Search - Marti Jones :: Match Game

Great Covers of 70's/80's Alt-Rock & Power Pop

04/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pop singer Marti Jones first emerged as the frontwoman of the group Color Me Gone before issuing her solo debut Unsophisticated Time - produced by future husband Don Dixon - in 1985. Though the recepient of widespread critical acclaim, Jones found little commercial success with LPs like 1986's Match Game and 1988's Used Guitars, and she was dropped by her label A&M. After signing to RCA for 1990's Any Kind of Lie, Jones disappeared from sight before signing to Sugar Hill and returning in 1996 with a pair of new releases, Live From Spirit Square and My Long-Haired Life. For the all-star Match Game, Jones and Dixon are joined by guests including Marshall Crenshaw, Mitch Easter, T-Bone Burnett, Darlene Love, Anne Richmond Boston (Swimming Pool Q's), Richard Barone (The Bongos), and Paul Carrack; the song selection is similarly impressive, drawing from the pens of David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Free, and Dwight Twilley, as well as Crenshaw, Barone, and Dixon. Nonetheless, the album is Jones' show, and her rich, expressive performances never relinquish the spotlight. - Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide"

Snap It Up

R. M. Ettinger | Cleveland Heights, OH USA | 02/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would have sworn this disk was out of print, but Amazon says otherwise. Get it while you can!!



'Match Game' ranks in my top ten disks of all time. Produced (again) by husband Don Dixon (R.E.M, Smithereens), the couple hit all the marks on song selection (Marshall Crenshaw, Elvis Costello, Dixon, Bowie), production and performance.



Though not a bad song on the disk, there are some high high high highlights: "Foolish Lies", "Inside These Arms", "Touch Tone", oh heck, there really *isn't* a bad song.



Great follow-up to her solo debut and still better than anything she's ever done (which is saying someting). 'Match Game' is what I consider THE most overlooked recording of the '80s."

The best rock album I know of

Michael P. Stopa | Holliston, MA | 02/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have played this album for many friends for ten years. Most have ended up loving it as I do. Every song...I mean it...every song is melodic, colorful and memorable. I can sing this album from the first cut through to the last. I love almost all of Marti Jones' stuff and wish there were more. But this is number one. For reference, my other favorites include: New Radicals (Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too) and The Roches (First Album)."