Search - Mark Eitzel :: Music for Courage & Confidence

Still himself

mr_fishscales | Rochester, New York | 06/04/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I feel the need to counter Mr Bumbera's perspective on this CD of cover songs. The original versions of most of these songs were quite peppy and exuberant. Mark Eitzel's slower, more thoughtful and even mournful treatments of these pop songs brings out hidden depths in both their lyrics and melodies when they are there. In some cases this treatment reveals the shallowness and simplicity in both lyrics and melodies and the only effect is to lampoon the songs, which, although funny through the first few listens, will inevitably wear thin.The production values on this CD are very high. This sound has depth and subtlety and Eitzel's use of electronica, introduced on Lover's Leap USA and fully realized on Invisible Man, are much in evidence here. Three of the songs feature music made entirely by "Mr. Napoleon Hill", which I suspect is an Eitzel pseudonym.My favorite song here might be his cover of Phil Ochs "Rehearsals For Retirement". I haven't heard the original, but I know that Ochs was pretty much of a depressive and Eitzel seems to have a pretty good grip on the mood. By contrast, Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" is a sort of boyishly plaintive song and Eitzel's interpretation imbues the song with surprising melancholy. "Snowbird" is one of the songs made famous by Anne Murray, a sort of quintessential adult contemporary star who is not particularly known for plumbing emotional depths. After hearing Eitzel's interpretation, I like the song and never want to hear Murray's version again (which shouldn't be too difficult if I stay out of casinos and hotel elevators). "Help Me Make It Through the Night", an old Kris Kristofferson song, is delivered with deliberate schmaltz and concludes with a pretty funny Vegas-style monologue to an imagined audience of mortician conventioneers.Eitzel is perhaps less successful when he attempts to cover the work of black artists. Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" works best with Eitzel's consciously mechanical "I know, I know ..." in the refrain sounding like a more sedated echo of David Byrne's white-guy treatment of Al Green's "Take Me to the River" many years ago. Curtis Mayfield "Move On Up" is also the opposite of relaxed, which may grow on me over time, but initially sounds distractingly forced. Totally unsuccessful to my ear was his version of the disco classic "More, More, More", made famous (I think) by Donna Summer. It left me wanting to hear the original, the opposite of my reaction to "Snowbird".Finally, I don't think that Leon Redbone has anything to worry about if Eitzel's covers of the really old tunes here ("I Only Have Eyes For You" and "I'll Be Seeing You") are any indication of his feeling for pre-Beatles Invasion pop.Anyone who likes Mark Eitzel really ought to buy this album because (a) there is a lot of good stuff here and (b) he needs and deserves your financial support. He is one of our great modern troubadors and his integrity his unimpeachable as far as I can tell. This album is fun experiment that is mostly successful and some of it is downright beautiful."

If You're Unfamiliar With His Work, DON'T START HERE!!!!!

gillettecourt | 03/26/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"
I love Mark Eitzel and his band American Music Club, but I really can't sit through this album. The music rarely comes close to the haunting beauty of that in his own songs. And his vocals are more subdued (in a bad way) than on any of his other albums. The only covers that I really enjoy here are "Snowbird" and "I Only Have Eyes For You," both of which are quite different from the originals. By the way, everyone I've come across who loved the original versions pretty much dislike these covers.

Basically, the point I really want to get across in this review is that this is the worst introduction to a brilliant body of work I could possibly think of. Please do not buy this if you've never heard Eitzel's solo work or his more amazing work with American Music Club. Instead, I'd recommend AMC's "Everclear" or "Mercury" or Eitzel's "60 Watt Silver Lining" or "The Invisible Man." Oh, and don't buy "West" as an introduction, either. Thanks, Peter Buck (R.E.M.), for that disaster. ; )

Long-time Eitzel/AMC fans will most likely find "Music for Courage and Confidence" an interesting and fun listen, but it'll probably leave the CD player after the first few spins."

Too Many Albums, Not Enough Consistency

Thomas D. Ryan | New York | 03/18/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"For my money, the most strikingly obvious talent Mark Eitzel possesses is his songwriting capabilities, so that would tend to cast an album of cover tunes into doubt. After all, Eitzel is not gifted with a broad vocal range, nor is he given to extravagant embellishments or a liberal use of melody. He can be an excellent interpreter, though, as shown on his contribution to the Carpenters tribute album ("If I Were a Carpenter"), and Mann/Weil's "No Easy Way Down" from his own "60 Watt Silver Lining", so perhaps his instincts told him that the listener's familiarity with these songs would bode well.

Unfortunately, it doesn't, at least not consistently. It's a blast to hear Eitzel perform "Snowbird" (yes, that "Snowbird"; Anne Murray's "Snowbird") as though he were singing from a wheelchair, and Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" retains most of the syncopated energy of the original, but they mostly manage to whet my appetite for the original versions. When I start craving the original versions of Culture Club's "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me" and (egad!!!) porn star Andrea True's only hit, "More, More, More", you know that things are pretty screwed up. Why did Eitzel pick these songs? I personally have no idea, seeing no thematic or stylistic tie between any of them.

Knowing that they were (and perhaps still are) friends, I can't help but wonder if Eitzel was following the lead of Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters. During his career as the lead vocalist for the Red House Painters, Kozelek proved that by slowing down a Kiss or an AC/DC song, it could completely alter the perspective of the lyrics. Eitzel is doing much the same thing here, but when he sings "Get the cameras rolling, get the action going," it sounds as though he is dreaming the song from a hospital bed. Most of Eitzel's interpretations sound as though he's on the brink of flat-lining, so it only serves to make me wonder if the album title, "Songs for Courage & Confidence," is a wry commentary, or perhaps wishful thinking. B- Tom Ryan"