Life throws you all kinds of curveballs. Case in point:
\nGo Slow Down<\/i> was a really strange album for the BoDeans to
\nbreak through to the mainstream with.<\/p>\n
It would be a bit of a stretch to call this an album of love
\nsongs\u2026 more like an album of songs about love\u2026 or, in
\nsome cases, the act of love. Okay, let’s face it — in at least two
\ninstances, this disc sounds like an attempt to write a soundtrack
\nalbum for
\nThe Joy Of Sex<\/i>\u2026 not that there’s anything wrong with
\nthat.<\/p>\n
Ironically, this earthy, somewhat anti-commercial fifth disc
\nfrom the Wisconsan, roots-rocking band built around
\nsinger-songwriter duo Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas also contains
\ntheir one smash hit single, the buoyant rocker “Closer To Free.” In
\na twist of fate worthy of the Rembrandts, the producers of one-time
\nuber-youth-soap
\nParty Of Five<\/i> decided “CTF” sounded like great
\nopening-credits music. Well,
\nyeah<\/i>. It cooks along like a born classic, fueled by Michael
\nRamos’s soaring organ and accordion work and the heavy backbeat
\nlaid down by bassist Bob Griffin and guest drummer Kenny
\nAaronoff.<\/p>\n
Truth be told, there are some very sweet and thoughtful tunes
\nhere, full of a kind of weary optimism, and decorated brightly with
\nLlanas and Neumann’s fine acoustic\/electric guitar and mandolin
\nwork. “Idaho” is a (by turns) lyrical and philosophical little
\nrocker about perspective. The upbeat “Save A Little” is equally
\nappealing, and “Cold Winter’s Day” is masterful in capturing a more
\nsomber mood, a vibrant mixture of nostalgia and camaraderie.
\nAnother number of note, “Stay On,” is a kind of self-directed
\ninspirational speech for struggling musicians.<\/p>\n
But the title track\u2026 man, oh man. It’s really funny to me
\nwhat’s considered obscene these days, because “Go Slow Down” and
\n“Feed The Fire” are a thousand times sexier than anything you may
\nor may not have seen on last year’s Super Bowl halftime show, and
\nthere’s not a parental advisory in sight. No expletives, nothing
\ngraphic — just the essence of lusty sensuality, captured in words
\nand music. Listen to these songs with someone you love.<\/p>\n
\nGo Slow Down<\/i> marked the commercial high-water mark of the
\nBoDeans’ career to date. Since the follow-up to
\nGo Slow Down<\/i>, 1996’s fine
\nBlend<\/i>, they’ve recorded and toured intermittently. They’re
\none of those low-profile bands who deserve more attention, but have
\nnever craved it enough to compromise their musical integrity. And
\nGo Slow Down<\/i> is an excellent album precisely because it’s
\nuncompromising — honest, raw and beautiful, it’s my pick for their
\nbest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5778],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38144","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-bodeans","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38144"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38144"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}