Country rock / Americana music is not my thing. No sir, not at all. Yet something appealed on hearing Chris Isaak's 1990s hit (for some reason they seemed always to be playing in the changing room when I took the kids swimming).
Much later, I saw the album, a compilation of his 1980s songs, (which I only realised on looking it up today) for a quid in a charity shop and thought why not? Have I ever listened to it all the way through? I really can't remember, but here goes.
The album opens with the title track hit (from the David Lynch film, Wild At Heart) and it's a lovely song, slow, soulful and suited to Isaak's voice. But what follows is standard, bland easy listening. Nice background, but little to make you look up from what else you're doing. You Owe Me Some Kind Of Love is bright, but the next few songs are sorry dirges, with the exception of a passable cover of the Yardbirds' Heart Full Of Soul. Blue Hotel, the other hit, still sounds good, but nothing else on the album enthuses me. Isaak has a strong Orbison-like voice, and these songs obviously appealed to some, but beyond the hit singles, there's very little for me.
2* - Much as I expected, from a genre I don't really enjoy. A couple of nice songs, but the humourless gloom soon palls.
Comments