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Graham Parker - Your Country Audio CD

A fair review of the Graham Parker "Your Country" 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.

Graham Parker Band: Graham Parker
Title: Your Country
Rating:
Release Date: 2004-03-09
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Anything for a Laugh 2: The Rest Is History 3: Cruel Lips 4: Almost Thanksgiving Day 5: Nation of Shopkeepers 6: Queen of Compromise 7: Things I've Never Said 8: Sugaree 9: Tornado Alley 10: Fair Ground 11: Crawling from the Wreckage (Revisited)

A superior recording


This is another Graham Parker album and, that said, it is bloody marvelous. 'Your Country' is not a country music album! I don't care if Lucinda Willimas does sing on it; nor do I care that it was released Chicago-based Bloodshot Records, an outfit known for alt-country music. It's sort of a big old DUH, I guess, that the title tells the what this album is about. After all, he spends a lot of time in the States.

In fact, I'll tell you what. . it doesn't really matter what genre is assigned to this album, the majority of the songs simply stand on their own merit and should be listened to as such.

Now, I will admit that I doubt Mr. Parker and I would agree about politics (I do not plan to ever listen to '2,000 Lives') and, therefore, I have some philosophical problems with 'Tornado Alley. ' But, I must also advise that - barring 'Crawling from the Wreckage (revisted)' which seems to be a vanity piece and the weakest cut on the album - I am absolutely blown over by the maturity, insight, vision, pure and downright tenderness that streams out of these songs. Whether describing the joy of love discovered ('The Rest is History') or the pain of love lost ('Cruel Lips'), Mr. Parker presents his case as a one friend would do with another in the confines of a personal conversation. Maybe it is because we are near-contemporaries in terms of age that this group of recordings moves me so deeply. Irrespective of that, it is good to listen to this by and large masterful work.

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A new twist from an old master
This is as good, or better than any of the early work! The cover of Sugaree is terrific, as is the rest of the disc. Have most of his (and the Rumour by themselves) early albums, and think they are great. .


Graham Parker, Countrified
" Used to Parker's hard-hitting, acidic vocal and writing style, I was surprised to hear an almost country sounding recording. This was a bit of a departure, or so I thought when I picked up "Your Country.

More of the old country that I grew up with, and not what you hear on radio now. . . but in any case Parker moved out with a very strong recording here, still incisive with his commentaries and a bit introspective too.

"Nation of Shopkeepers" may have been a look back at his roots, a very good story song and understated, very different from much of his past work. "Cruel Lips," which he did with Lucinda Williams was an exceptional duet and could have garnered some radio airplay if it had the right push. The cover of "Sugaree" was also an eyebrow raiser, but I liked Parker's approach to it.

Ending with "Crawling from the Wreckage" was a little reminder that Parker still rocks and wasn't gonna let you forget.

This might be a bit different for fans who expect stuff from his past bands like Shot and the Rumour, but it occupies a proper space for a fine writer and performer. Well done, Graham!.


It Pleases Me
It's not like "Acid Bubblegum" and it is like "Struck by Lightning" (though less sentimental than the latter). Definitely GP's best in awhile - to me. Not a clunker on the album, and ouch, he often has them. I like his revisited "Crawling Through The Wreckage" -- it's a lot like the original, but rock minus punk; you can hear the lyrics and all the instruments. Freund, interesting -- I saw him open for GP at The Bottom Line and liked him. I don't know if they met on that tour with Freund as the opening act or if they knew each other, but I like his bass, particularly the stand-up. Nice. Nice steel guitar on some songs. Lucinda isn't overly noticeable. And basically it's rock and roll, and fully Graham Parker. Doesn't skip a beat. He makes me happy. He's honed his craft over the years--his guitar and harmonica playing--kept true to his music and improved, unlike some of the genre-hoppers (Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson). I'm not a he-can-do-no-wrong fan; this album is truly his best of the past few, in my opinion (I didn't care for "Loose Monkeys" so much). He is, though, so talented and on this album, he shines.

That official album description above: don't buy it -- ". . . warm and melodic genre-bending. . . " -- does not apply.


He does it again
I totally lost track of him for twenty years, until 2003, when I got a bug to hear Life Gets Better Yet again. I was a big GP fan back in the early days, but like a lot of people, I started to lose interest around the time of Another Grey Area and The Real Macaw. I ordered the Master Hits CD from Amazon, and then found a Best of. . at the library. I was hooked all over again. I've obtained every GP album out there within the last year, and have obsessively listned to them all. I wonder what in the world I was thinking when I "lost interest. " Your Country fits smoothly into his ouevre. Although there were a few songs on last year's Deepcut to Nowhere that I like better, this is overall the stronger collection, one of his best. (As an aside, one album that doesn't get any attention on Amazon is Loose Monkeys, which is only available from Razor & Tie. It's a collection of great songs that never made it onto albums. Give it a try, too. )
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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.

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