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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paddy Casey's 'Addicted to Company' - An Instant Classic, April 21, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Addicted to Company
Paddy Casey has done it again with his newest album "Addicted to Company." The entire team behind this album has managed to create something so unique in music, an album that is both fresh and classic at the same time. This is the album that will show Americans what millions in Europe and around the world already know: that Paddy Casey is one of his generation's best artists.
There's a risk when you create an understated album like this one. This album is so musically subtle that it's easily underestimated on the first listen. Just listen to it back to back a few times before you make up your mind.
Producer George Drakoulias is well known for work with bands like The Black Crowes, Rhett Miller, and Tift Merritt. Here you sense some of the same musical attributes being showcased in Paddy Casey. No doubt Pat Donne's influence has added dimensions to this as well.
Musically this album is similar to what a lot of artists are trying to do now, but Paddy Casey has been doing this for a while and seems to have come into his own. This album made me dust off an old Paddy Casey album I had and made me realize how much he has in common musically with so many artists today, from Jack Johnson to Ryan Adams. This mix of alternative, rock, country and folk is listed as alt-country, but that label shows you how overrated labels are in the music industry. Each track really stands on its own and makes this album better for it.
Even though Casey is a rock vocalist he never tries to overpower with his voice. He can really sing with amazing range. In a strange way he reminds me of Jacob Dylan and Rob Thomas, in that he has a very distinct voice that sounds powerful even when he's singing effortlessly. His debut was famously overshadowed by David Grey, who also shares some vocal similarity with him. Still, he's refined his style in such an effective way that this album might be a quasi second debut for him. I for one am "addicted" to this album and haven't stopped listening since I got my hands on it.
1. Sound Barrier - This harmonic echo ballad reminds me of 70s classics like `Behind Blue Eyes.'
2. Addicted To Company - This title track brings me back to some early Dave Mattews and newer Ryan Adams, though for me it was the hardest one to classify on this album.
3. U'll Get By - I hear his influence on James Blunt and Jack Johnson in this track. Very well done, and I predict a single out of this one.
4. Fear - This song reminds me of Train's "Drops of Jupiter" album. Very direct with clean vocals and a powerful arrangement.
5. Become Apart - This is almost like a blend between a soft Billy Joel anthem and Jackson Browne. Like so many songs on this album, new and classic at the same time.
6. City - You really hear the influence of the Black Crowes here. This is just an awesome up-tempo rock song that is probably the best pop potential song on this album.
7. Not Out To Get You - This song is really catchy and reminds me of the new Ronson
8. Refugee - This song reminds me of the kinds of poetic and driving ballads that were characteristic of the Moody Blues in their heyday. Excellent.
9. Tonight - This song is so subtle and understated, perhaps my personal favorite on this album. You really hear Casey's voice on this one. Hopefully another single here.
10. I Keep - This song could have been written and performed by James Taylor and I think it wouldn't have sounded too different. Once again, Casey has his own style but it's so clean it sounds like something that you've heard for years.
11. Leaving - A great arrangement with a tinge of darkness to it.
12. U and I - Great songwriting and direct delivery highlight this track for me.
13. It's Over Now - I really hear the elder Dylan influence here, though delivered with much stronger vocals of course. This is an awesome track to close a great new album.
Check this out and you won't be disappointed. The amazing thing is that while I think this album is really awesome, I still like his first album even better. Amen (So Be It) There's a little more electronic edge to a few tracks on the first album, but still the same solid ballads we have here. But this may just have a little more mass appeal to open up some eyes.
Enjoy.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Voice to Be Reckoned With, May 11, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Irish Singer Paddy Casey has turned out an album a girl like me can't help but like. It's like someone has taking early Elton John, Early Donovan and Early Bob Dylan, put them in a blender and turned it on liquify. I can hear all of that in Paddy Casey's voice. And son of a gun if there isn't a hint of fellow Irishman Van Morrison.
I like Paddy's rockers, like his acoustic stuff too. Shortly after getting this CD I went to youtube and watched all the video. Mr. Casey, it seems, is a young man with a future. That's my opinion anyway and I'm sticking with it. I grew up with rock and roll, folk music too and I think I'm a pretty good judge of who has what it takes and who does not and let me tell you, Paddy Casey has what it takes. He's gonna be around for a long, long time.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
We Are All On Our Own, May 6, 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Young Paddy Casey has an album here full of songs that sound that they were written by someone much older. Young Mr. Casey, it seems has lived beyond his years. Far beyond. He tells us on the song, "U and I" that we're all on our own," and that's oh so true. We all have to make our own way home and it's not always so easy. On "Fear" Casey sings about fear for his child and it is moving. I saw him sing this on Letterman with his blue guitar and I was hooked. I'm a Paddy Casey fan. No doubt about it.
Young Mr. Casey is right. Sometimes I'm afraid, but I have to deal with my fear, fear for myself, my life what I believe. Fear for my older brother in Iraq and my younger brother who wants to join the fray. And yes, fear of drug money crime too, because we are all on our own.
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