Citizen Urban - A Review
Rolling Stain Magazine
Album:
Artist:
Reviewed by: Walter Neff
Rating: Three Stars
Johnny oh Johnny where have you been?
MIA for over five years – Johnny Vanguard now returns with an album that is an
amazing achievement, worthy of 5 stars – but only gets three.
Championed in the
nineties as a rival for Cold Chisel or John Williamson, Australian-born
singer-songwriter Johnny Vanguard has struggled to be judged on his own merits.
Highlighting that
struggle was his relationship with actress Jo Beth Jo, with whom he has surely
had his ups and downs.
For this outing, Vanguard
trades the folky beats of 1997's City Experiences
for a return to his earlier folk style country/rock/pop - only here, it's a
little slicker and spiked with messy relationship dramas. He sings, "You’ll never forget me (when I’m
flying in a plane)" over a bed of mushy background vocals, but the
addition of horns is genius.
It’s on the second
side that this album really picks up, he rocks out with “Road of my Affection” and you know who he’s singing about when he
sings “You cheated on me (or was it me on
you)” all in all this is a charming, but ultimately flawed, record.
This entry was posted
on Friday, August 25, 2006 at 11:06 am.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
» Post a Comment