Search - Alex Harvey :: Sob Stories

THE CRAZY SCOTSMANS BEST RELEASE.

05/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"ALEX HARVEY COULD AT THE SAME TIME BE DELIGHTFULLY BRILLIANT BUT ALSO INFURIATINGLY INCONSISTENT. I REGARD THIS AS HIS MOST CONSISTENT AND PLEASING PIECE OF WORK. HE SEEMED TO BE LESS THEATRICAL OR VAUDEVILLIAN ON THIS ALBUM AND HIS VOCAL WORK WAS MUCH EASIER ON THE EAR ALSO. THE CALIBRE OF THE MUSICIANSHIP WAS AT ITS MOST IMPRESSIVE WITH ZAL CLEMINSON'S FRETWORK TO THE FORE . I WOULD RANK "AMOS MOSES" AND "$25 FOR A MASSAGE " AMONGST THE BEST SONGS SAHB EVER SPENT STUDIO TIME ON. LONG MAY HE REST IN PEACE WITH THIS ALBUM DEFINITELY MY FONDEST MEMORY OF A HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL,IDIOSYNCRATIC AND ONE-OFF TALENT"

Must-have rock storybook

Michael Heminger | Pardeeville, WI | 12/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Easily the most straight-ahead rocker that this extraordinary band produced. From the thundering intro of "Dance to Your Daddy" to the equally thundering crashes that close "Dogs of War", "SAHB Stories" (the actual title) showcases this band at their bombastic best. The cover of Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses" is extraordinary, supplying a warbly swamp feel suspiciously absent in the original, and "Sirocco", the album's chilling mellow cut, is a muffled, minimalist trip across a moonlit desert. "Boston Tea Party" is positively transcendent, as if Harvey were there himself and is reporting through time, and "$25 for a Massage" has the funkiest rock riff ever laid down by a clown-faced white boy.Stripped of the costumes this band wore so well (vaudevillian theatrics and pre-punk sci-fi conceptualism) they still shine in this rock-and-roll storybook."