Search - Sloan :: Navy Blues

What side of the Sloan street do you stand?

John Bounds | los angeles, california United States | 04/04/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are interested in Sloan and are looking for a body of work to try-out I would like to offer up "Navy Blues" as your inital outing. There are rabid Sloan fans out there who all fight tooth and nail over which Sloan album is the best. Some say "Twice Removed" which I rank as their 2nd best and some say "Between the Bridges" which I feel has little cohesion and ultimately fails as a "Long Player" which is also how I feel about their latest offering, "Pretty Together". That's why I feel so strongly towards this album. It works as a whole work where the sum parts smoothly create the whole. This is a buzzy late 70's California driving bubblegum fm radio album. From the very first guitar lick of "She Says What She Means" to the closing bars of "I'm Not Through With You Yet" this is feel good music at it's core. it has humor and heart and clever arrangements that homage it's inspirations and imbibes with originality. Track 1 is my absolute favorite mix cd track. I always get comments about that track. I don't know how true popularity eluded dear Sloan during the release of this album but it did. The world isn't ready for these prime time players. This is a strong album all in all but if I must highlight the standout tracks...
1. She Says What She Means
2. C'mon C'mon(We're Gonna Get It Started)
3. Iggy & Angus
6. Money City Maniacs
9. Stand By Me, Yea
12. I Wanna Thank You
I really love them all, but if you are looking for songs to sample...try these."

Excelent

William R. Nicholas | Mahwah, NJ USA | 02/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This gem takes the direction that the Beatles and Small Faces invented around 1966. Those bands, particually the Beatles, were growing too fast to fully mine the possibilites of the styles they were inventing, but Navy Blues does, brilliantly.



The songs are mainly fast, blues-based pop, with lots of melodic chord changes, maraccas, and some horns lovingly placed to add flavor. Sloan play live and loose, with lots of big fat bass slides and jangley guitars. The production is warm, with no digitized perfection.



This record is something really special and it would be perverse not to like it.



"