Blasters - American Music/Troublebound
by Daniel Cressey
published: 2 / 4 / 2012
Label:
Retroworld
Format: CD
intro
Fantastic rock and roll on double CD reissue of 1980 first studio album and 2002 live album from hard-working and thrilling Californian act, the Blasters
In the midst of the 1980s, film director Walter Hill needed a rock and roll band to put in his modern fable, 'Streets of Fire'. The scene required a band tear up the stage in a bar that was the epitome of a sleazy dive, populated by leather-jacketed, slick-haired, violent men, and women of a similar ilk. If you've seen that movie, you'll know the band chosen was the Blasters. The Blasters do rock and roll. And they do it very well. Their 1980 first album – 'American Music', re-released now – distils this genre down to its essentials and then tops it up with a shot of rockabilly and another of blues. If the songs aren't about getting into trouble, it's a fair bet they are about women, failing that, getting into trouble over women. They might not be winning any awards for musical innovation, but the Blasters do what they do with serious aplomb. By treating rock and roll with love but without reverence they manage to make what should seem tired and predictable exciting again. This might be only rock and roll, but it is glorious. To really get the flavour of the Blasters though, the listener should turn to the second half of this two-album set. The 2002 live album 'Trouble Bound' builds on 'American Music', taking many of the songs from that and a goodly sprinkling of extra tunes, and instils in them an even greater sense of urgency. If someone today again needed to film a bar scene with a band that embodied all that rock and roll should be, it is unlikely they could do better than look to the Blasters.
Track Listing:-
1 American Music2 Real Rock
3 Barefoot Rock
4 I Don't Want to
5 Marie Marie
6 I Wish You Would
7 She Ain't Got The Beat
8 Flattop
9 Crazy Baby
10 Never No More
11 Buzz
12 She's Gone Away
13 Barn Burning
14 21 days
15 Love 24 Hours
16 I Fell In Love
17 So Glad
18 Ashamed
19 Lone Wolf
20 Red Rose
21 Trouble Bound
22 Long White Cadillac
23 Cryin
24 I'm Shakin
25 Blue Shadows
26 Help You Dream
27 Common Man
28 Hollywood
29 Too Tired
30 I Wish You Would
31 Sadies Back In Town
32 Dark Night
33 So Long baby Goodbye
34 American Music
35 One Bad Stud
36 Marie Marie
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/the-Blasters-79395426235/http://theblasters.com/
Label Links:-
http://www.floatingworldrecords.co.uk/labels/retroworld/https://www.facebook.com/floating.worldrecords
https://twitter.com/floatingwrecord
most viewed articles
current edition
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #15- On Being Dignified and Old aka Ten Tips From Jah Wobble On How To Be Happy.Dennis Tufano - Copernicus Center, Chicago, 19/7/2024
Elliott Murphy - Interview
Adrian Gurvitz - Interview
Wreckless Eric - Interview
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #16: Living in the Minds of Strangers
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities - #17: Tom Robinson
Norman Rodger - Interview
Chris Spedding - Interview
Penumbra - Interview
most viewed reviews
current edition
Groovy Uncle - Making ExcusesBill Wyman - Drive My Car
Hawkestrel - Chaos Rocks
Philip Parfitt - The Dark Light
Deep Purple - =1
Ross Couper Band - The Homeroad
Jules Winchester - The Journey
John Murry and Michael Timmins - A Little Bit of Grace and Decay
Popstar - Obscene
Splashgirl and Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe - More Human
Pennyblackmusic Regular Contributors
Adrian Janes
Amanda J. Window
Andrew Twambley
Anthony Dhanendran
Benjamin Howarth
Cila Warncke
Daniel Cressey
Darren Aston
Dastardly
Dave Goodwin
Denzil Watson
Dominic B. Simpson
Eoghan Lyng
Fiona Hutchings
Harry Sherriff
Helen Tipping
Jamie Rowland
John Clarkson
Julie Cruickshank
Kimberly Bright
Lisa Torem
Maarten Schiethart