Epinions Recent Reviews for ben-david

Engineering A New Breed

Wed, 24 Mar 2004 07:34:33 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - Steven Patrick Morrissey and Johnny Marr were one of popular music’s classic odd couples. Who would’ve thought that the shy, bookish, Oscar Wilde-infatuated singer/lyricist Morrissey and boyish guitar virtuoso Marr would ever form one of the...

Exudes A Rare Magic

Wed, 13 Feb 2002 21:22:50 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - NOTE: Contains Spoilers

“The picture of the gloomy Beethoven, a present from Greff, was removed from its nail over the piano, and Hitler’s equally gloomy countenance was hung up on the same nail. Matzerath, who didn’t care for...

And now I know how Joan of Arc felt...

Wed, 6 Feb 2002 03:49:22 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - One April, 2001 night at the St. James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, something extraordinary happened. Neil Finn, one of the country’s best and most respected singer/songwriters, presented a denim-clad, mulleted Johnny Marr to the expectant audience...

Meat Is Marvellous

Fri, 11 Jan 2002 07:01:37 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - “In 10 years’ time the Smiths will be viewed in the same way that the Beatles are now viewed” ~ Nick Kent, “The South Bank Show”, 1987

Well, it’s five years since 1997 and most of the world still doesn’t have the foggiest idea who the Smiths...

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 - All Good Children Go To Heaven

Tue, 8 Jan 2002 03:29:25 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - After the release of the extraordinary, if slightly overrated "White Album" in 1968, the Beatles returned to the studio to lay down the tracks which would constitute their final two releases. The band was helplessly falling apart - with the bond between...

Diamonds in the Rough

Sun, 30 Dec 2001 19:04:01 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - Ah, the Smiths - the definitive British band of the 1980s, and one of the greatest of all time. In a mere four years, big-girl’s blouse vocalist/lyricist Stephen Morrissey and boyish guitarist Johnny Marr, along with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike...

Milk chocolate messiahs! Cook-outs gone horribly wrong! Eyeball pin-ups! It's all here!

Wed, 26 Dec 2001 23:59:24 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - After 1993’s Grammy award-winning album “Bone Machine”, Tom Waits decided to take a break to concentrate being a husband and father. Six years later, in 1999, he released “Mule Variations”. It’s blend of early-period Waits balladry with “Rain Dogs”-era...

Waits' Oompah Operachi

Wed, 26 Dec 2001 02:04:00 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - “Frank’s Wild Years”, a play written by Tom Waits and his wife Kathleen Brennan, premiered in Chicago, June 1986. The play centres around Frank O’ Brien , an impoverished ex-suburbanite-cum-aspiring accordionist whom Waits introduced us to on the...

Shades

Sun, 23 Dec 2001 18:46:28 GMT

rating: 3/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - Only Tom Waits can go from howling “I spent all my money in a Mexican wh-rehouse” in one song, to forlornly whispering “I‘ll never kiss your lips again…or break your heart” in the next - on the same album, one after the other, no less. His beatnik...

Well, is it?

Sun, 23 Dec 2001 01:46:39 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - “New York’s finest will change your life forever”, sayeth the almighty NME, giving NYC rockers the Strokes’ debut album, “Is This It” the much coveted ten out of ten rating. Suddenly, discerning music fans tired of Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit rush to...

An Ocker-Rock Classic

Mon, 17 Dec 2001 01:01:42 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - If you were to take Bob Dylan and Neil Finn, put them both in a blender and switch the power on “high", what would you end up with? If you combined the former’s nasally voice and lyrical flair with the latter’s ear for melody and down-to-earthness, you’d...

Ahoy all Heartbroken Hounds and Sombre Spaniels

Fri, 7 Dec 2001 07:55:47 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - In 1985, two years after wowing the world (okay, the critics) and hitting the top of most “Best Albums of 1983” lists with his weird yet wonderful compendium of avant-compositions “Swordfishtrombones”, Tom Waits released a meatier, mightier album in the...

Captain Waits And His Mutant Dwarf Orchestra

Wed, 28 Nov 2001 21:59:06 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - The early 1980's was a period of change for Tom Waits. He had married his girlfriend, Kathleen Brennan. He divorced himself from the Asylum label, and switched to Island records for greater artistic freedom and flexibility. He decided it was time to...

C'est le vent, Betty...

Tue, 27 Nov 2001 18:25:34 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - In 1986, French director Jean-Jacques Beineix released his movie “Betty Blue” unto an unsuspecting world. Based on Philippe Djian’s novel, “37°2 le matin” or “37.2 degrees in the morning” (also the film’s French title - the approximate body temperature...

Bittersweet: Nick Drake's "Pink Moon"

Sat, 17 Nov 2001 00:11:53 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - Clocking in at just under half an hour, “Pink Moon” is English singer-songwriter Nick Drake’s third and final album. Going through a stage of crippling depression (due in part to his disappointment at the poor sales of his existing albums), Drake...

Pasties and Poetry, Babes and the Blues, Heartbreak and Hilarity

Tue, 13 Nov 2001 22:41:17 GMT

rating: 4/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - “Small Change”, written in London after a hectic European tour and released in 1976, is Tom Waits’ third studio release (not counting his previous album, the live “Nighthawks At The Diner”). Compared to his earlier albums, one can sense a change in Waits...

Waits' ode to the American Night

Mon, 12 Nov 2001 22:09:03 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - Within a year of the release of his excellent debut album, “Closing Time”, Tom Waits released an equally astounding sophomore effort, “The Heart Of Saturday Night”. For a second album, it is remarkably mature and accomplished, in terms of both music and...

Play it again, Tom!

Mon, 12 Nov 2001 00:39:29 GMT

rating: 5/5 by: Epinions Author ben-david - In 1973, young Californian musician Tom Waits released his debut album, “Closing Time”, amid little fanfare. It garnered much critical acclaim, yet few people bought it. The album may come as a surprise to those who recognise Waits through his more...