Search - Dave Edmunds :: Repeat When Necessary

Still His Best

jbesanko | Crofton, MD United States | 08/07/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first Dave Edmunds album I ever bought (way back in the days of vinyl), and it's still arguably his very best. As other reviewers note, this record rocks from start to finish. Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk" (soon to be a big hit for Linda Ronstadt) kicks off the disc in style and helped give Edmunds a foot in the "New Wave" camp in the late '70s..."Crawling From The Wreckage" became one of his signature tunes--he often opened his legendary live shows with this song. "Queen Of Hearts" became a big hit for Juice Newton and was written by Hank DeVito, who was working with people like Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris back then..."Sweet Little Lisa" and "Dynamite" are straight-on rockers, and "Bad Is Bad" is kind of a rockin' blues tune. Simply a great album from start to finish.Edmunds and/or Rockpile appeared to be on the verge of hitting the big time at this point, but it just didn't happen. Ironically, Edmunds produced the first couple of albums by the Stray Cats shortly thereafter, and watched them achieve huge success instead. Dave also produced artists as varied as k.d. lang, Carlene Carter and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. He is a non-American with a greater feel and taste for American roots music than most of us will ever have. Virtually all of his catalog is excellent, but this is the place to start. ESSENTIAL."

REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT!

The Orange Duke | Cupertino, Ca United States | 02/23/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album smokes. Edmunds was at the peak of his powers, and his back up band (see; Rockpile) was the best he's ever had. Dave comes out swingin with the excellent `Girls Talk' and doesn't slow down til it's all over. Raucous, lively and punchy, this is pub at it's best. Good rockin rockabilly in the fifties tradition. Fans of Cowboy Mouth, CCR and Men At Work should take note. Rockpile was the king of all bar bands, unstoppably great, and no matter what name they recorded under they were irresistible (see Lowe's LABOR OF LUST and their own SECONDS OF PLEASUSE). It's a pity they didn't stay together (Billy Bremner, where are you?). Pay special attention to "Crawling From The Wreckage', `Sweet Little Lisa' and `Creature From The Black Lagoon'PS And by the way, Huey Lewis plays harmonica on `Bad Is Bad', which he covered on SPORTS."

Edmunds and Rockpile hit the mark

gordon@ruraltel.net | 05/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded with Rockpile (Billy Bremner, 2nd guitar; Nick Lowe, bass; Terry Williams, drums), this is easily Edmunds best album. These guys flat rock. Too bad that Edmunds didn't share the vocals with Lowe and Bremner. Rockpile never realized their potential as a true group. Their sole album was good, but not as good as either this album or Nick Lowe's Labour of Lust (also recorded with Rockpile). Ah, more unfulfilled potential"