NEW ALUM: GLEN PHILLIPS ~ There Is So Much Here

[Ruby]

GLEN PHILLIPS ~ There Is So Much Here



What a lovely thing. Glen Phillips is the founder and lead of Toad the Wet Sprocket as well as having a solo career, and he’s been on my radar for his songwriting (that beautiful song “Grief and Priase”). He writes great lyrics and I don’t always notice those much on a first listen, but I really did on this one. Hard working fella – clever too – a thinking, feeling and observant person – this what a musician can do when they lead from the heart and the spirit; not to say there’s a technical wasteland behind the heart either –  what we have here is competent musicianship – no frills, and don’t expect any moments of dazzling brilliance - pleasant without descending into mediocrity, IMHO. There is what I can only describe as a certain grace about the album. I think Mr Phillips is one of the good guys.

As far as genres go – we have a bit of rock, a smattering of pop, some singer/songwriter, and so it goes. The album is a scant 40 minutes in duration, not one of which I didn’t enjoy. Sounds like – let’s see – Colin Meloy (Decemberists), Neil Finn, couldn’t help thinking of Dan Fogelberg in a fleeting moment, and the Everly Brothers (??) – here and there, aaand oddly enough - the timbre of his voice reminds of Michael Bublé, which is quite unexpected! Hope that doesn't put anyone off - it shouldn't. 

Favourites …

“Stone Throat” … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixbE5vx2W4Q

“Big Changes” …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg1tghNzEKI

“The Bluest Eye” …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qss9S_XD0Ws

“Let in Anarchy” ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdJJTMHmZPc

“The Sound of Drinking” ….

  



Just in case anyone wondered about the origin of the Toad the Wet Sprockett name ... Wiki obliges ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toad_the_Wet_Sprocket 

"Name origin[edit]

Toad the Wet Sprocket takes its name from a Monty Python comedy sketch called "Rock Notes",[2][3] in which a journalist delivers a nonsensical music news report:

Rex Stardust, lead electric triangle with Toad the Wet Sprocket, has had to have an elbow removed following their recent successful worldwide tour of Finland. Flamboyant ambidextrous Rex apparently fell off the back of a motorcycle. "Fell off the back of a motorcyclist, most likely," quipped ace drummer Jumbo McClooney on hearing of the accident. Plans are already afoot for a major tour of Iceland.[4]

As their first gig approached, the band still had not chosen a name. The members facetiously adopted "Toad the Wet Sprocket" because they thought it would be "hilarious". Vocalist Glen Phillips later called it "a joke that went on too long" and, according to their website, "it was probably meant to be temporary at the time."[2][5] The name had been used once before, by a short-lived British blues band of the late 1970s that had appeared on the 1980 Metal for Muthas compilation, although the earlier band had long since split up when Philips and company formed their band.
Eric Idle, the sketch's original performer, reflected on the band's name in a 1999 performance:

I once wrote a sketch about rock musicians, and I was trying to think of a name that would be so silly nobody would ever use it, or dream it could ever be used. So I wrote the words "Toad the Wet Sprocket." And a few years later, I was driving along the freeway in LA, and a song came on the radio, and the DJ said, "that was by Toad the Wet Sprocket," and I nearly drove off the freeway.[6]"

[CRAZY-HORSE]

Michael Bublé is a turn-off for sure LOL
but if your other sounds likes are spot on then this one will interest me
i will listen to the album in its entirety tomorrow.

[CRAZY-HORSE]

good album Ruby.

i would also throw Tom Petty in the mix especially on the opening track (not sounds like) but the vibe of the song.