Customer Reviews

Wicked Game

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although I bought the CD for the title track, "Wicked Game", the entire album is compelling and full of the romatic pain and the raw emotion of Chris Isaak. The entire album is about obsession, abandoned love, and heart ache. No don't pop that prozac yet.

Erik Jacobsen, the producer of this album, did a great job balancing the sultry and upbeat songs of love and obsession. A slow deep song of romantic pain will usually be followed by an upbeat song of determined desire.

I personally loved the great mix of horns, guitar, jazz drums on the song, 'Blue Spanish Sky', which is one of my favorite tunes off this album. Some of the upbeat songs I felt had a little too much drums but you can't mistaken the great rhythm Chris Isaak and his band possess and it shows in every song.

I really love this album and find it relaxing and stirring at the same time.

Chris Isaak is extremely talented, I always loved his songs, but Wicked Game is very special. To me, Chris Isaak is so romantic, singing with his soft low voice with a touch of 1950's - 1960's spirit.

He is as magic as Elvis, his voice is awsome and the songs are so well constructed. My favourites are Blue Hotel, and Wicked Game.

They are "ageless"...these songs are one of a kind, the sort of tunes you would still love all your life and never get tired of hearing them.

Simply magic and beautiful.

I first heard 'Wicked Game' whilst watching 'Wild at Heart' and immediately checked the credits after to see who sang it so I could buy it as the fist opportunity. Since 1991 I have never been as compelled or hungry to buy a record with such impulse.
You cant describe how you feel when your depressed, but Isaacs music casts a spell and its the closest description you can make and thats what I call a classic.
Isaacs melifluous vocals and haunting guitar washed down by lyrics that make you think ,would evoke a response from anyone, you will love at least 3 tracks from this album whether your a metalgod or boyband freak - Check it out, this album is a great for low lights, a bottle of chardonnay and 2 amourous people.

To me, this album is more of a "look at how stupid you have been for ignoring me for the past 3 albums" than a greatest hits collection.

It is really when someone listens to this album from start to end that they wished they had bought the 1st 3 albums.

Sell out? No, just showing you what I've got.

Some deliciously different music even in its most blatantly nostalgic (Elvis, Roy Orbison) moments. For tender beauty, nothing here comes close to the title track where his voice soars an falters in an immaculate outpouring of emotion to create the most poignant love ballad of the time. One half hopes for more fast rockers because it's obvious that he doesn't really need to be only a crooner - with that voice and style he could have become a hot rock 'n roller.

I just bought this for Wicked Game and well to relive the video for it in my head ( if I remember correctly it was him and Helena Christensen on a beach and it was in black and white ). And Christ what a video it was. Implanted in my brain for a long long time now

Anyway....getting back to reality here now this collection of songs are sweetly poised and delicate and gently remind us of the soft underside that obsession can possess.

Talking of this album has reminded me of that video again and I'll stop while I'm ahead

What an excellent CD!

Chris Isaak has always sounded like what would happen if Roy Orbison and Bryan Ferry had a baby that looked as handsome as the young Elvis Presley. His voice is more beautiful that Orbison's voice, which is quite an accomplishment. He reaches the high register like Orbison but remains totally masculine all the way to the top of the note. In "Dancin'" he has a touch of the nihilistic in his tone, reminding me of the frightfully beautiful work of Bryan Ferry. In "Blue HOtel" the sexual passion comes through like the crying wail of Elvis, the master of mixing Black Blues with Western.In "Blue Spanish Sky" the pain in his voice made me question,how does this young man know this much disappointment in love?

I remember the first time I ever heard his haunting, brooding masculine voice and saw the Bruce Weber fashion photographs of this new James Dean for the 90's. He has remained consistently strong. He writes most of his own music and his performance style has been refined to be as sharp as a ice pick in an angry lover's hands. The striking guitar mastery balances every song, carrying the listener on the smoke of dying love's embers. The CD ends with a guitar instrumental of "Wicked Game" from David Lynch's "Wild At Heart" film.

This CD is packed with top work by an enduring talent. It does not disappoint even 14 years after it was first issued.

Wicked Game is musical "soulfood". Chris Isaak has a voice that send`s ecco from Roy Orbison and other "voice giants" from the classical rock area, from that area when the music had soul and passion. Because when you dig deep enough into this material the music will fill you up and gives you energy. It hit`s the mark early with Track 1 Wicked Game, and the music drives you "crazy " in a good way. There`s a mood of desperate passion when Isaak sings. The sensual coldness in his voice is filled with desperate passion, and you can hear it and feel it very,very, strongly
Track 2 You owe me some kind of Love is an good example of that. The sound mix on this CD is realy great. It`s certainly touches the right buttons when it come`s to classical "ecco" sound from the 50 ths and 60 ths.
Track 3 Blue Spanish Sky, gives Isaak`s voice more passion. His voice is pushed so much forward in the whole soundpicture, that it feel`s that he`s whispering the words in you ear, close, very very close. Track 4 Heart Shaped world i s ok, but nothing special, sorry to say. Track 5 Heart Full of Soul, is the first real "up tempo song" which is realy very catching, with a refrain that you`certainly will remember. Track 6 Funeral in the Rain, has an atmosphere, but does`nt realy kick`s off. Track 7 Blue Hotel, is an uptempo rock and roller, that will make you soul and feet stepping around with joy.
Track 8 Dancin is very rythmic in it`s atmosphere, and when the keyboards kick`s inn later in the song it lift`s it even higher. Little variation make it a little "letdown" qualitywise.
Track 9 Nothing`s Changed, has a good guitar lead, which sound`s like "poormans Mark Knopler". One of the weak tracks, this one. We are soon back in the business again with the catching Track 10 Voodoo, which sould be a perfect soundtrack for a horror movie. Just listen to the spooky background vocals. Track 11. Lie to Me is ok, but you feel sometimes that you have heard it before on the CD. Track 12 Wicked Game, is the instrumental version of Track 1. Nuff said before. Anyway this is music so full of passion, that you sometimes feel that you get chocked, in a good way hopefully. Chris Isaak at his best, this one

The scene was Darwin, Australia, in August of 1997. My wife and I were visiting the Northern Territories and the Red Center and, what do you know? We forgot to pack any tapes for the rental car. We headed for the music store in Darwin, and it was closed, but the employee doing inventory took pity on us and let us in. To my dismay, the cassette tape rack looked like it had been looted. There were hardly any tapes, and none that I was familiar with. My wife commented that she thought she recognized the name "Chris Isaak" (no offense, Chris), so we bought it.

Let me tell you, Australia is BIG, and my wife has a habit of falling asleep in the car. As a result, Chris was my savior. It was surreal, rocketing along (they don't seem to have any Highway Patrol there) on the wrong side of the road (no offense, Aussies) through the Australian outback, with the crooning, sighing, and wailing by the Man. I didn't know that it was a "Best of" album, and I didn't realize that I lived within 30 miles of the guy. All I knew was that the music was mesmerizing. Listen to the samples, but they don't last long enough to let the trance-like effect set in. It's the stuff soundtracks of funky movies are made of.

Get this album, pop it in for a long, lonely drive, and if it doesn't warp spacetime around you like a mystical dreamwalk, well... I don't know what else will.

Wicked Game is a compilation album and contains 11 songs from his first three albums and was released by WEA International 1991. Here we get hits such as "Wicked Game" and "Blue Hotel". The booklet only has the lyrics to Wicked Game but contains information of whom played what on the album. 4/5.