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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk review
The royalties must have seemed tempting at the time--hell, they still must--but it’s got to feel galling to have written and recorded one of the genuinely great modern British soul songs, only to have it stolen from you and paraded in new bling from every speaker and screen. Anyone still under the impression that Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse cooked up the all-conquering "Valerie" themselves would be well advised to delve back into The Zutons’ small but stocky back catalogue for further gems and trinkets. Of course, it’s not all perfect--the fact that The Zutons are so very overcooked is both their appeal and their Achilles heel. There is generally too much in the way of cod-poetic sub-Beautiful South storytelling and bad jokes, too much throttled yelping, far too much saxophone and too little subtlety. But when the surplus is skimmed aside, what's left can form an indie-soul revue to knock your novelty socks off. Examples on You Can Do Anything include the hammering vocal back-and-forth of "Harder And Harder", the colourful, anthemic "Always Right Behind You" bouncing off Slade’s bell-bottoms and the riff-heavy Mott The Hoople-esque "Family Of Leeches". They’re still essentially The Coral in lounge suits, Gomez without the Americana infatuation, but they’ll be having the last laugh: on this evidence, they're a good few years away from the cruise ship circuit. --James Berry
Review
Two years after Tired Of Hanging Around, the album that made them a family name (or at least the album that contained their hit Valerie, which, when covered by you-know-who, paid off their mortgages), the Zutons return in a bullish mood. Again. You Can Do Anything seems to continue where the previous album left off. Their initially cuddly exterior, soon gives way to some very urban paranoia and angst.
Hidden amongst the retro riffs, horn squawks and lustily sung choruses are tales of scroungers (Family Of Leeches) infidelity (Dirty Rat), intolerance (You Can Make The Four Walls Cry) and sheer bloody violence (What's Your Problem, Bumbag). Add to this the tales of rent boys (Freak) and you soon cotton on that this is not a pretty picture of modern Britain that the band want you take home with you. And it's all delivered with that great yearning scouse voice of Dave McCabe that helps overcome the overwhelming kitchen-sink squalor of it all sometimes.
Musically it's definitely business as usual, and the departure of guitarist Boyan Chowdbury seems to have merely spurred them on to greater guitar madness. Always Right Behind You boasts some killer slide. Mind you, the saxophone of Abi Harding still seems a little too basic at times. More and more you suspect she's there for the wrong reasons. She may provide contextual eye candy for male fans, but sometimes the little musical texture that she does add is frankly negligible.
But no matter. The Zutons are, you'll be relieved to know, on fine form. And maybe this time around they can keep the big hitters for themselves. --Chris Jones
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I totally agree with all the reviews already written here. Yes after playing the previous album to death on our holiday and thinking how can they match this........they bleedin well have!
It did take 2-3 proper listens, but now I'm hailing this the best album of the year so far (well until Kings of Leon bring their next CD out in Sept!!)
I keep trying to force myself away from it in the fear of overplaying it. And when I play other music, I can't wait to get The Zutons back in my ears again.
Every track is a winner. Even the weaker ones have some form of brilliance at some point in the track.
Very catchy, brilliant, I recommend it to all.
It did take 2-3 proper listens, but now I'm hailing this the best album of the year so far (well until Kings of Leon bring their next CD out in Sept!!)
I keep trying to force myself away from it in the fear of overplaying it. And when I play other music, I can't wait to get The Zutons back in my ears again.
Every track is a winner. Even the weaker ones have some form of brilliance at some point in the track.
Very catchy, brilliant, I recommend it to all.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Got this album on the day it was released and was tempted to post a review then. I would have given it three stars. I'm glad I waited, because now, for me, this is worth the full five stars. It's a great, no nonsense album full of wonderfully catchy tunes wrapped round some brillianty written lyrics that you'll find yourself singing/humming without even realising you're doing it. I'm probably in a minority among Zutons fans, but 'You Can Do Anything' is now my favourite of their three albums. If you enjoyed either of the previous two albums from this band, you'll love this one too.
Great stuff.
Great stuff.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I like the Zutons a lot. I've been a fan since their debut, Who Killed The Zutons, and loved how different their music was compared to the mainstream stuff that plagues the charts. Tired Of Hanging Around was an excellent follow up, albeit forcing some more chart friendly stuff in - the evolution was all-good however, and I had very high hopes for their third incarnation.
First impressions were not good. I had heard very little hype about the new album, and when I finally got to hear the single Always Right Behind You I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's definitely one of the weaker songs on the album, and everything else sounded pretty mediocre on first play - certainly no Valerie in there.
But then, I'm often like that with music - I remembered on first play through I wasn't overly keen on the previous two albums either. A dozen listens later and my reservations have now disappeared - it is most definitely a grower.
Stand out tracks are: Harder and Harder, Dirty Rat, What's Your Problem, You Could Make The Four Walls Cry, Family Of Leeches, Freak. Don't let first impressions put you off, give it a chance and it'll be your driving soundtrack for months to come.
First impressions were not good. I had heard very little hype about the new album, and when I finally got to hear the single Always Right Behind You I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It's definitely one of the weaker songs on the album, and everything else sounded pretty mediocre on first play - certainly no Valerie in there.
But then, I'm often like that with music - I remembered on first play through I wasn't overly keen on the previous two albums either. A dozen listens later and my reservations have now disappeared - it is most definitely a grower.
Stand out tracks are: Harder and Harder, Dirty Rat, What's Your Problem, You Could Make The Four Walls Cry, Family Of Leeches, Freak. Don't let first impressions put you off, give it a chance and it'll be your driving soundtrack for months to come.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
why you should buy this
I don't know where to start! its a brilliant album, I never even heard of the zutons until Amazon recommended it to me. Read more
Published 26 days ago by nips
Good, but not a classic
In my opinion you can judge the strength of an album by how much of it you can remember when it's not playing. Read more
Published 6 months ago by A. Marczak
great singalong tunes
Great listening music for my car. I have a long journey into work and this album makes it seem all the quicker. Highly recommend
Published on 13 April 2009 by Dr. K. O'Neill
They can do anything
'You Can Do Anything', the Zutons' third studio album, isn't an album that you can listen to once or twice and appreciate, this is a collection of songs which only reveal... Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2009 by A. Sweeney
You Can Do Anything...maybe
A breath of fresh air at first, then they seemed to rest on their laurels, but after listening again I ALMOST like it as much as their older stuff. Good album
Published on 16 Jun 2008 by nenuphar P-G.
You'll be hooked by third listen...
This album is yet another fun, lively and ridiculous set of songs from the Zutons. (And I mean that in the best possible way! Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2008 by loopy17
Don't be afraid.....
As most always happens when a band reaches the popularity level that The Zutons have reached, there will a number of people waiting to shoot the next album down in flames. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2008 by C. H. Turnbull
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