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Loudon Wainwright III - Social Studies Audio CD

A fair review of the Loudon Wainwright III "Social Studies" 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 Loudon Wainwright III reviews here, or go back to the Loudon Wainwright III tabs.

Loudon Wainwright III Band: Loudon Wainwright III
Title: Social Studies
Rating:
Release Date: 1999-07-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: What Gives 2: Tonya's Twirls 3: New Street People 4: Carmine Street 5: O.J. 6: Leap of Faith 7: Conspiracies 8: Christmas Morning 9: Y2k 10: Number One 11: Bad Man 12: Inaugural Blues 13: Our Boy Bill 14: Jesse Don't Like It 15: Pretty Good Day

I shall say it ten times ...
Went to his concert in Brisbane and loved the fact that live or recorded, he sounds the same. I have purchased, yes paid for, ten of Loudon's CD's. I guess I'm a true blue fan, so what else is there to say ?.


Musical satire
I confess that I fail to see what message Loudon was trying to get across but it's a good trip down memory lane so I don't mind. The album opens with What gives, which pokes fun at musical legends of the past, many of them now dead.

The remaining songs are much easier to understand. Some of them may seem dated but they are often interesting for what they symbolize. For example, Tonya's twirls (about the ice-skater, Tonya Harding) reminds us about the pressures of competitive sport and the cheating that some are tempted into.

Other songs deal with smokers, the trial of O J Simpson, Santa Claus, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Saddam Hussein and premium telephone lines. Loudon is sympathetic to smokers as they face ever more restrictions but pours scorn on the others.

More seriously, Carmine Street is about somebody barricading themselves inside their house because of rioting in the streets. It was about Los Angeles but would be just as relevant to riots in London or anywhere else.

With an album like this, it is difficult to know whether to recommend it or not. I enjoy listening to it occasionally despite the fact that most of the events that inspired the songs are old news. I try to relate them to something topical and in that way I still find most of them relevant, therefore still amusing.


Histerical -
The themes are a bit outdated, (as they were written for NPR. Wainwright manages to make fun of just about everyone in this CD, in his usual sarcastic, cynical style that seems to attack humanity as a whole. . . although most were rejected for being too controversial), but it doesn't take away from the music or message of the songs. You'll either love or hate this CD.


Loudon Cleans His Attic
This collection would have been better left unrecorded. A truly pedestrian effort, this album is composed of topical tunes whose time has past.


Too Topical?
An informal survey of Loudon fans had them all agreeing that this wasn't his best stuff, but no agreement on which songs were representative of decline in quality. A collection of songs written over about a ten year period on the latest fads and fashions, about as far from his usual stuff as you could get.

I offer this opinion: They're all good, but how you view them has a lot to do with how personally you take the issue being addressed.

Hate the (now common) practice of digging up a dead musicians tapes to record new songs? "What Gives?" is bound to resonate.

A smoker forced to relocate to the streets in the current atmosphere of "no smoke tolerance"? "New Street People" is the song for you.

The strongest songs on the album are probably those which are still startlingly relevant, whether through the cleverness of the songwriter or by accident of current events. "Leap of Faith" and "Inaugural Blues" apply depressingly to the current election. "Bad Man" and "Christmas Morning", about troubles with dictators and the middle east, will probably never go out of fashion. "Tonya's Twirls", though about ice skater Tonya Harding, has a nice twist in it that makes one reflect on the Olympics in general. "Carmine Street" and "Pretty Good Day So Far" are fair estimates of what being exposed to the news media can do to a person, both good and bad.

You probably won't like all the songs or think some of them are just "so so", but it's almost guaranteed to be two or three on here that will be "worth the price of admission alone".


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

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