Dave Stewart - The Ringmaster General (2012) [FLAC] {Weapons Of Mass Entertainment 2-530471}
Release Info:
RLSDATE: 2021/10/10 RTLDATE: 2012/09/11
GENRE: Americana FORMAT: FLAC 1.3.3
RiPPER: Exact Audio Copy 1.5 Size: 420 MB
SOURCE: CD RUNTiME: 50:40
RELEASE: Weapons Of Mass Entertainment 2-530471
ORiGiN: US MATRiX: IFPI LN08
with log/cue/nfo/m3u/sfv/300 dpi scans.
The All Music Guide adds. . .
Dave Stewart is a gifted musical collaborator, but he has the ego of a major star,
which means he insists on taking the spotlight whether it's a good idea or not. He's
also ambitious and full of ideas, which is good when he's working with someone who can
use a push in the right direction, but if Stewart has no one around to give him
bearings, he has a tendency to bite off more than he can chew stylistically, which is
how he can go from the sublime pop perfection of his work in the Eurythmics to the
ridiculousness of his ill-fated supergroup SuperHeavy. The Ringmaster General is a
sequel of sorts to Stewart's 2011 solo album The Blackbird Diaries; like the earlier
album, this one was written and recorded during a five-day blowout at Blackbird Studios
in Nashville, with Stewart leading a crack band of studio cats and bringing in some
talented acquaintances to do guest vocals (among them Alison Krauss, Jessie Baylin,
and his SuperHeavy partner Joss Stone). The results reveal Stewart's strengths and
weaknesses in equal measure; he has a knack for writing a good pop tune, he knows how
to get musicians to deliver the goods in the studio, and he's a strong guitar player.
However, as a lead vocalist he's average at best, his idea of a good arrangement
usually leans to the bombastic, and while this album is supposed to celebrate his love
of roots music, his country and R&B leanings here invariably sound forced. On several
tunes, Stewart seems to think the best way to make a song sound soulful is to let the
backing vocalists get as happy as they want, which makes the opener, "I Got Love," and
the closer, "A New Song for Nashville," sound as if they were recorded at a suburban
blues bar with several drunk women in the audience intrusively yelling into the mike.
Stewart also isn't much of a lyricist, and most of these songs are pockmarked with
cliches and clumsy wordplay that find Stewart trying to celebrate his cool factor and
status as a world-class Lothario. For an album that came together in less than a week,
The Ringmaster General sounds assured, professional, and polished, all without
squeezing the life out of the performances, and the picking from Stewart and his band
is splendid throughout. But while Stewart the producer and bandleader earned his
paycheck on The Ringmaster General, they should have told Stewart the songwriter and
lead singer that he needed to finish his homework before trundling this material into
the studio, since the latter guy's work is the anchor that sinks this particular
session.
Ripper's Notes:
Gotta love AMG for their honest, blunt reviews. Unfortunately, most of the stuff I buy
is too off the beaten track to warrant an AMG write up.
Country, blues, gospel, R&B, Americana. . . this album is a mess. I bought it for one
and only one reason (give you one guess. . . ), and that one reason certainly doesn't
warrant repeat listens. Played it the once to verify this rip, and will likely never
get spun again.
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