Customer Reviews

Toucan Do It Too/Burning the Ballroom Down

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Possibly underestimated because of the immediacy of the first two albums for ABC, this "twofer" represents the Aces at their very best.The complexity of the songs increased, Russell Smith collaborated with James H Brown Jnr for a lot of the material and on "Burning the Ballroom down" Billy Earhart and Jeff Davis have a song apiece included.Highlights of "Toucan do it" are the gently swinging "Never been to the Islands", Russell Smith's "Who's cryin'now" and "Geneva's Lullaby". The band seemed happy to experiment with both form and rhythm and the album is a very satifying listen. However "Burning the Ballroom down" has always been my favourite Aces album ( to date!). Only a band confident about what it was doing would start an album with a song as reflective as "Burning the ballroom down" and from there it just gets better. "Ashes of love", with a Spanish feel to it, is my favourite non-Aces written track, and "Della's Long Brown hair" resonates with personal experience.The whole sound is very assured, and there is some great guitar work from Byrd Burton.This double album takes some getting into, but is a very potent reminder of how good the Aces were at producing their own unique take on Country Pop Rock. Enjoy!

The Amazing Rhythm Aces third and fourth albums - compiled on this disc - are not the revelations that the first two albums were. That said, the music on this disc is better than 95% of what you will find in ANY music store - online or otherwise - anywhere in the world.

Music fans have been waiting for this music for many years. Either one of these discs would be worth the price of a CD. To get them on the same disc is hitting the jackpot.

The Aces blend country, R&B, and soul into a brew so potent that you'll surely find yourself addicted after just a listen or two.

This disc is a MUST BUY!

I came to the Aces many years after they made their first recordings, and it felt like stumbling on a gold mine or discovering at age 40 that there was such a thing as chocolate. I first heard "Burning the Ballroom Down" on a bootleg tape, driving to Dulles Airport before daylight, and it was like being transported elsewhere. This is my favorite album of the 1000+ albums I own.

This, fellow ARA fans, is the real thing. The recordings are clear, the production very good and the songs are just as good as we remembered. There have been other recordings released on CD which should have never seen the light of day due to terrible original recordings, but don't worry this time. These recordings are a delight!

The Combination of "Stacked Deck" and "Too Stuffed to Jump" may overwhelm some people into thinking they have all of the classic ARA music if they own that CD. This is understandable because those two albums are incredible and have both of ARA's biggest hits: "Third Rate Romace" and "Amazing Grace (Used To Be Her Favorite Song)," but "Toucan Do It Too" combined with "Burning The Ballroom Down" is just as loaded with quality songs and performances.

My all-time favorite ARA song is "Burning The Ballroom Down" because of the music and, to me more importantly, from the stream of emotions that come from the singer's perspective. Russell Smith nails this song all the way from smugness ("I know why you're here by the look in your eye") at the beginning to near-desperation ("It might have to last me forever if I don't see you again") at the end. "Never Been To The Islands" kicks things off with a laid-back style that's easy on the ears, quickly followed by Smith's soulful rendition of "Never Been Hurt" for an excellent contrast.

Again, the musical styles vary across a wide spectrum with the music fitting the lrics and they are all good. The group that was too rock for country, too country for rock and just too eclectic for anywhere else was before its time, but it's given us some great songs.

Pick this up along with another great two-album ARA CD, "Stacked Deck/Too Stuffed To Jump" and their later, self-titled CD.
If you've never heard the Amazing Rhythm Aces, how do you know if you will like them? Do you like surprisingly thoughtful and often clever lyrics? Do you like excellent musicianship? Do you enjoy being exposed to different sounding songs on the same CD? You could do a whole lot worse than this CD and it would be hard to do much better.

A must have addition for all ARA fans.

Two of the top Three albums this group made. Maybe the top 2.
The musicianship heard here is rarely felt or heard today.
The only thing that was ever bad about these albums,
was they did not get publicized well enough.

The Amazing Rhythm Aces are still Amazing! I enjoyed them in the 70"s and now I can enjoy them again. It's great that the old albums are out on CD.

Loved this band in the 70's, so it was great that I could find it on CD. Still love it. Took along time to be mailed to me, and at the time I was upset about it, but now I have it it seems less of an issue.

Wow 2 getter than great albums on 1 cd,,,say no more,,
i listen to blues rock jazz funk and soul,,this is country but played with les pauls,,,mmmmmmmmm not bad,,i loved it.

bought back visions of the 1970,s and warm summers,, FM radios,, cold beer,,,these late 1970s albums i remember the music was played with passion and skill.

i bought another album that had the other 2 aces albums together soon as i heard this one.

Nicely remixed reissue of two Amazing Rhythm Aces albums.
Aces hit their peak for me on the previous release, Two Stuffed to Jump.
The followup Toucan do it To is a worthy successor.
Burning the Ballroom down is very listenable, but not up to the previous two.
Good retrospective of an oft overlooked country-rock band of this era.
Pick up this one and "Two Classic Albums by the Amazing Rhythm Aces" to get the full perspective of their evolution from a country-crossover band to rockers.
Lots of quirky lyrics bring back smiles.