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Tarfumes.com - Real Animal
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List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $13.99
Your Save: $ 3.99 ( 22% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Back Porch
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0094638241126
Label: Back Porch
Manufacturer: Back Porch
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Back Porch
Release Date: 2008-06-24
Studio: Back Porch
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Editorial Reviews:
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Alejandro Escovedo's 9th solo album, produced by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T.Rex, Thin Lizzy), Real Animal is a collective journey through Escovedo's various musical incarnations from punk rock to string quintets and it is as introspective as it is retrospective. This album features a band of frequent collaborators, including David Pulkingham (guitar), Josh Gravelin (bass), Hector Munoz (drums), Susan Voelz (violin), Brian Standefer (cello) and Chuck Prophet (guitar). The 13 original tracks unravel Escovedo's musical autobiography while presenting him as a masterful American musician, whose palette encompasses eloquent string quintets and shattering blasts of punk rock.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Alejandro Escovedo' "Real Animal"
Comment: I usuaully pride myself on being somewhat of an audiophile, particularly when it comes to music from the punk and post punk era of 1975-1984. I was startled when I heard Alejandro live at Milwaukee's Summerfest this summer. What a band! What a mix of songs, most from his "Real Animal" album.
The surprise came from when he started to rattle of some of the bands that he had belonged to. Rank and File, The Nuns, and other groups that had been in my album collection for years, decades actually.
The songs on this album are reflective. Living in the Chelsea Hotel, opening up for the Sex Pistols in San Francisco in 1978, loves lost, prospects gone, pensive stuff, and all well written with a strong sense of both story telling and compositon. Some of the slower more lyrical songs grow tiresome, but only after repeatedly play. The rockers are pretty solid and lang lasting.
It's my understanding that Alejandro was sick for a while, near death they say, and that explains him being gone from the scene, but he has a long history and discography of albums out there. This is only his latest. Others are good too. I am sampling them now.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Okay
Comment: Good, but not in the league of "Man Under the Influence" or "The Boxing Mirror". I saw him this weekend in San Francisco and he was good (I wish he would have played a few older songs) but I was disapointed to find out that he played at the Democratic National Convention. What the hell is rock coming to when its most promising artists are playing at poltical conventions? Vote For Change last election and now this? Is this where we are now: rockers becoming spokesmen for the system? Rock-n-roll is supposed to be about rebellion, not selling out for politicians. Escovedo kept invoking Iggy Pop during the show, well let me tell you something Alejandro, Iggy Pop would never play at a political convention. You should follow his lead.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
Comment: Real Animal (2008, Black Porch/Manhattan) Alejandro Escovedo's ninth studio album. ****
Alejandro Escovedo has a family tree rooted (no pun intended) in music, and while there are plenty of sons and daughters, nieces and nephews who have musical background but have no talent themselves, Escovedo isn't one of them. The album is simple, really; it's merely adult alternative pop/rock, and even though most albums in this genre are beyond mediocre and go fairly unnoticed by anyone under age thirty, Real Animal is wonderfully different. The accessibility of easy-rockers such as the opening "Always a Friend" or the slightly darker "Chelsea Hotel '78" open themselves up to people of all ages. The earnest "Sister Lost Soul" or the closer "Slow Down" reveal Escovedo's ability to be sincere. And it has its rocking moments as well, as the rolling riff of "Smoke" demonstrates in its start-and-stop guitar and bass work. There's nothing complex here, it's just a great package of songs with decent production put out to entertain. Fans of jam bands, chill music, party music, and good music in general will find pleasure in Escovedo's simple elegance. Highly recommended. (Always a Friend, Chelsea Hotel '78, Sister Lost Soul, Smoke)
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Great Album
Comment: I just discovered Alejandro when I downloaded a duet of the opening track on this album that he performed with Bruce Springsteen. It inspired me to pick up Real Animal and I was not disappointed. An excellent Rock and Roll album that I highly recommend to fans of Springsteen, Tom Petty and the like.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Album, Great Artist
Comment: Like most other reviewers, I've ben a fan for a long, long time.
If you're new to Al's music, buy other albums, starting with
1. Gravity (a download steal at $5.99, and it includes both the studio album AND a live concert)
2. Thirteen Years (a bit slow at first, but really grows on you after repeated listenings)
3. By the Hand of the Father (a semi-autobiographical musical, created for the theater stage, that talks about the Escovedo family journey in the US. More of a Tejano album than rock, with some amazing stories burried in there).
4. Everything Else. They're all really, really good.
But don't stop with the albums--far and away the best way to get to know Alejandro's music is to SEE HIM LIVE. I've seen Al about 6 times over the past 15 years and each show is unique, intimate, and personal.
And whether it's with a four-piece band or a string quintet (don't let the strings fool you) AL ROCKS. If you've seen Springsteen live, it's like a more modest version of that. But instead of 50,000 people in the stands you're more likely to be surrounded by 50 or 500.
I never write Amazon reviews, but Alejandro is so good he deserves 10 minutes of my time. Buy this album--you won't regret it.
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