download music. I am returning this Album back to the store and demanding my money back. You lost a fan, Mr. Jewell. Sorry, but your arrogance and paranioa brought this upon yourself.

I've run into the Sony Block 2 times so far and it kept me from buyiing this CD. I make a copy to listen to at work and keep the original clean from scratches. This is not very impressive from Sony, so I'll beware before buying anymore from the Sony label!!! Dear Sony, We are not all pirates!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I haven't even heard this one yet. I love Buddy, but I'm gunshy now! TYVM SONY!!!!!!!!!!!

Buddy Jewell is the real deal. His second CD continues to show his talent--a smooth, heartfelt delivery that is better than most other male singers on country radio--including the most popular. He's a genuine person who has been through the dark valleys and emerged at the top. And he seems truly appreciative of his new position as a star. I hope to continue to hear his work for many years to come.

As many people may know by now, Sony was recently caught with egg on their face when a security specialist found out that a recently purchased CD (Van Zant: Get Right With The Man) from Sony music not only installed DRM software (digital rights management, to limit and outright prevent copying music to certain devices), but it did so in such a sneaky way that it hid itself entirely from Windows, and opened the system up to security issues such as viruses.

This CD has the same copyright protection, called XCP. When installed, Sony hijacks your computer and installs custom software which:

1) Hides itself entirely from Windows by installing as a rootkit
2) Hides itself in such a manner that any files begining with $sys$ are also hidden. For example, if you install the XCP copy protection software on your machine, and rename "document.doc" to "$sys$document.doc" it then becomes invivisble to you forever.
3) Installs its own custom CD-Rom drivers to hijack your system. It also sneakily names these drivers "Plug and Play Device Manager" to seem as if it's a part of Windows. Trying to delete these drivers manually will disable your CD-Rom drive entirely.
4) Offers no uninstall option until you manually contact Sony

As of my writing this review, Sony has "apologized" for this incident, and claims they will "re-evaluate" this copyright protection software on their CDs in the future.

In the meantime, a virus is currently running wild, which names itself begining with $sys$ in an attempt to hide from the user and virus scanners.

Several class action lawsuits are also pending against Sony right now.

In summary, as you can tell from above, Sony's actions here are absolutely horrible. This is your music. You purchased it, and they should not have any right to dictate how you can use it, let alone install software which compromises your system security.

This is one of the CDs with Sony's XCP copyright protection software on it, and as a result, you should not buy it to send a message to Sony that this will NOT be tolerated in the future.

I'm humble enough to admit: I had my doubts about Buddy Jewell at first. Reality-TV star turned country singer? This ain't right, I screamed. Then I heard "Help Pour Out the Rain," "Sweet Southern Comfort," and eventually bought the self-titled debut. I loved it. By God, I said, HERE is a guy who knows what country music is all about.

TIMES LIKE THESE continue the much-needed education Jewell gave us on his first album. True, the production is a bit radio-friendly, but there is something here that a lot of radio hits lack--heart. Take Jewell's own "Addicted To the Rain," with some of the best imagery possible in a song; or "Back To You," haunting and unforgettable. "Me Lovin' You" is a charged number that is guaranteed to put a smile on your face (and probably get you singing along, too). All the other songs on this album (EVERY SINGLE ONE) is worth repeated listening.

Jewell's voice is incredible...so smooth and melodic, you gotta wonder why it took winning a reality-TV contest to get him a record deal. Ah, heck, enough complaining, right? TIMES LIKE THESE is a superb album that leaves no room for doubt: Buddy Jewell is the real deal, and he's here to stay. He can write, he can sing, and he can win over staunch-traditionalists while scoring radio hits. A few other guys can do that, I think: Alan Jackson, George Strait...and one day Buddy Jewell will be mentioned in the same breath. Judging by the quality of his sophomore album, that day isn't too far off.

This CD installs a rootkit which is be very bad for your computer. Read more about it here: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

This CD is simply fantastic. "Times Like These" is one of those CDs that I will play repeatedly and rave about it to anyone. There is no song on here that gets the skip button. Buddy uses the true talents of his voice on this CD so much more than on his debut, self-titled. His warm, genuine voice on every song makes for an excellent country album, that I found no fault in.

Excellent songs sung by a real professional who has paid the proverbial dues.

My complaint is the studio coding the CD so it can't be read by iTunes; only Windows Media Player. Of course, only Sony Walkman and Windows Media Playforsure portable devices are compatible with the CD. I hope Buddy finds another label to carry his next album because I won't buy any more Sony productions as long as they carry on like this.