Search - Leo Kottke :: Burnt Lips

Definetely one of his best

harleypsychRN | Abingdon, Maryland USA | 06/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This one has gotten lots of play during the past 24 years. Kottke (by his own admission uneasy with his voice) frankly never sounded better... singing on most of the tracks here and the songs are extremely well chosen. There is nothing out of his range. This record is markedly different from his Capitol recordings, which is good and bad. Kottke attempted to repeat the same format with his next recording Balance but it wasn't half as good as this effort. The 70's produced most of Kottke's real gems and this one though not generally praised as one of his finest for me holds special memories. It wouldn't be until Great Big Boy that he would put out a consistently good vocal recording."

Not just for Guitar afficionados

James Whitmee | England | 02/10/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I suspect most of Kottke's fans are guitar nerds (I don't mean to be rude guys!). I don't even play, but his music is a joy to listen to. I love "Burnt Lips" above all the rest of his stuff I have heard, thanks to the balance between his instrumental bits and pieces, and the brilliant and evocative vocals on covers like Nick Lowe's "Endless Sleep" (it's about time he re-recorded it himself. His version on the Bowi EP is a bit lacklustre in comparison) and originals like "Frank Forgets". It's not fair really - he sings, writes and plays the guitar better than nearly any man on the planet (R. Thompson comes close, but his voice isn't a patch on Leo's), and yet he is still pretty unknown. But at least now people get to hear him on the Uncle Ben's TV ads here in Britain."

More than just a not-so-pretty voice

Mitchell Lopate | Silverdale, WA | 02/16/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"And that's said tongue-in-cheek: Leo's murky baritone really does have a range that finds itself melodic without being cheesy--and he's really better when he's overdubbing backup vocals ("Cool Water" and "Endless Sleep," which stand out for their sparse arrangements.) His effortless picking that's sprinkled throughout the album is helped by fragile slide notes that really should inspire more guitarists to be sensitive to Leo's dampening technique.



Typical cockeyed Kottke lyrics unhinge the quirky "Frank Forgets," and maybe "Sonora's Death Row" gets graced with the best interpretation in years through Leo's reminiscing about a tragic night on the town. However, Leo's fingertip touch on harmonics is often overlooked--but not to be missed on "Out-takes from Terry's Movie." The rest is the usual wash-rinse-and-repeat of Leo's "let me find a string here and there and abuse it" method, but that's what he does with flair. Go on and enjoy it."