Glad Stove

Overall Album Score: 8.2 out of 10

Hello again, Nnnnnewman.

It's been a long time since you've decided to come back with another album.

1988 to be precise.

11 years.

Dude! Don't you like making ALBUMS anymore??? ... Oh wait. You're probably working on trying to win that Oscar finally. And ... oh, you're a family man now, too. I guess that hampers your album-producing thang ... Uhhhh ... okay ...

So, he made another album. And it's not really a great thing. ... It's good, but it's not GREAT. ... Yeah, a lot of albums seem to suffer the exact same problem!

The good news is that there is a good handful of songs that can rank among Newman's best. This statement alone automatically makes Bad Love a worthwhile purchase to his fans. "Every Time it Rains," in particular, is a standout. It's perhaps the best sentimental song he's ever written, so ... yeah. Newman fans will definitely have to check this baby out!

Unfortunately, weaker songs on here are present, if not plentiful. Too many songs on here had me going "Eh," or "This is pretty good, but we heard it before." ... So the album isn't very amazing, unusual, or anything.

What matters in the end, however, are the good songs. And it's comforting to know that Randy Newman didn't lose his spark.

Overall Album Score: 8.2 out of 10 (Not an amazing effort whatsoever. There's too much weak material in the album for this to be considered one of Newman's greats. Nevertheless, there are enough genuine moments to make it worthwhile to fans.)

Average Song Score: 8.5 (A lot of excellent songs such as "My Country," "Better Off Dead" and particularly "Every Time it Rains" makes this a particularly worthwhile listen to Randy Newman fans.)

Album Tilt: 8.0 (Weak material in the middle and latter half of the album probably makes this one of the lesser efforts in Newman's catalogue ... but it's nice that he finally decided to add something to his catalogue! It's been 11 freaking years!)

Artist Rating: 8.0 (Not really a great artistic achievement ... or as amazing of an album as they have been in the past. With little exception, his is just a retread of his back catalogue.)

Track Reviews

My Country 9.5/10

...This song is sort of bombastic for Randy Newman (...well, the Randy Newman from the early 70s), but it still has that lighthearted, pithy quality that we all know Randy Newman for. A nice melody, too ... Nothing to complain about here! The 5:40 minute running length isn't even a burden.

Shame 8.5/10

Doin' that old ragtime thing ... Just like the ragtimey Randy Newman tunes from the days of yore, this is nice, playful, and melodic. Newman gives more of a theatrical vocal performance with this song (speaking the words with some African American background singers singing "Shame, Shame, Shame"). Definitely a tasteful song ... it's nothing to take to heart, however, like so many other of his songs are. Nnnnewman.

I'm Dead But (I Don't Know It) 9/10

It's so weird and so awesome that Randy Newman can get away with churning out the occasional ROCK song now and again. This is such a delightfully weird song incorporating a crunchy rock riff, some violins, and ... then amusement park carousel noises. ... Only Newman can do this with such a great level of success!

Every Time It Rains 10/10

Wow! Now THISSSSSSSSS is an utterly gorgeous song! It's one of those slow and sentimental numbers (sounds like it could have been a track for Toy Story or something). This track is simply SPLENDIFEROUS, and ... believe me, it's rare that I take these sentimental songs with syrupy violin tracks in the background and soft piano to heart ... but this is Randy Newman! And I guess this sort of thing is his specialty.

The Great Nations of Europe 7.5/10

Eh, not a huge fan of this one. This is one of Newman's goofy-type songs, except it's not very intriguing instrumentation-wise. The melody is only so-so, so why should I like it? On the plus side, this does have Newman's special brand of personality injected in it.

The One You Love 8.5/10

A pretty good jazzy piece. This one is enjoyable, but it seems like Newman's only scaling familiar territory here, and this is nothing really you'd want to take to heart.

The World Isn't Fair 7.5/10

Eh, again. Eh, eh, eh, eh. This is a bleak old song that doesn't have much instrumentation apart from Newman piddling on his piano and a light orchestration in the background half the time. Not a great song, I'm afraid.

Big Hat, No Cattle 8.5/10

Ew! Cheesy country-western music!!! ................ HELP ME!!!!!!! .......... Eh, I guess I don't care. I'm listening to Randy Newman, after all. That makes it all okay, I guess. He's got the coolness going and, as I've said a lot about him in previous Nnnewman reviews, he gets away with a lot of stuff. And this is no exception.

Better Off Dead 9.5/10

Sort of a tango-song from the 1930s or something! And it's awesome! The melody is catchy, the background instrumentation is fun and funny, and those background oo's and oh's are nnnnnnnice. A gooooood song. And more of that quirky Randy Newman that I crave.

I Miss You 8/10

This is another sentimentally song in a similar vein as "Every Time it Rains" except it's not nearly as good. The schlocky instrumentation, while really not that bad, does manage to drag this song a little bit ... but it was going to drag anyway ... so it doesn't really matter.

Going Home 7/10

EH!!!!!!! Yet another song from the album that I can take or leave ... whichever. It's slow and non-exciting. The melody isn't too intriguing. His stifled voice in this song, however, is kind of neat, but ... it didn't help the song out much.

I Want Everyone To Like Me 8.5/10

...And he closes the album off with a nice upbeat tune ... very pleasant indeedy! Another one of Newman's jazzy song with some strange rock organ doing stuff in the background. A catchy, tight tune, and ... there's nothing to hate about this.

Doth thou refuseth to send thy comments about yon album hither?