Estranged: David J: Amazon.co.uk: Music

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Song Title Time Price

1. The Guitar Man 5:41 �0.89

2. Mess Up 3:26 �0.89

3. Pulling Arrows From Our Heels 3:42 �0.89

4. Ruined Cities 5:26 �0.89

5. Static Cling 3:38 �0.89

6. In the Great Blue Whenever 4:38 �0.89

7. Crashed 4:23 �0.89

8. If Anything Should Ever Happen to You 4:42 �0.89

9. Bright in Your Absence 5:41 �0.89

10. Trophy Wife 5:22 �0.89

11. Estranged 3:43 �0.89

12. Arc of Return 4:10 �0.89

13. Estranged 4:08 �0.89

14. Time in the Sun 1:03 �0.89

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost Perfect, 15 Dec 2004

By Jackson Landers - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Estranged (Audio CD)

David J's body of work has created a very high standard. Even if we ignore his hugely influential and groundbreaking work with Bauhaus and Love & Rockets, Mr. J has put a number of truly timeless masterpiece albums.

Th tone of the album at times reminds me - favorably - of Beck's 'Sea Change.' 'Static Cling' and 'Estranged' are painfully sad and beautiful songs about the apparant end of a marriage. I find these songs particularly heart-wrenching having listened to David J's album 'Songs from Another Season' constantly from the age of 14 through the present. For the uninitiated, that album's lyrics offered a touchingly pleasant view of marriage, children and life in general. There were entire songs devoted to the importance of a good work ethic and counting one's blessings. Who else writes songs about that stuff? 'Songs from Another Season,' with it's nearly ideal view of conventional adult life had a profound effect on me and certainly on others. I would truly not be the person I am today without that album. So to hear songs on this new album about the disintegration of the marriage that seemed to ground his previous work is really a very painful experience. Surely it takes real creative talent to have that kind of effect on an audience.

This is a very good album with some very high points but it falls just shy of the 5 star standard that the artist's past work demands. Lower points include 'Pulling Arrows from Our Heels' and 'In the Great Blue Whenever.' Both songs - and moments of others - needed a little more work. Perhaps I am venturing into analyzing things that a critic ought not to, but David J's past solo work tended to involve a creative partner in the studio. A producer to insist that rough edges be smoothed out and point out that certain touching lines may also be cliched. No matter how brilliant an artist is, he or she needs that from time to time. This album appears to lack such a partner.

This is very much worth buying and listening to. Any fan of John Cale, Beck's slower work or David Byrne would do well to buy this CD along with any of his earlier work you can get your hands on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a Zen Tone review, 13 Oct 2003

By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Estranged (Audio CD)

I have never bought a David J album I didn't like. I was truly surprised on a local CD hunt to find this one.
David J is a well keep secret in certain circles. This album is another example of the one CD you were missing while taking a long drive along the Pacific Coast Highway. Solid, yet subtle, this is a must have for the David J fan. Although I could do without the opening track 'the guitar man', I'll just write that one off as David being a little kitsch and give those marketing reps a break.
Highlights include ' Ruined City ' the jewel of the album. Honest lyrical content with superb production. Reminds me of that 'no one's sending roses' vibe, but a notch up the belt.
I've heard David incorporating more of the alternative country vibe over the years and I believe it suits him well. 'Bright in your absence' is a great track to point this out. Just witty and fun.'pulling arrows from our hills' & 'static cling' tend to have a ring of there own. I also liked 'crashed' as well.
Never try to predict this guy. He incorporates all styles and manages them with the art of a manic depressive ringmaster.
If you can, get your hands on the vinyl copy of 'crocodile tears and the velvet cosh', now out of print I believe. 'Songs from another season' and 'Urban Urbane' are a must have as well. This album will take its place among them. Also heyday records has got a great bonus deal along with this CD on their site.
I'm really happy to see this guy still kicking and writing. A unique style worth your time. Too bad 'Goth Girls of Southern California' is not on this release...It would have solved that whole 'guitar guy' thing. Otherwise I would have given it an extra star...

4.0 out of 5 stars A genuine songwriter, folks...., 19 Aug 2005

By Joren A. Lindholm - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Estranged (Audio CD)

The history of this album alone makes it pretty special. Just before I bought it I read an online interview with David J. I'm pretty sure he now lives in California. Actually Love and Rockets might all live there. Anyway, this album is the only album David J worked on that he owns the rights and masters to. Recorded in 1999-2000, finally released in 2002. He self-financed it exclusively with proceeds from auctioning twenty years of Bauhaus /Love and Rockets memorabilia from out of his closet on Ebay!! He took this step because he knew he was going to put his heart into making it. The whole album is about intimacy and loss.

OK, so about the music. It's really evident here that all the songs have their own distinct character. The whole things seems fully realized and incredibly concise. David J's arrangements are wonderful, encompassing his usual use of guitar (acoustic, electric and slide), piano, drums (real kit and also beat box programming), and the slightest touches of synthesizer effects and cameo instruments. For the most part, the saddest songs are up the first half of the album, and the lighter ones towards the end - except for the bittersweet "Estranged". The song forms here haven't changed one bit from what he established in earlier times, although the subject matter is starkly new. It seems actually that David J has spun these songs as if he is synthesizing all of what he learned on earlier albums. This is slightly distracting for me, because the thing I love about Bauhaus and everything that followed is the care taken to never repeat anything. However with this album it is a self-reflection (on himself personally and his solo work too) that seems to be a deliberate choice. I really like all that David J has ever done, and this one musically feels closest to his second record, Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Coch, which alas is still not reissued on CD. In a landscape where pop music vogues constantly flash by, what a wonderful thing it is to have David J records, a body of work that really channels the tradition of songwriting economy. After my being tempted to ignore Estranged, my collection now thankfully includes it.

Thank you Mr. David J, you have many fans.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 5 reviews 4.4 out of 5 stars

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