Be Here ’ Keith Urban
(Capitol): Is one great song enough to redeem an album?
Be Here has the haunting and heartbroken Nobody Drinks Alone, but, otherwise, Urban’s latest confines itself to housebroken country music.
The singer-guitarist is smug in God’s Been Good to Me and didactic in Days Go By ("It’s all we’ve been given / So you better start livin’ ’’).
The Australian transplant’s album is soggy with salutes to unnaturally nice women, including a "grandmama’’ who "was a wise old soul’’ and a wife with a "come-here-baby smile.’’
Even the line "I’m gonna love you like nobody loves you’’ lacks any erotic charge.
— Margaret Quamme
Keith Urban review
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DeactiveCarib
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i beg to differ:
This is a great album and deffinatley deserves a listen. There isn't a single track on this entire CD that i dislike, excellent album!
Why are you posting a review on an album that came out over a month ago from an artist that it seems you have no interest in? You've previously said you dislike todays popular country music
To anyone that hasn't heard this album yet, listen to it @ CMT.com and hopefully you won't be dissapointed. Don't let critics persuade you, judge for yourself. I used to hate Keith Urban and even had the chance to meet him but i turned it down, but then i started to listen to his music and discovered how truly talented he is. His guitar work is unbelievable and is undoubtedly some of the best work that is out there today!
This is a great album and deffinatley deserves a listen. There isn't a single track on this entire CD that i dislike, excellent album!
Why are you posting a review on an album that came out over a month ago from an artist that it seems you have no interest in? You've previously said you dislike todays popular country music
To anyone that hasn't heard this album yet, listen to it @ CMT.com and hopefully you won't be dissapointed. Don't let critics persuade you, judge for yourself. I used to hate Keith Urban and even had the chance to meet him but i turned it down, but then i started to listen to his music and discovered how truly talented he is. His guitar work is unbelievable and is undoubtedly some of the best work that is out there today!
Last edited by DeactiveCarib on October 21, 2004 7:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DeactiveCarib
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Re: Keith Urban review
what the h*ll is that supposed to mean?? This isn't a rap album for christs sakes, not everyline has to be about sexual intercoursea1aara wrote: Even the line "I’m gonna love you like nobody loves you’’ lacks any erotic charge.
oh yeah, and Rodney Crowell wrote that line, not Urban. If you listen to the songs urban wrote, they all have excellent meaning. After listening to this stuff i've learned to live in the moment a little bit more. Just listen to the lyrics in Days Go By or These Are The Days or even One Chord Song or You Are Not My G-d or Nobody Drinks Alone or Song For Dad (i can keep on going if you want
). His music is "feel good" music for me, i absolutley love it! I dont think the person who wrote this review has much credibility if they critisize urban for a line he didn't even write 
Last edited by DeactiveCarib on October 21, 2004 7:16 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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DeactiveCarib
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For anyone who is interested or even dislikes KU, here are some reviews that should probably prove that Margaret Quamme is outnumbered in thinking that Be Here is not a good album:
http://www.countryweekly.com/stories/re ... ceid=62598
http://tennessean.com/entertainment/cds ... D=58479105
http://www.countrystarsonline.com/SOWAr ... an2004.htm
I can find more if you want
From USA TODAY:
'Here' is Urban's best effort so far - USA Today
Country:
Sept. 20
Keith Urban, Be Here (* * * ½ out of four) Urban's latest is so obviously commercial, the kind of album that turns a successful act into a superstar, that surely he sold his creative soul as part of the bargain, right? Not this time. Urban has found his sweet spot, that place where he perfectly balances his guitar heroics and his sensitive pop-star handsomeness, his introspective depth and his in-the-moment buoyancy. Urban's version of Rodney Crowell's Making Memories of Us is as lovely as Days Go By is fun, and, on Nobody Drinks Alone, he sings about closet addiction with the wisdom of a man who has lived the experience.
-Brian Mansfield
a1aara, where did you find this review, just curious?
http://www.countryweekly.com/stories/re ... ceid=62598
http://tennessean.com/entertainment/cds ... D=58479105
http://www.countrystarsonline.com/SOWAr ... an2004.htm
I can find more if you want
From USA TODAY:
'Here' is Urban's best effort so far - USA Today
Country:
Sept. 20
Keith Urban, Be Here (* * * ½ out of four) Urban's latest is so obviously commercial, the kind of album that turns a successful act into a superstar, that surely he sold his creative soul as part of the bargain, right? Not this time. Urban has found his sweet spot, that place where he perfectly balances his guitar heroics and his sensitive pop-star handsomeness, his introspective depth and his in-the-moment buoyancy. Urban's version of Rodney Crowell's Making Memories of Us is as lovely as Days Go By is fun, and, on Nobody Drinks Alone, he sings about closet addiction with the wisdom of a man who has lived the experience.
-Brian Mansfield
a1aara, where did you find this review, just curious?
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DeactiveCarib
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yeah, but there was no bad talk about KU here, it was all positive. You have the right to post what you want, but it makes no sense to post an article critisizing an artists when all of the other posts have been commending the artist, or nueteral. Did anyone post articles critisizing Todd Snider after you posted an article on him??a1aara wrote:I didn't write the review. There is talk here about KU. I though people would be interested. The review was just in the Columbus Dispatch on Oct 21. If you have a problem with the review contact the Dispatch.
Oh yeah, and I agreee w/ IsleReef, judge for yourself!
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DeactiveCarib
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Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolit ... 16,00.html
Review: Rock still has a place in Urban country
By NANCY STETSON
January 27, 2005
Keith Urban's aptly named.
Though a country music star with sufficient twang in his music, his sound also has big city sophistication and grit.
Urban's urban as well as country.
Winner of the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year Award, Urban is poised on the edge of megastardom. And seeing him in concert Tuesday night at Germain Arena in Estero, it's easy to understand why.
The man is multitalented: a creative songwriter, a highly skilled musician and an energetic, affable performer.
His is a fresh sound in country music that owes as much to John Mellencamp and John Hiatt as to those who graced the stage of the Grand Ol' Opry in decades past. It's as much rock as it is country — among the screaming guitars and solid drum beats is the sound of banjo, dobro and accordion. It's a pleasing hybrid.
He opened with "Days Go By" and "Better Life," the first two cuts from his multiplatinum CD, "Be Here."
"Better Half" began with a staccato, jumpy opening that sounded like the start of the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'."
The evening included his earlier hits, "Somebody Like You" and "Your Everything," as well as other songs from his highly successful "Be Here," such as the tender "Making Memories of Us" and "Tonight I Wanna Cry." At times he would just stop singing and let the audience take over. That was fine for the up-tempo songs, but seemed a little strange on the slower love songs. And at one point, he engaged the audience in a call-and-response while scat singing.
If you didn't pay attention to charts or bin titles in record stores, you could easily mistake Urban for a rock musician. There's nothing about his style of dress that screams country — no boots, no big cowboy hat, no fringe. With his T-shirt, long hair, tattoo and jeans, he's definitely a different face of country. His sound's just as atypical.
Urban sings a lot about love lost and won, but also about mortality and living each day with awareness and purpose.
One unexpected highlight of the evening was the appearance of Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke, who first showed up during the Warren Brothers' opening act, performing "Red, White and Blue," a song he'd co-written with them.
During Urban's encore, Medlocke came out again and performed "Sweet Home Alabama."
"Since this is my hometown ... on behalf of myself and all the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd, long live Keith Urban," Medlocke said. "Here's a little preview of what the Grammys will be like on Feb. 13."
Urban took a verse and the two shared the mike for the chorus, but Medlocke had the lion's share of the song.
The crowd was beside itself, roaring its approval. It was such a powerful, sizzling performance that I felt bad for the people who'd left before the encore.
At the end of the song, Urban dropped to his knees and made bowing gestures to Medlocke with his arms.
It was a fluid kind of night. Earlier, Urban did a raucous rendition of the Dave Edmunds song, "I Hear You Knocking," after beating out a drum solo on his acoustic guitar. He also did a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day" and a long rendition of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" with the Warren Brothers. At one point, his keyboardist performed a jazzy keyboard instrumental version of the Beatles' "Get Back."
Urban can rock out with the best of them, but he shined when performing alone with his acoustic guitar, or seated behind a keyboard by himself. He's a consummate musician who knows his instrument, not just a strummer.
Urban and his five-man band played on a set that looked like a warehouse. The drummer and keyboardist were set up on high pallets that revealed different colored lights through their slats. And there were neon signs that lit up at the very end: words such as Live, Love, Now, Faith, Believe, Hope, You, and, above the stage: Be Here, the name of his CD.
He played to the crowd, going to the very edges of the stage to perform for those in the side tiers. During a song, he gave the mike to a preschooler in the front row and let her sing the chorus. And at another point in the concert, he started reading a sign a young girl was holding up. But security confiscated the sign before he was finished.
He convinced security to hold up the sign again. It read: "I drove 28 hours through a blizzard to get here. Can I get a hug?"
"Hell, yeah," Urban said. So the young woman went forward. When Urban realized that the stage was too high for her to climb up on the stage, he jumped down to hug her.
Urban's a magnanimous performer, and a very talented one.
His show at Germain Tuesday night was simply remarkable. What a blast!
http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolit ... 16,00.html
Review: Rock still has a place in Urban country
By NANCY STETSON
January 27, 2005
Keith Urban's aptly named.
Though a country music star with sufficient twang in his music, his sound also has big city sophistication and grit.
Urban's urban as well as country.
Winner of the Country Music Association's Male Vocalist of the Year Award, Urban is poised on the edge of megastardom. And seeing him in concert Tuesday night at Germain Arena in Estero, it's easy to understand why.
The man is multitalented: a creative songwriter, a highly skilled musician and an energetic, affable performer.
His is a fresh sound in country music that owes as much to John Mellencamp and John Hiatt as to those who graced the stage of the Grand Ol' Opry in decades past. It's as much rock as it is country — among the screaming guitars and solid drum beats is the sound of banjo, dobro and accordion. It's a pleasing hybrid.
He opened with "Days Go By" and "Better Life," the first two cuts from his multiplatinum CD, "Be Here."
"Better Half" began with a staccato, jumpy opening that sounded like the start of the Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin'."
The evening included his earlier hits, "Somebody Like You" and "Your Everything," as well as other songs from his highly successful "Be Here," such as the tender "Making Memories of Us" and "Tonight I Wanna Cry." At times he would just stop singing and let the audience take over. That was fine for the up-tempo songs, but seemed a little strange on the slower love songs. And at one point, he engaged the audience in a call-and-response while scat singing.
If you didn't pay attention to charts or bin titles in record stores, you could easily mistake Urban for a rock musician. There's nothing about his style of dress that screams country — no boots, no big cowboy hat, no fringe. With his T-shirt, long hair, tattoo and jeans, he's definitely a different face of country. His sound's just as atypical.
Urban sings a lot about love lost and won, but also about mortality and living each day with awareness and purpose.
One unexpected highlight of the evening was the appearance of Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke, who first showed up during the Warren Brothers' opening act, performing "Red, White and Blue," a song he'd co-written with them.
During Urban's encore, Medlocke came out again and performed "Sweet Home Alabama."
"Since this is my hometown ... on behalf of myself and all the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd, long live Keith Urban," Medlocke said. "Here's a little preview of what the Grammys will be like on Feb. 13."
Urban took a verse and the two shared the mike for the chorus, but Medlocke had the lion's share of the song.
The crowd was beside itself, roaring its approval. It was such a powerful, sizzling performance that I felt bad for the people who'd left before the encore.
At the end of the song, Urban dropped to his knees and made bowing gestures to Medlocke with his arms.
It was a fluid kind of night. Earlier, Urban did a raucous rendition of the Dave Edmunds song, "I Hear You Knocking," after beating out a drum solo on his acoustic guitar. He also did a cover of U2's "Beautiful Day" and a long rendition of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" with the Warren Brothers. At one point, his keyboardist performed a jazzy keyboard instrumental version of the Beatles' "Get Back."
Urban can rock out with the best of them, but he shined when performing alone with his acoustic guitar, or seated behind a keyboard by himself. He's a consummate musician who knows his instrument, not just a strummer.
Urban and his five-man band played on a set that looked like a warehouse. The drummer and keyboardist were set up on high pallets that revealed different colored lights through their slats. And there were neon signs that lit up at the very end: words such as Live, Love, Now, Faith, Believe, Hope, You, and, above the stage: Be Here, the name of his CD.
He played to the crowd, going to the very edges of the stage to perform for those in the side tiers. During a song, he gave the mike to a preschooler in the front row and let her sing the chorus. And at another point in the concert, he started reading a sign a young girl was holding up. But security confiscated the sign before he was finished.
He convinced security to hold up the sign again. It read: "I drove 28 hours through a blizzard to get here. Can I get a hug?"
"Hell, yeah," Urban said. So the young woman went forward. When Urban realized that the stage was too high for her to climb up on the stage, he jumped down to hug her.
Urban's a magnanimous performer, and a very talented one.
His show at Germain Tuesday night was simply remarkable. What a blast!
