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timmer2121
Randy & this album is on the Malcolm Gladwell podcast, intersting listen. http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/34-good-old-boys
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SmoothLiminal
I first heard this album at age 12. It shaped my appreciation of music and history more than most anything else. [2] Me too!
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playbackstl
I first heard this album at age 12. It shaped my appreciation of music and history more than most anything else. Newman is nothing short of brilliant (even with all those Disney songs).
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sleepinginzeal
definitely one of the greatest albums of all time. interesting, HuskerMe, i didn't know he originally wanted to have crossfade and dialogues -- very thankful he didn't do that, as it would've ruined the album's beautiful understatement.
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ctd55
The first side of this album is, I think, the pinnacle of Newman's work. (The second side, wonderful as it is, is something of a letdown after the otherworldly greatness of the first--even if Rollin' is a nearly perfect closer.) Speaking through a single character through a suite of songs seems to have brought to the fore some of the generosity of spirit that Randy typically buries behind layers of satire and nasty irony. Oh, the provocation is still there, though (just look to the boasting and bigotry that mark the first half of "Rednecks"). But extended work with a single character forces Newman to deal with a character as something other than a mouthpiece for a point of view with which he disagrees; it forces him to deal with a person, a person deserving evocations of his environment ("Birmingham") and explorations of his psychology ("Marie" and "Mr. President"). And what does that amount to? Perfect songs about an imperfect person, and a staggering achievement.
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simpletwist
I don't think I'd ever say an album was the best ever but this one definitely took my breath away
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