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Doxa
People seem to take very seriously those review ratings... I haven't since the 80's...

But another issue talked here, the length of the album. I am generally with JumpingKentFlash that this is a kind of disease of CD era that 'the quantity over quality' since there is a lot of space for that. But I'm with georgelicks as well that so it goes these days, and we should adjust ourselves to the reality of the things as they are today; this is what CDs are like today, the days of vinyl format and the way to listen the albums, each track having a bigger identity in the whole, is long gone. Now you just pick up the ones you like, and skip the others. If you bother.

But that said, I don't think the length of CROSSEYED HEART is any problem. Yeah, it is a long album, but I don't hear there any song I could call a filler. It flows naturally, the tracks follow each other nicely, each having a 'point' in the whole. I guess if I had the vinyl version, the impression would be even better (I assume it is a double album).

To use the analog I did earlier: not also having such Americana feel of that classic album, CROSSEYED HEART is also 'old man's EXILE' in the sense that the wholeness is build with the same kind of policy, having left nough room for different musical exercises, and which together give the album a certain identity and feel, a musical statement. Without that policy we wouldn't have had "Just Wanna See Your Face" released ever. I think there are pieces like that many in Keith's album (like "Goodnight Irene"), which in some other could might be called a filler, but being now there, as a part of the whole, make sense. (Probably we could also offer one more EXILE-feature: not much absolute highlights or turds, but the quality over-all being a rather standard).

The contrast is huge to the previous Rolling Stones albums, especially A BIGGER BANG; those really are just senseless - and endless - collections of arbitrary songs, of which I wouldn't hesitate to call many fillers.

- Doxa

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treaclefingers
I'm not sure it's been posted yet, but I just noticed it's NUMBER 1 in the overall music category on Amazon.com and .ca...pretty damn good.

I'll let George comment on how it's doing on billboard.

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LongBeachArena72

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treaclefingers
I'm not sure it's been posted yet, but I just noticed it's NUMBER 1 in the overall music category on Amazon.com and .ca...pretty damn good.

I'll let George comment on how it's doing on billboard.

From Bob Lefsetz this morning (and we all know how reliable HE is):

" ... Keith Richards, whose album is sinking like a stone, despite all the fawning press."

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treaclefingers

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LongBeachArena72

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treaclefingers
I'm not sure it's been posted yet, but I just noticed it's NUMBER 1 in the overall music category on Amazon.com and .ca...pretty damn good.

I'll let George comment on how it's doing on billboard.

From Bob Lefsetz this morning (and we all know how reliable HE is):

" ... Keith Richards, whose album is sinking like a stone, despite all the fawning press."

maybe he meant 'went down like a lead balloon'?!

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Wild Slivovitz
Great album, much better than expected. It's almost one hour of pure, unadulterated Keith. I think the old-school blues numbers("Crosseyed heart" and "Blues In The Morning" ) are perfect. Some of the rockers are excellent ("Amnesia" ), other nice ("Heartstopper", which I would have liked to listen performed by the Stones), and Others not so good ("Trouble" and "Nothing on Me" ). The ballands are mostly excellent ("Robbed Blind" is awesome). "Suspicious" is one of the best tracks of the album, and is another song that I would have liked to be performed by the Stones. The highlight of the album is "Illusion": great song, great arrangement, fantastic guitar parts and Norah Jones really raises the level here. To me it's already a classic. "Goodnight Irene" is just wonderful, and Keith's guitar part is once more awesome. "Lover's Plea" is just beautiful.

As a final note, the record sounds fantastic: if it's true that the Stones will soon be back in studio, please let Keith be the one in charge of the production!!

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gwen

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Hairball
Reading through credits and see Blondie Chaplin on backup vocals on Illusion.
Evidently Keith is still friends with him, so wonder why he no longer sings live backup (and plays guitar under stage lol) with the Stones...
Did he quit? Was it health issues? Was he fired?

This was done years ago...

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Hairball

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gwen

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Hairball
Reading through credits and see Blondie Chaplin on backup vocals on Illusion.
Evidently Keith is still friends with him, so wonder why he no longer sings live backup (and plays guitar under stage lol) with the Stones...
Did he quit? Was it health issues? Was he fired?

This was done years ago...

Not sure I get what you mean...what was done years ago?
Pondering why he's no longer with the Stones?
Or the fact that he's no longer with the Stones?
Obviously I've been aware of the latter, but do you know the reason why he was left out?
I don't recall reading about that....

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Turner68

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Hairball

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gwen

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Hairball
Reading through credits and see Blondie Chaplin on backup vocals on Illusion.
Evidently Keith is still friends with him, so wonder why he no longer sings live backup (and plays guitar under stage lol) with the Stones...
Did he quit? Was it health issues? Was he fired?

This was done years ago...

Not sure I get what you mean...what was done years ago?
Pondering why he's no longer with the Stones?
Or the fact that he's no longer with the Stones?
Obviously I've been aware of the latter, but do you know the reason why he was left out?
I don't recall reading about that....

[www.iorr.org]

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Hairball

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gwen

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Hairball
Reading through credits and see Blondie Chaplin on backup vocals on Illusion.
Evidently Keith is still friends with him, so wonder why he no longer sings live backup (and plays guitar under stage lol) with the Stones...
Did he quit? Was it health issues? Was he fired?

This was done years ago...

Not sure I get what you mean...what was done years ago?
Pondering why he's no longer with the Stones?
Or the fact that he's no longer with the Stones?
Obviously I've been aware of the latter, but do you know the reason why he was left out?
I don't recall reading about that....

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Hairball

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Wild Slivovitz
Great album, much better than expected. It's almost one hour of pure, unadulterated Keith. I think the old-school blues numbers("Crosseyed heart" and "Blues In The Morning" ) are perfect. Some of the rockers are excellent ("Amnesia" ), other nice ("Heartstopper", which I would have liked to listen performed by the Stones), and Others not so good ("Trouble" and "Nothing on Me" ). The ballands are mostly excellent ("Robbed Blind" is awesome). "Suspicious" is one of the best tracks of the album, and is another song that I would have liked to be performed by the Stones. The highlight of the album is "Illusion": great song, great arrangement, fantastic guitar parts and Norah Jones really raises the level here. To me it's already a classic. "Goodnight Irene" is just wonderful, and Keith's guitar part is once more awesome. "Lover's Plea" is just beautiful.

As a final note, the record sounds fantastic: if it's true that the Stones will soon be back in studio, please let Keith be the one in charge of the production!!

Nice review Wild Slivovitz.
As for Keith being in charge of the production on any future Stones release, I've been saying that for years!!!
Based on the sound of his first two solo albums, and perhaps just going on a hunch, this new release has convinced me that would be the best way to go.
Keith doesn't need all the bells and whistles to express himself, and the results speak for themselves.
To paraphrase Doxa, even if the songs on a new Stones release are inferior, at least they would sound right. lol

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Naturalust

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Hairball

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Wild Slivovitz
Great album, much better than expected. It's almost one hour of pure, unadulterated Keith. I think the old-school blues numbers("Crosseyed heart" and "Blues In The Morning" ) are perfect. Some of the rockers are excellent ("Amnesia" ), other nice ("Heartstopper", which I would have liked to listen performed by the Stones), and Others not so good ("Trouble" and "Nothing on Me" ). The ballands are mostly excellent ("Robbed Blind" is awesome). "Suspicious" is one of the best tracks of the album, and is another song that I would have liked to be performed by the Stones. The highlight of the album is "Illusion": great song, great arrangement, fantastic guitar parts and Norah Jones really raises the level here. To me it's already a classic. "Goodnight Irene" is just wonderful, and Keith's guitar part is once more awesome. "Lover's Plea" is just beautiful.

As a final note, the record sounds fantastic: if it's true that the Stones will soon be back in studio, please let Keith be the one in charge of the production!!

Nice review Wild Slivovitz.
As for Keith being in charge of the production on any future Stones release, I've been saying that for years!!!
Based on the sound of his first two solo albums, and perhaps just going on a hunch, this new release has convinced me that would be the best way to go.
Keith doesn't need all the bells and whistles to express himself, and the results speak for themselves.
To paraphrase Doxa, even if the songs on a new Stones release are inferior, at least they would sound right. lol

Well Keith has been deeply involved in the production on most Stones records. Check out the Tip of The Tongue documentary and you can see Keith in action telling mixer Ed Cherney just what he wants to hear. I seriously doubt Keith would ever be able to get Mick to sit out and take a lesser production role than him, but perhaps they could both give it up to a third party.

Perhaps Steve Jordan is the missing link here and would be able to help get a similar production sound on the next Stones record. As I've said before they have had some success with drummer/producers in the past. I'm not fond of everything Jordan does, but based on this record, I'd be more than willing to give him a shot producing the Stones.

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Naturalust

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Hairball

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Wild Slivovitz
Great album, much better than expected. It's almost one hour of pure, unadulterated Keith. I think the old-school blues numbers("Crosseyed heart" and "Blues In The Morning" ) are perfect. Some of the rockers are excellent ("Amnesia" ), other nice ("Heartstopper", which I would have liked to listen performed by the Stones), and Others not so good ("Trouble" and "Nothing on Me" ). The ballands are mostly excellent ("Robbed Blind" is awesome). "Suspicious" is one of the best tracks of the album, and is another song that I would have liked to be performed by the Stones. The highlight of the album is "Illusion": great song, great arrangement, fantastic guitar parts and Norah Jones really raises the level here. To me it's already a classic. "Goodnight Irene" is just wonderful, and Keith's guitar part is once more awesome. "Lover's Plea" is just beautiful.

As a final note, the record sounds fantastic: if it's true that the Stones will soon be back in studio, please let Keith be the one in charge of the production!!

Nice review Wild Slivovitz.
As for Keith being in charge of the production on any future Stones release, I've been saying that for years!!!
Based on the sound of his first two solo albums, and perhaps just going on a hunch, this new release has convinced me that would be the best way to go.
Keith doesn't need all the bells and whistles to express himself, and the results speak for themselves.
To paraphrase Doxa, even if the songs on a new Stones release are inferior, at least they would sound right. lol

Well Keith has been deeply involved in the production on most Stones records. Check out the Tip of The Tongue documentary and you can see Keith in action telling mixer Ed Cherney just what he wants to hear. I seriously doubt Keith would ever be able to get Mick to sit out and take a lesser production role than him, but perhaps they could both give it up to a third party.

Perhaps Steve Jordan is the missing link here and would be able to help get a similar production sound on the next Stones record. As I've said before they have had some success with drummer/producers in the past. I'm not fond of everything Jordan does, but based on this record, I'd be more than willing to give him a shot producing the Stones.

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Turner68
I posted this a couple days ago but since the topic came up again - cross eyed heart is the #5 album on iTunes.

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georgelicks
After 3 days (Friday-Sunday) the album is #6 on the UK midweek chart selling around 7,500 copies so far, so the album should end around #6-8 by Thursday with about 10k.
The US numbers should be around the 30-35k mark closing the Top 10 on a big week of new releases, around 8 albums could land on the US Top 10 this week and about 12-13 on the Top 20.

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash


The time it took you to press the quote button, then writing that sentence, then post it..... You'd have been at least 1/3 through it. Just read it if it has any interest.

Ok, I read 1/3 of it. I stopped here.

"I don't know why this is a problem for this album, and the aforementioned Stones albums, but it just is."

Good for you. Now are you done highlighting yourself?

if you figure out why having 15 tracks is a problem, other than that "it just is" i'd love to hear.

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JumpingKentFlash

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash


The time it took you to press the quote button, then writing that sentence, then post it..... You'd have been at least 1/3 through it. Just read it if it has any interest.

Ok, I read 1/3 of it. I stopped here.

"I don't know why this is a problem for this album, and the aforementioned Stones albums, but it just is."

Good for you. Now are you done highlighting yourself?

if you figure out why having 15 tracks is a problem, other than that "it just is" i'd love to hear.

Try reading the rest of the review man. You just might find out why 15 tracks is a problem. Also, read this thread. Multiple people are writing about it. The consensus is most likely "Quality over quantity", which you'd have seen had you bothered reading my review.

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mnewman505
Illusion is wonderful, Nora has a gorgeous voice.

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Hairball

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JumpingKentFlash

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash

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Turner68

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JumpingKentFlash


The time it took you to press the quote button, then writing that sentence, then post it..... You'd have been at least 1/3 through it. Just read it if it has any interest.

Ok, I read 1/3 of it. I stopped here.

"I don't know why this is a problem for this album, and the aforementioned Stones albums, but it just is."

Good for you. Now are you done highlighting yourself?

if you figure out why having 15 tracks is a problem, other than that "it just is" i'd love to hear.

Try reading the rest of the review man. You just might find out why 15 tracks is a problem. Also, read this thread. Multiple people are writing about it. The consensus is most likely "Quality over quantity", which you'd have seen had you bothered reading my review.

Not to butt in, but from what I've read the consensus is quantity vs. quality (you can skip, pick and choose, and/or edit if you happen to not like something),
It just happens though that most have given the quantity a high quality grade.
So it's really the best of both worlds for most - high quantity + high quality.
A win-win situation by most standards.

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bitusa2012

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Doxa


Here comes the dilemma of authenticity: Keith is genuine and does music he loves, but that is doomed to be replica or pastishe-like. The title song - a good introduction to theme and feel of the album - is a charming Robert Johnson-pastishe. But the question arises: for what we actually need this piece, if we already have all those Robert Johnson records? Ironically, decades ago this same man took one of Johnson's own pieces, added there a chord, and come up with an original sound rock classic. And that also added people at the time to know about this wonderful musician (like Keith with his pals helped them to know people like Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed). But now we all - who might be interested in Keith's album - do know Robert Johnson, and now we recognize "Crosseyed Heart" being a reference to him.

Probably it is that Keith is so deep in his own musical world and has so many decades loved and studied so much these authentic genres that he has lost some of his own originality? (And among that, a helluva lot of his skills as an interesting song-writer).

Probably that is the biggest problem I have with the album. I love each and every of the 'authentic' genres that are presented in the album, but since I am familiar with the originals, Keith's efforts are doomed to be a bit generic.

- Doxa

Nice review, but trying a bit too hard I think. By your own arguements here, no need for The Stones to do Little Queenie or Carol. We already know Chuck's versions. Love in Vain? No, don't do it. Johnson has already done it. Time is on my Side... Nope, done. Wilds Horses? Nope, others have done country. Let's face it... Every genre HAS already been done to death. So, best everyone stop making music, so we can all go back and listen to the originals then.