Search - Southside Johnny :: This Time It's for Real

Southside Avoids The Sophmore Jinx

The Footpath Cowboy | Kingston, NY United States | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With THIS TIME IT'S FOR REAL, Southside Johnny not only avoids the sophmore jinx, but outdoes his exceptional debut album. This time, there are fewer cover versions and more Van Zandt/Springsteen compositions, but the influences derived from the Memphis-Chicago-Muscle Shoals-St. Louis-New Orleans-Detroit-Philadelphia-Kansas City blues/R&B/rock & roll axis are still highly in evidence. The title track is a song of high determination to succeed, whether at a relationship or even life itself; "Check Mr. Popeye" is a funny song that extols the nutritional value of spinach; and "Some Things Just Don't Change" is a heartfelt ballad expressing regret, sung so that it could be about a failed love, or even describe how I felt about my decision not to rejoin my old bowling league in 2002. The first and third songs I mentioned, along with a cover of Aretha Frankin's "Without Love", which says that even someone from a wealthy suburban area (e.g. Bethesda, MD; Cape Elizabeth, ME; Lake Forest Park, WA; Lake Oswego, OR) can still be poor if they don't have someone special in their lives, cut deepest. Overall, this is a great CD that just gets better with time."