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Customer Reviews of Concrete Blonde

"I do all I can and it's all I can do to be true"
This debut album by Concrete Blonde is one of my favorite albums of all time. It is solid. Every track is a slam dunk. And it has variety from the country "True" to the heavier rockers like "Your Haunted Head," "Still in Hollywood" and "Over Your Shoulder," to the beautiful cover of George Harrison's "Beware of Darkness," to the acoustical "(You're the Only One) Can Make Me Cry." Then there are the excellent lyrics of urban poet Johnette Napolitano. In the single "Still in Hollywood," we meet the middle aged "queen of L.A." with "purple-painted cheeks and glitter on her eyes" and the "troll on the corner" who smiles after receiving a quarter because "he wasn't abused, he wasn't confused, he had nothing to gain and less to lose." "It'll Chew You Up And Spit You Out" is an alternate version of "Still In Hollywood" with some kickin' drums and a Rodney Dangerfield impersonation at the end. The instrumental version of "True" is wonderful. Other favorites include "Song For Kim (She Said)" and "Little Sister" ("I'm only half a heart away"). Nothing I can write will do this album justice. If you know Concrete Blonde from their singles like "Joey" or are interested in 1980s gems that may have gone under the radar, give this 1986 release a try. It will not disappoint. My CD copy includes lyrics and a photo of the band.

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Awesome debut.
Even though "Bloodletting" is often considered to be their best album, sometimes I think this is my favorite. Some of it's almost punk, but the rest is the melodic alt-rock that they're known for. "True" is an excellent song, and great opener, and "Beware Of Darkness" and "Still In Hollywood" are sweet also. But my two favorites by far are "Make Me Cry" and "Song For Kim (she said)". Both are really moving, to me anyway. I suppose to the newcomer I'd recommend a collection, but for the older fans, "Concrete Blonde" is a must. I'll never get rid of my vinyl copy.

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Out of the gate with a bang!
The debut from Concrete Blonde is a fierce piece of work. Featuring the bass playing, songwriting and vocal power of Johnette Napolitano and the tough guitar work of Jim Mankey, this album wasn't a big success, but it did show that the band was a force to contend with. If one just went by their first single, "Still in Hollywood", you would think that they were a punk band. Mankey plays a driving, repetitive riff over which Johnette sings a desperate lyric about being trapped on the seedy side of that town. No glamorous movie star life here! It's the album's classic track, but there was a lot more to the group than that.

There are more paranoid rockers, sure, like "Your Haunted Head", "Song for Kim" and "Dance Along the Edge" which also show the bleakness of Napoitano's world view. But there are also touching ballads like "Little Sister" and the acoustic "Make Me Cry" that show she has a vulnerable side, too. The album's second best tune, the loping, catchy "True", is a forthright statement of intregity. CB had a tradition of including a cover song on each of their early albums. But their first choice, George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" classic "Beware of Darkness", is the one track that doesn't really work. The band's lumbering hard rock style isn't well suited for the song.

Other than that, though, the album is a strong, melodic, guitar based rock record. Tied with "Bloodletting" for the best CB album, it's worth hunting up. The CD includes two extra tracks that weren't on the original LP: an instrumental version of "True", with some nice lead work by Mankey; and "It'll Chew You Up..", which is really "Still in Hollywood, Part 2". They add value to an already cool CD.