Songs From St Somewhere review

[PeretHed66]

Found this review online - going to post it here without comment. Have at it.....

"Calling all Parrotheads! Jimmy Buffet is back with new music. This guy refuses to take it easy. Not only does he consistently tour non-stop every year, but he still manages make new music. ”Songs From St. Somewhere” is not just a cash in album, this is some of his best work to date and really delivers for his fans. If you follow Jimmy Buffett, you know that he has hundreds of great songs in his library and he can continue to tour without ever making a new song, but this guy just never stops. You can just tell that he loves what he does and that love is easily found in these new tracks. The album was recorded earlier this year all over the world including Key West, Nashville, Austin, Miami, St. Barts and London. There are several sounds in this new album yet it still has that island laid back Buffett feel.

To kick off this album, the first hit single reunites Jimmy with Toby Keith (last one was “Hey Good Lookin’”) on the duet track “Too Drunk to Karaoke”. This song is such a blast and I can see this song becoming another “Margaritaville” or “Five O’Clock Somewhere”. Jimmy has done some amazing duets over the years with everyone from Alan Jackson to Zac Brown Band but this might be one of my new favorites. “Oldest Surfer On The Beach” is such a chill song and you can literally just sit back and jam out. One thing that I noticed about the album is that he has this very personal and special feel, especially this track. I also really enjoyed bonus track which is “I Want to Go Back to Cartagena”, a Spanish version duet with the Latin singer Fannie Lu. I really loved this track and it is a fantastic way to close out the album.

It is rare that an album comes with a hit on every single track. But ”Songs From St. Somewhere” is literally a hit after hit. Plus if you listen to Radio Margaritaville, they have been playing at least four of these songs already for the last few weeks, which has been a bit of a tease but also go us ready to start singing along right from the get-go. So from the moment I received this CD, my wife and I were already fans of those tracks and knew all the words. One thing I am most excited about is hearing these songs live. I think that these tracks are going to fit very well into their shows, especially songs like “Too Drunk to Karaoke” which is going to be a huge hit with fans. Overall, this is a must have for any Parrotheads!"

[surfpirate]

This is an over zealous fan review from here, and that's about all I have to say about that.
Way too over the top. "It is rare that an album comes with a hit on every single track." Gimme a break.

[lime rickie]

The verbiage is suspect. These are plants.

[sonofabeach]

From what I heard on the sneak preview, I'm pleasantly surprised.
"Too Drunk" is not a fave but I can deal with it.
I like the story on how he took the song and finished it and then went back to the writer to get permission.
Strange but during the sneak preview I thought "Too Drunk" sounded pretty good cranked up through my good headphones..and I wasn't even drunk. Nice tidbit of info that Jimmy was supposed to be on Red Solo Cup.
I'm not crazy about the rapping on "I'm No Russian" but I'll have to give it more spins to be sure.
The vibe of it reminds me of a song from Don't Stop The Carnival.
Jimmy's rap skills aint what they used to be. I thought the rap fit Overkill perfect. Now, it's like he's cramming too many words in.
The ballads were good too.
I'd say those are the 2 songs that I'm not that big on and that aint too bad for a whole album.
I can see why it's named Songs From St. Somewhere because there's a tropical feel through much of it.

[Tiki Torches]

Found this review online - going to post it here without comment. Have at it.....

I'd be hard pressed to even call that a review.

[sonofabeach]

Yeah, that was some serious pimpage.

[springparrot]

I really enjoyed the story about The Rocket Grandpa Rode.
Very nice

[2muchcoffeeman]

If you ordered the CD from Amazon, at 1230 EDT they added it to the AutoRip program.

So ... I have it in iTunes already.

I think I'll be listening to Einstein Was A Surfer and Earl's Dead — Cadillac For Sale pretty regularly (the latter surprised me as the title had me anticipating something that sounded like modern Nashville frat-boy country). And that the loathsome Toby Keith song won't be making it as far as my iPod.

EDIT: Also, the studio version of Somethin' 'Bout A Boat is about half a beat slower than JB and the band play it in concert. Sometimes that seems to be a pattern for him these past few years.

Serpentine didn't really make an impression the first time I listened to it but I was dealing with stuff. Sorry. (SECOND LISTEN: It doesn't stink, I think it will grow on me and I think I'd swap it into the set list in place of All Night Long, Southern Cross (I hate Jimmy's cover of that song) or ... yeah, I realize it's the single but I'd swap it in place of the loathsome Toby Keith song, too.)

Useless & Important Information (it's actually a nice little satire of modern society, not as cutting as a Don Henley song, for example) rocks out a little more than I expected Jimmy to do at 66 in the studio.

Cartagena is interesting. A lot of layers to it.

Soulfully is a nice little love song, not really special. A little out of his range at the upper end these days — he's really laboring to hit some of those notes.

Rue De La Guitar didn't really make an impression ... was not dealing with stuff this time.

I'm No Russian is a story song that might work live. At 6:40 run time, might be better shorter.

Tides leans toward the country side musically, but I think that was a studio adaptation. Very Jimmyish ballad, could probably go to country radio as well as adult-oriented pop stations. It's ... um ... not bad. Just another song that's not leaving a real impression.

The Rocket That Grandpa Rode ... yeah, I like this tribute to the astronauts. Has some country inflections, some Cajun inflections, steel drums and a general rockabilly beat. This would be a lot of fun live and he should play it instead of some of the cover versions.

I Wave Bye Bye ... nice, but it's filler.

Colour Of The Sun ... fairly standard Jimmy ballad, but it's the only fairly standard Jimmy ballad so far that really stands out.

Oldest Surfer On the Beach is the one I most wanted to hear due to the Mark Knopfler influence. It's definitely a personal song, even though JB didn't write it himself. "There's nothing that I want to do/No place I'm trying to reach/Only time is now more precious to/The oldest surfer on the beach" ... a few years ago I might have rolled my eyes at that but now I'm old enough that it resonates a little more. I could see this one going to radio very easily, but without the waves crashing on the shoreline at the end.

The "Spanish version" of Cartagena with Fannie Lu is better than the other version. No real production differences other than the duet — honestly, I think they played the same musical track for both recordings and only changed the vocal track. This might be more radio-friendly, though.

And that's as far as I am into it so far ... nope, that's it. All done now, after a bunch of edits.

[chippewa]

From what I heard on the sneak preview, I'm pleasantly surprised.
"Too Drunk" is not a fave but I can deal with it.
I like the story on how he took the song and finished it and then went back to the writer to get permission.
Strange but during the sneak preview I thought "Too Drunk" sounded pretty good cranked up through my good headphones..and I wasn't even drunk. Nice tidbit of info that Jimmy was supposed to be on Red Solo Cup.
I'm not crazy about the rapping on "I'm No Russian" but I'll have to give it more spins to be sure.
The vibe of it reminds me of a song from Don't Stop The Carnival.
Jimmy's rap skills aint what they used to be. I thought the rap fit Overkill perfect. Now, it's like he's cramming too many words in.
The ballads were good too.
I'd say those are the 2 songs that I'm not that big on and that aint too bad for a whole album.
I can see why it's named Songs From St. Somewhere because there's a tropical feel through much of it.

Now there's a review I can trust.

Wait, are you now on Jimmy's payroll?

[undermylonepalm]

I've always been a fan of his ballads. I must say Colour of the Sun, Oldest Surfer, and I Wave Bye Bye are some of the strongest ballads he has had in quite a while. I enjoy the album as a whole, it's no Fruitcakes, but much better than Buffett Hotel...

[captainalex]

I listened to a bit of the sneak preview yesterday evening on RM and this morning I picked up the new cd at my local Target. It was buck more than Best Buy but I didn't want to wait until lunchtime to pick it up.

So far the songs that are jumping out as likes to me are:

-Somethin’ bout a boat (The lines about the dog couldn't be more true at times)
-Einstein (I've always been a big fan of how Jimmy intertwines history into his songs. I also like the tempo of this song)
-Earl's Dead (If Jimmy ever does another Tales from Margaritaville this would be a gem of a short story. Felt like the characters were something out of a Hiaasen story)
-Too Drunk to Karaoke (Who knew words that have been spoken to me so many times over the years would become a song )
-I want to go Back to Cartagena (Having been to that city and wanting to go to Havana one day this song brought a smile to my face and wants me to dust off my passport. I think I prefer the version with Fanny Lu)
-I'm no Russian (Catchy. Like the word play)
-The Rocket Grandpa Rode (Will be thinking of this song as a gaze out thru the telescope looking at the heavens over Lake Ontario)
-Oldest Surfer of the Beach (A song that resonates as the years grown shorter, not longer)

Can't wait to hear Somthin' bout a Boat on Thursday night!

[AlbatrossFlyer]

Listened to album with Jimmy's commentary yesterday on RM. I found Jimmy's stories behind the songs way more interesting than the songs themselves. Matter of fact I didn't care for any of the songs. Most of the songs were written by other people with Jimmy adding is own touch as he put it. I'm not sure what you'd call his singing style now and most of the music sounds like rework of past songs.

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

Just finished the XM album preview with JB, interesting stories about the songs, many ballads on this album. I give it a thumbs up, I liked it. I'll give it the boat test tomorrow.

[bananaman]

I may get a lot of flack from this but here goes....

I didn't really care much at all for most of the new album. Same ol' tired sound. There were a few good riffs mixed in but over all it sounded like rejects from his last album. In fact, the last album that I really enjoyed was probably FSOTW. I guess I was just hoping for more of an "island" sound (from the name) instead of this....

In my most humble opinion.....Jimmy's better songwriting days are waaaay behind him. Don't get me wrong, I still love Jimmy, and I listen to him almost daily.....just a little disappointed.

BTW...I know that many of the songs weren't written by Jimmy, but still...

[Tiki Torches]

I may get a lot of flack from this but here goes....

I didn't really care much at all for most of the new album. Same ol' tired sound. There were a few good riffs mixed in but over all it sounded like rejects from his last album. In fact, the last album that I really enjoyed was probably FSOTW. I guess I was just hoping for more of an "island" sound (from the name) instead of this....

In my most humble opinion.....Jimmy's better songwriting days are waaaay behind him. Don't get me wrong, I still love Jimmy, and I listen to him almost daily.....just a little disappointed.

BTW...I know that many of the songs weren't written by Jimmy, but still...

I'd much rather read an honest review than one where fans blow smoke up Buffett's a$$. As for the "island" sound, to me it's always been a part of the gumbo that gives Buffett's music a unique quality but too much of it cheapens the sentiment and causes it to border on the kitschy and campy and conjures up images of cheap Hawaiian shirts and coconut bras. I know for a lot of his fanbase (especially the latter day portion), that's the sound they most closely associate with Buffett but I'm the complete opposite. I prefer the sound of his early albums before the whole Parrothead thing became part of the bigger picture and ruined a lot of the music. To me, it's more about substance than projecting the Mayor of Margaritaville image so if there's less of an island sound, that's not something that really bothers me.

[bananaman]

Actually, Tiki, what you said was kinda what I was trying to say (just not as successful) The older stuff is what I listen to the most where as anything past 2000 rarely gets put into rotation.

[spadilly]

Listened to it a few times through yesterday.

It's not his old stuff, but there are a few songs that are decent.

'Something Bout A Boat' is fun to listen to and will be fun to play on guitar once I find some time to learn it.

I also really like the feel/story of 'Earl's Dead.'

'Oldest Surfer On the Beach' is one of his better ballads in the last decade.

Oh, and I HATE 'Too Drunk' with everything in me. But I get it...it'll get people singing and talking about him.

Overall, better than that silly little Buffet Hotel album he put out last, but it's nowhere near the top half of his better albums. I agree with the poster that said FSOTW was his last great album.

That being said, heck, I'm just glad he's still making music and touring at his age.

[PeretHed66]

Actually, Tiki, what you said was kinda what I was trying to say (just not as successful) The older stuff is what I listen to the most where as anything past 2000 rarely gets put into rotation.

I'm in the same boat - I put together an "Old School Buffett" playlist on the iPod (nothing newer than '78, and no Margaritaville), and it gets very heavy rotation.

I think everything since Fruitcakes sounds very similar to me - pleasant, nothing earth shattering, a couple of nice songs here and there, nothing offensively bad (except anything where "MC Jimmy" makes an appearance - and 'Turn Up The Heat, Chill the Rose....shudder).

[RinglingRingling]

This is an over zealous fan review from here, and that's about all I have to say about that.
Way too over the top. "It is rare that an album comes with a hit on every single track." Gimme a break.

Bernd from Germany wrote it...

[conched]

Enjoying reading all the BN reviews.

One question??? I got the digital copy on iTunes and it says I can't download the digital booklet for Songs From St Somewhere. Is there really one and has anyone else been able to get it?