Chris Isaak - Forever Blue

With his singular retro-rock vision, Chris Isaak had already graduated from cult figure to music-video heartthrob when he delivered this 1995 album. But if all the surface elements are intact, he has assimilated his chief vocal influences, Orbison and Elvis, even further, and Isaak's songs dig even deeper into his favorite subject, heartbreak, to shorten the distance between writer and singer. "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing," the set's opener, employs the same growling rock-speak as George Thorogood's notorious "Bad to the Bone," but without a trace of irony--Isaak lashes the listener with the torment of a betrayed lover, telegraphing fear, desire, and anguish as he wheels from rumbling accusations to keening falsetto cries. Elsewhere, he withdraws to the more lyrical croon of his previous work, his band wreathed with the throbbing tremolo and ghostly reverb that are their natural elements. There's a folk-rock jangle to the lovely, forlorn "Somebody's Crying," a disarming directness to the simple but aching title song, and another burst of fevered agony, "Go Walking Down There,"which gallops over a perfect mid-'60s guitar arrangement. For all its letter-perfect allusiveness, though, Forever Blue feels authentically heartbroken, not just cleverly crafted. --Sam Sutherland Amazon.com

Forever a classic.

My first disc from Chris I.
Start to finish a classic.
I usually go for metal but how can you not like this guy.
A voice of velvet one moment. A power house voice the next.
Brilliant!!!
A must have for any music fan. May 20, 2008

Back to Basics

There will be some sorry people who liked "Wicked Game" who will stumble into this album and be wondering wtf about two minutes into "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing." Sorry, people. Supposedly a very bad breakup spurred this album, and you can pretty much tell right off the bat the Chris is pissed and more than a little broken up about it. "Changed Your Mind" is a perfect counterpoint to "Nothing's Cahnged" from "Heart Shaped World." Vert solid material throughout. One thing to note, guitarist James Calvin Wilsey, who shaped all previous albums to some degree, disapppeared mysteriously prior to this recording. August 28, 2007

On the road, its best to listen to it

Everyone has a retreat for listening to music, mine is my car on my long road trips as a travelling salesman.

This is a good album to watch the scene go by while letting it sink in..

October 28, 2006

A rock masterpiece

"Nothing matters now to me / Now that I lost my baby" For anyone who has ever felt this way after experiencing love, only to have had it slip through your fingers, this CD is for you. Isaak wonderfully captures the raw emotions of losing someone in these songs, which is why this CD excels so well. He wails as he laments his loss, though he is angry about it as well. Those of us who have gone through this experience understand it very well; we want our love to come back, yet at the same we direct our anger at this person because it is that person's choice. We are helpless because we cannot force the person to come back. "So please, return the love you took from me" he pleads viscerally on "Somebody's Crying." He is trying to cope with this loss and says some things that virtually ensure she won't come back. At this point, he realizes she is not coming back, so he lets the anger surface. The guitars become electric in every sense of the word as they complement the frustration and venting in his voice. A Hammond B3 sounds comfortably at home amidst the guitar and drums, and rock music is the perfect medium for the feelings being expressed. "Everything will work out okay / But not for me / and not for you." With this statement, he perfectly expresses the finality one sees at the end of a relationship, as though that is the end of life altogether. This person is someone we want so much and half of ourselves is suddenly gone. This CD came along just as I was going through this turmoil, which is why I am very thankful to Mr. Isaak for creating this fantastic music. September 19, 2006

Chris' voice makes me weak in the knees!!!!

This is one of my favorite CDs of all time! Chris Isaak could sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall and I would swoon. Everything about this album is perfect, from the voice, to the guitars, to the really-gets-under-your-skin melodies and lyrics.

Somebody's Crying is on my list of the greatest songs ever because it makes me sad and makes me want to dance at the same time. If Chris sang "please return the love you took from me" to me, I wouldn't be able to resist. There She Goes is another favorite. It makes you ache inside to hear the feeling in his voice as he's watching the girl he can no longer have walking along with someone else.

Every song on this album is well-written and incredibly infectious. I, like so many others who have reviewed this album, can listen to it all the way through without having to skip a dud song. This is Chris Isaak's very best album and no self-respecting music lover should be without it. Did I mention that I like Chris Isaak? A lot? April 26, 2006

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