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Posted by Jevon the Tall on 08-27-2002 at15:56:

  Jevon the Tall unloads on LITTLE, big

Should this be on the argument page?

This is an odd moment for me. I’m totally underwhelmed by a Terry Taylor release. I think it’s more the arrangements that don’t work for me, than the songs. Rob Watson is a talented guy, and his work on previous DA (particularly Fearful Symmetry), and TST albums was very complementary. This time it sounds stale, and dated, almost as if he and Terry recorded the songs using a RadioShack© keyboard and Terry’s guitar – which is too bad, as Terry is a writer who can twist a phrase in a way most wordsmith’s dream of - Witness the emotion of Mama’s in the Desert – heck he can noodle a good tune too, it’s just that they’re buried in the clutter on this one.

Everyone’s allowed an off moment here and there.

No doubt I’ll shell out the cash for the full release, which will feature all new songs. I’m a fan after all …

(as posted on the TST page at banophernalia.com)

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Posted by carl on 08-28-2003 at08:51:

Yo Jev!

Figured you'd read your own post, so.... have you picked up the Dum Dog Run (i.e., this is SpinAl'tizer) CD yet? And what do you think of it?


(BTW, I STILL haven't picked up Little, Big.... )

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-28-2003 at09:44:

RE: Jevon the Tall unloads on LITTLE, big

sounds like a "dump" item to me!

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Posted by baxter on 08-28-2003 at10:49:



Don't get too excited, Doc.

Even Jevon is allowed an off moment every now and then.

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Posted by Jevon the Tall on 08-28-2003 at11:34:

 

Rick send me the Dum Dog Run stuff a few months ago. That is one freakin' excellent CD. Totally not like his Belew influenced stuff.

This is a heady guitar driven mullet inspired pop / rock experience. Imagine Cheap Trick mixed up with the Cars minus the keyboards.

Highly recommended. I really really liked it. Of all the stuff the Rick sent me this was a highlight.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-28-2003 at12:53:

 

quote:

Originally posted by baxter Don't get too excited, Doc. Even Jevon is allowed an off moment every now and then.

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Posted by carl on 08-28-2003 at14:25:

quote:

Originally posted by Jevon the Tall Rick send me the Dum Dog Run stuff a few months ago. That is one freakin' excellent CD. Totally not like his Belew influenced stuff. This is a heady guitar driven mullet inspired pop / rock experience. Imagine Cheap Trick mixed up with the Cars minus the keyboards. Highly recommended. I really really liked it. Of all the stuff the Rick sent me this was a highlight.

I'm still kinda working through it. I've become quite the Altizer completist in the last few months -- even got Soul Lift, which is kinda hit-and-miss but has its moments (read: Johnny Cash and Mike Roe).... but I couldn't break down for the Worship Jamz CDs....

Anyway, Dum Dog Run.... It doesn't quite hold up for 40 minutes, to my ears, but the opening one-two-three punch of "Unraveling" ("Hey / look at my sweater / it's unraveling / Hey / better forget her/ it's unraveling")/"Mullet"/"Jennifer Anniston" is pretty cool, as is the cover of "Let's Go." And for pure '80s moronicness, it's hard to top the Spin-Doctorish:

"I
want to rock the world
I'm keepin' it real
keepin' it simple
Simple
Yeah."

All right, so maybe I need to give it a few more spins....

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Posted by Jevon the Tall on 08-28-2003 at14:52:

 

It does suffer from the repetitiveness of a lot of generic 80's rock, but this one is done pretty well, and for me I really liked the last track (name escapes me). Glad to see others are getting it now, when I got it he had just finished it. Is it still a CDR or has he started manufacturing it.

As for the Kids stuff, I'll probably pass. Ordering from Canada makes it expensive.

He is a solid artist, and just seems to miss catching on. He's the victim of good press and poor sales.

PS Agree with your assessment of Soul Lift, which I liked, and thought most of it was better than expected. The Roe song was tailor made, and Johnny's version grew on me.

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Posted by carl on 08-28-2003 at14:55:



Still a CD-R. He let me have it for $10. Basically, Rick has being teaching me the joys of PayPal the last couple months....

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-28-2003 at15:22:

 

I saw Rick at Lifefest last year, great fun rock-n-roll.

A lot like The Smithereens!

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Posted by Rock Sombrero on 08-28-2003 at23:25:

  Levon

Boo.


You must be unmarried, have no children, no pets, and ignore your parents.

Little,Big is Terry's best and most complete album to date with Surfonic a close second.

Sad.

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Posted by baxter on 08-28-2003 at23:31:

 

Jevon is an excellent reviewer and our finest purveyor of flatulence. You were wrong on all counts about him.

Of course, he is wrong about LB. Though the radio shack keyboard made me chuckle.

Do you ever eat at Dunkin Do-nuts?

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Posted by Rock Sombrero on 08-28-2003 at23:44:

 

Used to. Moved elsewhere. It's only the Vietnamese Donut Shops for me these days.




Jevon's review was a review. I'll give you that. This one is better.

I've never heard an artist let the audience so completely into his life as Terry does in Little, Big. It's an honor to be welcomed into his family.

Love you.

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Posted by baxter on 08-29-2003 at03:06:

 

i agree more with your review than Jevon's, but i'd rather not hear so much about Terry's cats.

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Posted by Dr Rich on 08-29-2003 at07:50:

 

quote:

Originally posted by Rock Sombrero Used to. Moved elsewhere. It's only the Vietnamese Donut Shops for me these days. Jevon's review was a review. I'll give you that. This one is better. I've never heard an artist let the audience so completely into his life as Terry does in Little, Big. It's an honor to be welcomed into his family. Love you.

Amen!
Bravo!

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Posted by audiori on 08-29-2003 at09:39:

 

Yeah, I kinda saw little big as a glimps into Terry's life.
Or a CD made for his family kind of thing.. in that, I think
it has a lot of emotional quality.

The music, mostly by Rob Watson... is sort of similar to
a Brian Wilson solo album. If you are used to it, it sounds
good... kinda odd if you are not used to it though.

Do I hope that all of Terry's music has that sound from now on?
No, but I am glad he can experiment and go in all kinds of
musical directions. I think that style is fitting for those songs,
and I think Terry always kind of does that.. fits the music to the
lyric. Or lets the song have it's own life, no matter what that may be.

But that's why I like Terry's and DA's music...I want to hear something
new and be shocked everytime I put a CD in. Terry has always
been able to get me to accept styles of music I would otherwise
not listen to. Maybe not at first, but I give em a try.

I especially like "Mommas in the Desert", that is a very cool song.
It kinda shows you exactly where Terry was at at that moment.

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Posted by baxter on 08-29-2003 at09:55:

 

Mama is a great song!

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Posted by John Foxe on 08-29-2003 at10:19:

  Ditto

'Mamma" is the kinda song that can bring tears.

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Posted by zippetydoodaddy on 08-29-2003 at11:40:

 

The song Little, Big hits me every time I come home from work. I'm floored again by what comes over me when I think of the size of the love I feel!!

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Posted by DaLe on 08-29-2003 at11:46:

  RE: Levon

quote:

Originally posted by Rock Sombrero You must be unmarried, have no children, no pets, and ignore your parents. Little,Big is Terry's best and most complete album to date

great post ! I agree !

PeTs are FiNe but, Cats . . . oh, well...