***click the album cover to listen***
1. Rest In Peace *
2. Church Of Desire *
3. Stranger In This Town *
4. Ballad Of Youth *
5. One Light Burning *
6. Mr. Bluesman (solo by Eric Clapton) *
7. Rosie *
8. River Of Love
9. Father Time
10. The Answer
We're gonna look at an album that probably won't get much love from you bottom feeders this week, and that's Richie Sambora's 1991 release "Stranger In This Town". As I'm sure most of you know, Richie Sambora is the lead guitarist in the band Bon Jovi, and this was his first solo outing. It's a very blues oriented album and I think a bit of a departure from the typical Bon Jovi sound. Sambora handles the vocals and guitar work, except for a solo on the song Mr. Bluesman, which was performed by Eric Clapton. He gets help from Bon Jovi bandmates Tico Torres (drums) and David Bryan (keyboards).
Overall, I like the album. To me, it's really good up until the last 3 tracks. It's not like those 3 are bad, just not as good to me. Richie has a pretty good singing voice, better than the lead singer in many bands, but not on the level of his bandmate Jon, or any other top realm vocalists. But it's more than adequate for this release. My only complaint is that he over-sings in a couple of spots. His guitar playing works well here. I like the blues sound. One thing he doesn't do is over-play the guitar, so that's a good thing. The album had 3 singles, none of which made any real noise on the charts, so I'd say this is probably more in Jon's category of Lost/Forgotten Album, but I'm going with it anyway. The three singles are in red. One surprise for me is that Rosie was not a single. It sure seems like I heard it somewhere other than the CD. According to wikipedia, it was originally meant as a Bon Jovi song, and it sounds like one. I'm not sure why they didn't record it that way.
It's still pretty cheap if you buy it used on Amazon. I certainly think it's a valid work, but I guess we'll see what you guys think. Enjoy.
Favorite Single: Stranger In This Town
Favorite Hidden Gem: Church Of Desire
Most Likely To Skip: River Of Love
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I think you knew, at least in my case, that Bon Jovi isnt a band I can get into, and I dont think they have had a very big footprint in any of our discussions, in fact they almost dont exist in our content at all. I think I'm content with that, but would welcome anyone else who wants to discuss them to add a topic. For now, Ritchie Sambora is guilty by association and so it is that my expectaitons are set prior to clicking on play...
I didnt think the album would begin, it took until 40 seconds into the second song for music to start, that was truly an annoying beginning. I think the production team blew that.
I found only one track that I actually liked, and that was "Ballad Of Youth". Everything else was slow and droning on and on or felt very monotone in style. But I will give him credit for writing some cool solos...
Hmm, not THAT bad, but not that good either. I kind of liked "Stranger in this town" and "Ballad of youth". His singing-voice reminds me a bit of Steve Lukather.
Desmond Child released an album around that time, and that was pretty good, but I have'nt got it. Do you know that one?
I checked this out way back when it came out, and was disappointed in it. I do, however, think both "Ballad Of Youth" and "Mr. Bluesman" are great tunes. And I actually think Sambora sings better than Bon Jovi does. It always seems to be Sambora that takes the higher octave range when he sings together with JBJ.
I'm getting closer to being caught up in AOTW postings, and then I'll go back and get "re-caught up" on the NMC postings. Then, I'll have to check out Jon's lost/forgotten posts.
So much music to listen too, so little time....
There are no birthdays today
Norma Jean Fox
(11/30/1945-9/7/2010)
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