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look at the producers; T-Bone Burnett Steve Lilywhite Alan Betrock etc. Pop master, singer/songwriter, historianall that BUT. Does the love of '50's rock 45s '60's punk '70's new wave mean fuzzy background and needle stuck grit. WAIT. Live, Marshall jumps and beats back the recordings. Let the song out.
This is as muddy as boot-steppin after a hurricaine in LA swamps;meaning both L.A. does that have to mean poorly recorded. are ya kidding me. Let the vocals shout/whisper as should be. Marshall Crenshaw is perhaps the finest singer/songerwrite with the worst production ever. tar pits and Louisiana gator pits.
Do that instead.
Marshall Crenshaw does make it seem easy, doesn't he. His songwriting and lyrical abilities complement each other fine and the result is work that always seems fresh and original.no matter how many times I listen. I tnink the fact that he is able to deliver a pop-rock sound with substance and a signature sound is what separates him from his peers. This compilation exhibits this and further adds fuel to the Crenshaw reputation that still is prominate in musically educated circles.
This disc reveals clearly that Crenshaw shot his creative wad on his first two albums, "Marshall Crenshaw" and "Field Day." After that he maintained his pleasant and distinctive sound, but the songs were mostly echoes. The songs from those early discs deserve 4 and 5 stars, but the rest get 1 or 2 stars.
"Underheard" is probably a better choice of adjective. There are very few albums that I would label as "must haves." "This is Easy" is one of them.The word "underappreciated" is tossed around all the time in regards to Crenshaw. As it says in the liner notes for "This is Easy," it is almost a crime that Crenshaw's work didn't get played on the radio, or MTV or - well - much of anywhere. I don't think this word fairly applies. I think that the people who've heard his music appreciate it a great deal. His songs are catchy, his lyrics earnest without seeming dopey and his musicianship first class. Perhaps his sound was just too "old fashioned" for the New Wave '80s and Grunge '90s, but I propose that his work has stood the test of time much better than many of the bands with whom he competed for airplay.Hats off to you, Marshall.
There are literally hundreds of bands and musicians who have been forced down our throats because the record companies have built them up and then overexposed them. THIS IS EASY is a way above average greatest hits collection, for the simple reason that Marshall Crenshaw has been one of the finest writer/performers of the past twenty years. Over half the album derives from these three albums. If one could eliminate the record companies, eliminate monopolies like Clear Channel (the first of these is inevitable, the second unfortunately not), perhaps talent rather than hype and promotion and the monopolization of the airwaves would determine whether or not performers would rise to the top. This isn't a hard conclusion at which to arrive. These contain what is arguably the best pop rock produced by any American performer in the early 1980s.
The record companies and the monopolies don't deserve to control the airwaves if for no other reason than the fact that they have done such a miserable job of promoting talent. Beginning with his stunning debut album MARSHALL CRENSHAW, in 1982, he has produced a string of first rate albums filled with superb songs, the vast majority written by Crenshaw, with an occasionally gem by someone else, like the incredible "I'm Sorry (And So Is Brenda Lee)," written by Ben Vaughan.The bulk of the great songs come from Crenshaw's first three extraordinary albums (all well worth owning) the eponymous first album (1982), FIELD DAY (1983), and DOWNTOWN (1985). Meanwhile, first-rate talents like Marshall Crenshaw don't receive the hype, and don't get the exposure that they deserve. I've played the album for friends who were only slightly familiar with Crenshaw, and while they recognized and liked the songs, I have wondered why they weren't far more widely known than they are. I have become increasingly convinced that record companies play no useful role in a society where methods of music distribution have changed so dramatically. In a better world, where talent determined whether or not someone's music was widely heard, Marshall Crenshaw would have been huge.
In fact, it is easy.
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