Customer Ratings & Reviews

I've often seen this cited as a lot of fans' favorite Chris Isaak album and even from track one, it's clear to see why. His band and his songs sound much more developed than they had been in awhile. The main problem I had with Isaak's previous two albums is that the songs often sounded like instrumentals that Isaak just sang on top of. Sometimes this worked really well, but it often felt a little cheap, too. Here it sounds as if he wrote the songs ahead of time and had his band figure them out in the studio. I'm not one to make assumptions, but I think the addition of the new guitar player did a lot towards the band's method of recording. The new guy isn't as flashy as Wilsey was, but he has a load of talent and I prefer his restraint on some of the songs. Everything on this CD just gels really well. Even the corny synthesizer on the first two tracks is a lot more palatable than it was on Heart Shaped World. It's great to hear the organ playing make its way onto the record from San Francisco Days. There's also some really good steel guitar on some of the songs. The songwriting is much better than it was before, avoiding the standard rock cliches by twisting them around just enough to make them thought provoking and new. There's country, 60's pop, blues, and a little bit of jazz to it. It's all feels very appropriately blue. Even my CD came in a neat blue case. One can listen to this just as faint background music, or crank it up to soak in the bittersweet mood and the sad, regret-filled lyrics. If you like Chris Isaak at all, this record is a must have.