Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic, 12 Jun 2006
It's difficult to write words to try sum up how good music is! None more so than when trying to review this album:
Everything is here - beautiful tunes (Heaven) moving lyrics (Sing a Song of Love to Me, The Mention of Your Name) immaculate, gob-smackingly good production, and of course, Chris Rea!
If it could be said that the theme of Road To Hell was anger or frustration of the world, I would venture that Auberge sees a continuation of that theme, though in more understated way.
While the lyrics in Road To Hell directly explore the state of the world we live in, lyrically Auberge explores simply getting away from it all, escape from the rat race, freedom. Again, like Road to Hell, the song titles are a give away:
Gone Fishing
You're Not a Number
Heaven (Happy? You bet I am! Holding onto this smile for just as long as I can)
Set Me Free
Looking for Summer (Remember Love how it was the same? We scratched and heard each others growing pains)
We also hear, like Road To Hell, a harking to the 'delta' sound, that Rea explores so eloquently later on with albums like Dancing Down The Stoney Road (You're Not a Number)
The song ends with a moving tribute to Chris' late mother: The Mention of Your Name. If it fails to move you, check your pulse. It's worth repeating some of lyrics here in an effort to divulge the depth, beauty, and astonishing honesty in the lyrics, where Chris lays his heart out for all of us to see:
Time goes by,
And every single tear it must have well run dry
And the lonely nights become a strange accepted way.
And the years go past...
Just like the old song says, the pain with time has healed
It could not last.
But oh a friend, like a fool mentions your name...
Sunny days, drunken nights, you smile and say it's all right,
But oh the cold, cold rain, at the mention of your name...
Forgive me please, if I shrug my shoulders when I put my friends at ease, as I get older.
It's not that I don't feel colder than before.
Oh I've become so good at hiding what I feel without confiding,
It's still the same, darling still the same,
At the mention of your name...
A truly fabulous album, that deserves it's place in British album history, alongside others such as Brothers In Arms or Rumours. Truly inspired. An investment. Make no mistake. Thanks for reading.
|
|
|
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply the best, 24 Jun 2005
Years ago a colleague said "Auberge" was Chris Rea's best album, and on the strength of that recommendation I bought it. He was right about that, though I'd add that if it's Chris Rea's best album, then that makes it the world's best album.... such is my regard for this artist's work.
It's one of a handful of albums I know where nothing's out of place. Each number is strong, and they fit together well. I don't want to fast-forward anywhere. He shows incredible versatility - from the incandescent, yearning, bluesy "Set me free" to the enigmatic "Looking for the Summer" to the A-list torch song "The Mention of Your Name". There's a simplicity about these songs that speaks directly to the heart, while engaging the mind too. The arrangements are simple and powerful, the sound quality excellent.
Whenever I set off to drive a long journey, I pop in "Auberge" - it couldn't be better. By the time I hit the motorway, "Heaven" is playing - ah, the romance of the open road!
That's what I love about Chris Rea of the late 80s/early 90s - that sense of being focussed on what's beyond the next hill, while also understanding that wanderlust has a pathology all of it's own; the tension between the two is played for all it's worth.
Oh, and the slide guitar is pretty damned hot!
|
|
|
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Evocative, spine tingling - Rea at his best, 28 Aug 2001
From the opening bars it is clear this is going to be a classic Rea album. The combination of Chris' gravelly voice & superb lyrics makes this an album that will not disappoint. A Rea fan for many years this is one of my favourite albums. Highly recommended!!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ Chris Rea
~ Chris Rea
~ Chris Rea
~ Chris Rea
~ Chris Rea
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home