Wild Card

The Rippingtons, rippingtons Russ Freeman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Peak Records
• ASIN: B0007XBMF2
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #88,447 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ripped Apart, July 15, 2005

By 

Paul Binder (Clermont, Fl USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Card (Audio CD)

I've been a Rippingtons fan since 1990. It seems that with each new CD, the magic quality of the band has been slowly coming apart. Its almost as if the smooth jazz genre has morphed into this latin, "Saturday Night Live" band, R&B groove thing!! What happened? The real drums and the clear, crisp recordings of "Wild Card" are a step in the right direction. But what happened to the soothing sound of "Snowbound"? The warm, relaxing nocturnal feel of "One Summer Night in Brazil"? "Weekend in Monaco", where you could let the whole CD play from start to finish because there was a gratifying, musical continuity to it. I really hope that Russ will consider going back to his roots for his next project.Maybe, even consider letting Jeff Kashiwa, Steve Reid, or Tony Morales collaborate on a song or two. I realize even in music, things change, bands grow and evolve, but I miss the Rippingtons of the early 1990's. In the early days, the Rippingtons had a specific, definite signature sound. It seems to me, over the last couple of efforts, its been Ripped apart.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Something worse than Let it Ripp?, August 8, 2005

By 

Jazzy J (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wild Card (Audio CD)

I didn't think the Ripps would release anything worse than Let it Ripp, but I was wrong. Wild Card is essentially an adequate CD, but truly a poor performance for the Ripps. When compared to earlier works such as Moonlighting and Welcome to the St James Club, the last two CDs are a complete wash. And what's the deal with the excessive latin leanings on this CD? It's extremely forced and really brings the album down a notch. The latin grooves were great on Life in the Tropics, but it doesn't work at all on Wild Card. I own every Rippingtons CD, but I feel this disaster may be my last contribution to Russ' retirement.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Going Downhill- where is the creativity???, October 7, 2005

By 

R. Mahon "randytx" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wild Card (Audio CD)

Wild Card was a disappointment with two songs out of the entire album. I have all of the other Rippington albums and this is the worst one to date. The Latin Theme drowns out any creativity that came with other efforts. My brand new copy is going out on Amazon and get what I can out of it. Strike off another artist/group that I buy a new release without checking the tracks first....what a disappointment!