Cheap Damaged Goods (Music) (Nils Lofgren) Price

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Customer Reviews of Damaged Goods

Better than Bruce Whatzisface
Unfortunately, Nils is best known as a side-man in Bruce Springsteen's band and Neil Young's band and Ringo Starr's band and Kenny Rogers' sadly-defunct wood-fired chicken-band. His side-man status is a frigging shame. Because Nils's underappreciated solo records are a lot more fun than anything by Springsteen or Neil Young or Ringo or even Kenny Rogers. Please don't judge this record by its dull cover-shot of Nils doing a nodded-out hipster pose with a carefully contrived sloppiness. My only complaint about DAMAGED GOODS is that some of the tunes were seemingly written around the lyrics instead of the music. I like 8 of the 12 tracks. These are my fave tracks:

ALONE: My fave tune on the record. The string section is a fab addition. Nils creates a hypnotic ethereal riff with what is presumably an acoustic 12-string. Included is Nils's trademark "hey baby" phrase.

TRIP TO MARS: Uh-oh. It's got a kiddie chorus. Which is hitting me when I'm down, because I still haven't fully recovered from the kiddie chorus that sang "I believe in angels" on that Abba tune with the electric sitar. You'd think that Nils would be above this sorta thing. But no. Gosh darn those cheezy Scandinavians. Where the hell was I. Oh yeah. Well luckily, this kiddie chorus includes a grown-up woman with a gorgeous voice. I like how the chorus drops down a note at the end of 2 of the lines. During the non-kiddie sections, Nils's acoustic playing is fab & gear. He also trills around on a tack piano (or a synthesizer imitating a tack piano).

HERE FOR YOU: Showcases the upper register of his voice. As well as the occasional accordion fillip. I like the chord sequence that accompanies the phrases "down we fell" and "straight to hell". I also like his bitter enunciation of the phrase "to save my life, to break my heart".

IN THE ROOM: Grounded on a fab piano riff. Nils's accordion provides a fine short segue section. The guitar break is all too brief---there's a fantastic harmonic tension between the lead guitar and the 12-string.

DON'T BE LATE FOR YESTERDAY: A fine sinister hard-rock tune with a psychedelic ambience. The gothic "don't be late" phrase sounds like it was possibly inspired by George Harrison's "please don't be late" phrase from BLUE JAY WAY. Includes 2 luscious run-thrus of a bluesy descending acoustic-guitar passage. Also includes an obligatory everything-and-the-kitchen-sink extended ending.