Chris Isaak - Forever Blue

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Free Music Notes for Forever Blue

Free Music Review: Music for a Good Wallow
Hit: 5 Stars

The opening track, "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing," demonstrates the range of Isaak's voice. Beginning with verses delivered in rapid-fire monotone, Isaak's voice soars in the chorus, with Isaak singing "feel like crying" in a voice that transforms in an instant from a disconsolate wail to a scream of near-incoherent rage that sounds like he feels more like putting a fist through a wall than crying. Isaak captures sorrow, rage and confusion unforgettably, in less than three minutes.

The more radio-friendly "Somebody's Crying," evokes the surf/rockabilly fusion that is Isaak's trademark, and captures the central theme of the album--dishonesty. In each of the tracks, somebody's lying about something--and it's usually the narrator lying to himself. Isaak is deft wordsmith, able to delineate subtle shades of meaning and complex emotions in simple melodies and in a very short period of time. Not one of the songs on "Forever Blue" is more than four minutes long, and not a minute is wasted.

"I Believe" is definitely the most complex track on the album, both musically and lyrically. In the lines, "I believe the angels listen, God hears us pray/ I believe in a beautiful day/ I believe it's going to work out okay. /But not for you. /And not for me," Isaak returns to the theme of narcissism and the notion that, somehow, the world has it in for the narrator, and, by extension, the listener. The disconsolate lyrics are delivered against a driving, almost peppy tune that enhances the sense of isolation and loneliness delivered in the words. Isaak's words and music constantly belie each other throughout the album, driving home the message that love--good or bad--is always complicated.

"Forever Blue" is essential listening, and a vital part of any album collection.

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