Chris Rea - Auberge

Magnet. 1991. Album Description

Overlooked genius (at least in the US)

The only tune anybody except real fans can name from Chris Rea is his pop single "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" from his debut many years ago. Rea visited the US charts a few years little, albeit briefly with "Auberge", which is one of the smoothest, most elegant CD's out there.
Rea is no stranger in Britain - in fact, he's a bona fide guitar hero, and rightly so, as his slide work is as slick and sinewy as a basketful of snakes. Add his husky baritone and mellow background musicians, and you have a real class act.
The high points of "Auberge", possibly his finest work, include "Gone Fishing", "Looking For the Summer" and the bouncy "Red Shoes". Why his smooth music hasn't made the same impact as later Clapton music, Sting, or any other adult contemporaries you could name is a mystery, but that's the fickle music biz for you. Clapton may make his guitar gently weep; Rea makes his break down and sob.

February 15, 2008

Auberge

Chris lends his typical rich voice to this CD and includes both somber and whimsical tunes. December 23, 2007

There's a sudden itch/an electric twitch/sometimes I swear this body's got a mind of its own

Chris Rea spent a quarter century playing sleek, grown-up rock that has two easy-to-spot signatures --- guitars that are fluid as mercury and a voice that sounds as if it's been up all night and doesn't plan to rest any time soon --- even if his style is impossible to pigeonhole.

Who is Chris Rea? A master guitarist who didn't pick up a guitar until he was 19. A Brit who learned the blues from records. And a singer-songwriter who, a wag noted, "seemed only to get in the charts when Dire Straits were somewhere else."

Yes, there are echoes of Mark Knopfler in the seamless guitars. A bit of the languor of Knopfler too. But there's something about Rea's music that's idiosyncratic and addictive --- in almost every song, I hear the summer. Blazing sun, burning beach, the tang of lotion mixed with ocean ozone. And time nowhere to be found, time banished. In Rea's pre-global warming world, I feel forever young, fit, in love or about to be.

This is dreamy stuff. With lyrics you'd actually listen to if the music weren't so damn compelling. Organ hotwired to your spine, wicked harmonica, guitar riffs that J.J. Cale would happily steal --- this is the music a lot of us make in our heads and never find in reality. Well, here it is.

For Rea's fans, the one irresistible CD is 1991's "Auberge," which was huge in Europe. Not hard understanding why --- the start of the title song is like nothing you've ever heard before. To wit: A door closes. Boots on stone. Car door slams. Ignition. A guitar trill, building. An organ asks a haunting question. A slide guitar responds. Now the drums kick in. A guitar figure, repeated. Horns. And, at last, that rough voice:

On the hard fast train
On the road to gain
Something gets right through to your telling bone
There's a sudden itch
An electric twitch
Sometimes I swear this body's got a mind of its own

If you listen to this much and are not dancing in your seat --- oh, but that's impossible. At any volume, when the horns, guitars and drums are working together, resistance is futile.

I've been listening to Chris Rea, on and off, since "Auberge." Each time, he's a glorious anti-depressant: a grittier Chris Isaak, a raunchier Bryan Ferry. He's good for parties. As subliminal dinner music. To seal an assignation.

Or when all you need to time-travel is a whiff of Coppertone May 14, 2007

Romance & Rea

I purchased Auberge when it came out in '91. I had heard "And You My Love" on a show and bought the album for that one song. Turned out to be a bonus. With the exception of cuts 1,2 and 6 this album is outstanding. The vocals are pure sex appeal with songs like "Looking For the Summer" the perfect western movie backdrop, the elusive cowboy always holding back. It encompasses romance and promise. It is timeless. I loved it so much, I bought it again on CD. August 6, 2006

A good taste of Rea

I highly anticipated this Chris Rea album after the radio success and personal enjoyment of Dancing with Strangers and The Road to Hell. Auberge took on a different style than its immediate predecessors, more low-key and probably less musically diverse, but it is still an enjoyable album.
The title track is the strongest song and obvious single, even though its guitar riff is overused by Rea (listen to the closing riff on Just Wanna be With You from 'Road as well as Johnny Needs a Fast Car from Espresso Logic). Gone Fishing is typical laid-back Rea, but hardly deserved to be included on his "Best of" album.
Other memorable songs are towards the end of the disc: Every Second Counts and Looking for the Summer (also on his "Best of" album). Overall, this album is worth investing in if you like Chris Rea's brand of blues. February 19, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...