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Deepcut to Nowhere

Graham Parker - Deepcut to Nowhere Audio CD

A fair review of the Graham Parker "Deepcut to Nowhere" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Graham Parker reviews here, or go back to the Graham Parker tabs.

Band: Graham Parker
Title: Deepcut to Nowhere
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-08-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dark Days 2: I'll Never Play Jacksonville Again 3: If It Ever Stops Rainin' 4: Depend On Me 5: High Horse 6: Cheap Chipped Black Nails 7: Blue Horizon 8: Tough On Clothes 9: Socks 'N' Sandals 10: It Takes A Village Idiot 11: Syphilis & Religion 12: Last Stop Is Nowhere

Nowhere is the Place to Be
2001's Deepcut to Nowhere is not a return to form; GP hasn't lost his form at any point spanning 33 years. GP begins the new century in fine form. However, if you are interested in the music of Graham Parker, you will find much pleasure in this album. Start with the opening rockers Dark Days and INPJA (which is even better represented on the Parker "Official Bootleg" that came a couple of years later), you're probably thinking. . . . good, yes, I like it!. . . . liking the uptempo rocking; then later on with High Horse, Socks and Sandals, and Tough on Clothes, GP has you in stitches with his humorous take on his life and times. If your a slightly over the hill duffer like me, you can relate!

Blue Horizon has to be one of the most beautiful songs GP has recorded; it is reminiscent of the material on the Mona Lisa's Sister. A must listen.

GP has his issues with religion and you could compile many of his songs that deal with this subject; Syphilis and Religion is probably one of the the most over the top examples of his outward dismay with religion. Regardless of how you feel on this subject, this song is funny!!!

The album comes to a close with the acoustic title track--a perfect close. It's hard to place this in the pantheon of GP albums, since there are so many must have's in his collection. it's in the top half for sure; for consistency, content, musicianship, and writing, I place it in the top 7 or 8 GP studio albums, and if you are a fan of this man's music, you should buy this gem.

Nice job GP! .

Wow, etc.
". My wife (who is not a big music fan) came into the room while I was playing this CD and asked "Is this Bob Dylan?" I smiled as GP sang "Her cheap chipped black nails / pick the threads out of a suture / that was holding your life fast", and said "No, but Dylan probably wishes it was.

Parker is certainly no "has been"
Sometimes, he's compared to Elvis Costello but personally I don't think the similarities are that striking and Parker is without doubt so much better. Graham Parker started out as a pub rocker, combining traditional rock with blues, pop, punk etc. In 2001, Graham Parker released "Deepcut to nowhere" and it is certainly a very strong album. The material shows a matured Parker but the energy is still present. The opening of this album is excellent with the mid tempo blues rock inspired "Darker days" on which Parker sounds rather rough. Then comes the faster and melodic rocker "I'll never play Jacksonville again", followed by "If it never stops raining" - a very catchy and attractive song in mid tempo. These three songs are about as good as it can be, and I would rate them all 5 stars. It's almost impossible to keep up with this start and the two following tracks: the slow "Depend on me" and light hearted "High horse" are both rather mediocre. But the treat isn't over as the very captivating "Cheap chipped black nails" clearly shows. And when the up tempo "Syphilis & religion" kicks off, a couple of songs later you'll release that Graham Parker have made one helluva record. The albums holds five excellent songs and a couple of good once like the almost rockabilly-like "Socks `n' sandals" (Parker's "When I'm sixty-four") and the quite laid back "Tough on clothes", on which Parker as a dad sings to his daughter. When the closing and slow "Last stop is nowhere" with its country feel ends, I wouldn't be surprised if you start playing this album again and again and again - right away!.

another great GP disk!
Hats off to Razor and Tie Records too for its support of GP and other commercial and artistic musicians. I'm glad to see there are still some people out there willing to invest in and support artists like Graham Parker these "dark days". GP has always worked in a successful commercial framework and not sacrificed artistic vision. I think that's why he is still successful today.

I agree that Blue Horizon is the best cut on the disk. It's beautiful. Possibly the culmination or swan song of a long career. But there's not a bad cut on the disk. I've been a fan of GP's since the 80's and often thought he never got the appreciation he deserved. . . speaking of which, anybody know if he's been nominated for the Rocknroll hall of fame yet? Enough said. . .

Meanwhile, GP has one of the most consistent bodies of work in rock today and is still cranking it out. As with this cd his work never sounds old or dated. This is a great intro to GP's body of work and covers many themes of GP's records over the years. Love, politics, culture, sociology. . . Tough, angry, tender, funny, sometimes all at once. Few others artists today have such insight into the human condition or have done more with a rocknroll song while at the same time rocking with such minimal production. The flashes of mandolin on the disk were greatly appreciated. While I concur about how nice it would be to see him live with band I've seen him live alone twice and he's one of the few artists who captivates an audience with nothing more than his voice, songs, guitar, harmonica. Enjoy this disk.

Very good Graham
I was a huge fan in the late 70's and early 80's when he was at his productive peak. It had been a long time since I had heard Graham Parker. Problem is, I have all his classic stuff on vinyl, the `ol record player broke, and it's either a few hundred to get a new one or more hundreds to get the old stuff on CD. So while going back and forth on that quandary, it was nice to pick up this recent release.

It took a few listenings, but in many ways, he hasn't missed a beat over all these years. There was a slow period several years ago when his stuff started sounding repetitive and uninspired. But with this release there seems to be a new energy to the man. The only bad thing is that what his does doesn't seem to be big on the radio anymore, not that he ever was a chart topper.

The album starts off with him in a very gravelly voice, which was somewhat of a shock. Thought for awhile that this might be the new Graham Parker voice, but this doesn't last long, and he reverts to the voice we're all used to. We then go through an album of mostly rockers, some ballads, some not that interesting, but overall most of them are.

I've got to get a new turntable.

You can see a complete list of all Graham Parker discography, or go back to the Graham Parker tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.