Who the Hell Is John Eddie? [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

John Eddie

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 2003)
• Original Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Lost Highway
• ASIN: B000093I91
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #42,255 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Back in the '80s, Eddie was a Jersey rocker who could reliably fill the Stone Pony long after Bruce Springsteen had outgrown it. Following a bitter label dispute and a string of self-released recordings, Who the Hell is John Eddie? is his first major-label-distributed CD in over a decade. During the intervening years, his roots rock has drifted closer to country-rock, the best example of which is "Let Me Down Hard," though echoes of Springsteen can still be heard on a few songs, such as "Everything." These songs are fine, if a bit generic, but they're better than Eddie’s attempts at humor, which represent nearly half the album. "Low Life," for example, is closer to Jeff Foxworthy territory than the Randy Newman satire to which it aspires. And "Forty" is worse: an older guy’s lament that doubles as an insult to his even older friends. Clearly, Eddie’s taken some hard knocks--the album's title comes from the sort of drunken heckler he’s faced many times during his down years--but an overblown, self-pitying response like "Play Some Skynyrd" offers perhaps too clear an answer: He’s a competent club rocker who splits his time between mugging for his audience and mocking it. --Keith Moerer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Veteran Rocker Presents Best Work, June 19, 2003

By	Julianna's Mom (NYC) - See all my reviews

This latest album from veteran New Jersey rocker, John Eddie, is quite clearly his best work and is the cumulative product of years of great highs, desperate lows, and "steady jobs" as a singer/songwriter in the often unforgiving music industry. Eddie's music has a rare honesty about it. There is no hype. And there is no pretense. He has you laughing along with him as he laughs at himself (Forty) and makes you feel each empty mile and each lonely hour which separates a man who has spent too long on the road away from the love who he hopes still waits for him at home (If You're Here When I Get Back). His songs often hauntingly reach that emotional level where you feel you yourself have hung in the balance before. You find yourself identifying with the heart of the man left behind by his lover amid a box of letters which he cannot yet read because "it's been too soon" (Everything). Each song has its key line, which stops you in your tracks and gives you pause to think deeply, a talent Eddie has perfected. As an entertainer, Eddie is unparalleled in his electrifying, dynamic performances, and while it is true that to see him live is to become and instant, and perhaps faithful fan, this album brings forth the essence of the live performance in many of the tracks owing in large part to the precision guitars (PK Lavengood) and the unmistakable drums (Kenny Arnonoff). Although fans may feel that the music has changed since his earlier works, they will find it has evolved in a way which seems to reflect a long road of self discovery and experience, and mirror more of the man he is. All of this serves to capture on disc the honesty, depth, vulnerability, seasoned edge, sense of humor, and boyish charm that is John Eddie. No one will be disappointed.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally the real deal, May 19, 2003

By A Customer

I don't buy cds because generally there are only one or two really solid songs on them. I heard this song from John Eddie on the radio when I was in San Diego and I loved it, but had no intention of buying it because I was sure the song I heard on the radio would be the only good thing on it. I was wrong. After listening to a friend rave about him live, I decided throw caution and $... to the wind and take a chance. From beginning to end this cd is filled with one song after another that is intelligent, hooky, humorous and makes you want to learn every lyric and sing a long. I don't know where he came from, but thank god there are still artists out there who care enough to put out a solid album, not just 2 or 3 good songs. My new favorite cd "Who The Hell is John Eddie".

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who The Hell Is Keith Moerer?, June 24, 2003

By	Stephen S Urbish - See all my reviews

Keith Moerer is dead wrong with his review of John Eddie's Who the Hell Is John Eddie? Moerer is the type of person that eats fast food, while driving a fast rented car, to a fast date, with fast and superficial conversation, followed by fast, probably way to fast, sex. Maybe John Eddie has taken some hard knocks. Maybe that's the reason for this recording's character. Moerer couldn't understand, he never made it to the first bonus track after 12. He rushed through his one time listen on a Sunday night... half asleep in front of an old Mickey Mouse cartoon. If Bruce Springsteen wrote "Low Life" Moerer would call it sociologically challenging... an attempt to shine light on our troubled society." After all it's what he would think he was supposed to write. Moerer calls "Forty" "an older guys lament that doubles as an insult to his even older friends." Makes me wonder how old Moerer is, or if he's paid attention while his life was making a statement. Moerer's a not so competent online critic who spends his time mugging an artist that has made a record that will stand the test of time. Of course Moerer knows little about time.