Rick Monroe - Shame | ||
Tracks:
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Album Cover: ![[Image]](../../Images/c_shame.jpg) |
Label: Divorce Records Producer: Clay Meyers & Rick Monroe Year: 1999 Total Playing Time: 56:18 m:s Review date: 26 October 1999 |
| Web site: http://www.rickmunro.com
Email: divorcerec@earthlink.com | ||
| Rating: 8 | ||
| Verdict: An old friend comes round for a pleasant evening's entertainment. | ||
| Rick's second solo album follows on from where "Legend's Diner" left off. A mixture of Mellencamp and Springsteen, it is all a long way from his day's fronting LA metal act Monroe and opening gigs for Motley Crue. Rick describes his music as 'blue jeans rock' and has been told on numerous occasions that his music is like "visiting a familiar place or shaking hands with an old friend".
I described his last album as sitting down and having a chat with your old buddy Rick. The same thing applies here. Whilst the last album took quite a while to work it's magic, this time my reaction was more immediate. I'm not sure that this album is any more of an instant fix than the debut, I think it is just that now I'm more familiar with his style. The backup musicians are mostly from a band called The Texas Tornadoes, plus a couple of guys who backup country legend Charlie Pride. It is no surprise then that Rick has stuck with his roots-rock style of music. If you play "Legend's Diner" and "Shame" back to back you'll hear a slight difference in emphasis. "Legend's Diner" relied on electric instruments, but on "Shame" a more acoustic approach has been taken. Song-wise I detect a more roots/country influence compared to "Legend's Diner" which had more of an underlying rock feel to it. "Shame" and "Pray" are an uptempo duo to get the ball rolling. Whilst they keep the Mellencamp tendencies in check, "Trippin' On" lets them run free on this catchy uptempo tune. The first single from the album is "Can I Call You Home?" which is a semi-ballad dedicated to this wife of 3 years. At this point Rick hits a good spell with the next bunch of songs all hitting the mark. "One Becomes Two" is a slow ballad that bears a resemblance to the work of Lyle Lovett. "Don't You Tell Me" & "Suspicious Eyes" are another two mid-tempo hits. The guitars crank up for "Urban Cool" which doesn't match up to the class of it's neighbours. This good patch continues on the Del Amitri-like "Tomorrow Turns". The mood changes with the disappointing blues/barroom boogie of "Travelin' Song". From blues to swing on "Best Damn Woman", which fares much better. To me, Rick sounds least convincing on the more uptempo numbers and "You" provides further evidence in reaching this conclusion. A ballad, "To Believe", closes the album. A good album which, in my opinion, fades a bit toward the end when Rick tries to introduce some variety into proceedings. | ||
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