Post by torethatbridgeout on Dec 21, 2003 4:05:14 GMT -5
www.louisvillescene.com/music/reviews/2003/20031220comefeel.html
Come Feel Me Tremble
Paul Westerberg (Vagrant)
Lonesome Paul
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By JEFFREY LEE PUCKETT • December 20, 2003
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Paul Westerberg rarely covers other people's songs, unless he's onstage and hammered, when anything goes, but he found the perfect one to record. Westerberg, the willfully lost soul and battered poet who once led the Replacements, fully inhabits Jackson Browne's "These Days" on his new solo album, "Come Feel Me Tremble."
The song has long set the standard for wistful, navel-gazing melancholy, which has always been both Westerberg's strength and weakness. Browne's original is very good. Greg Allman's version has a bluesy languor that's special. But Westerberg claims it as his own with a ramshackle performance that digs deeply into Browne's central message: He's giving up on happiness, and he's smart enough to know that the decision is as lame as it is sad.
Westerberg's off-hand playing reinforces the message, but it's his vocal that tries to rip your heart out, and he delivers the famous final line with an epic, empirical heartache that finally does so: "Please don't confront me with my failures, I had not forgotten them."
How could he? Most of his songs catalog each defeat, which is why his fans love him so. Westerberg is a kindred spirit for many, and his trashed vulnerability reduces the distance between fan and singer. Westerberg's problem lately is a general laziness in his songwriting. Nearly every song on "Come Feel Me Tremble" contains a moment that stirs anyone who remains stunned by "Little Mascara," but Westerberg too often settles for that moment instead of turning it into a real song.
The highlights are still essential for fans. "Meet Me Down the Alley" is the beaten-down response to Westerberg's own "Skyway"; "Making Me Go" is ragged pop (and lifts its riff from "Little Mascara"); "My Daydream" is sing-along perfection; "Never Felt Like This Before" is a short, painfully sweet, piano ballad; and "Knockin' Em Back" is irresistible, especially if you're familiar with Westerberg's history with alcohol.
"Crackle & Drag" is the best song Westerberg has written in years. The story of a single mother's suicide is told in two versions, electric and acoustic, and both are riveting. "What's the matter here? You'll never repair, the lady's cursed with insight," he sings. "You'll never fix her with a cold stare, she's all broken inside."
It's classic Westerberg, and that's saying a lot. It's good enough that fans should add a half-star to the album's rating, while the truly ate-up should add a full star. You know who you are.
Come Feel Me Tremble
Paul Westerberg (Vagrant)
Lonesome Paul
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By JEFFREY LEE PUCKETT • December 20, 2003
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Paul Westerberg rarely covers other people's songs, unless he's onstage and hammered, when anything goes, but he found the perfect one to record. Westerberg, the willfully lost soul and battered poet who once led the Replacements, fully inhabits Jackson Browne's "These Days" on his new solo album, "Come Feel Me Tremble."
The song has long set the standard for wistful, navel-gazing melancholy, which has always been both Westerberg's strength and weakness. Browne's original is very good. Greg Allman's version has a bluesy languor that's special. But Westerberg claims it as his own with a ramshackle performance that digs deeply into Browne's central message: He's giving up on happiness, and he's smart enough to know that the decision is as lame as it is sad.
Westerberg's off-hand playing reinforces the message, but it's his vocal that tries to rip your heart out, and he delivers the famous final line with an epic, empirical heartache that finally does so: "Please don't confront me with my failures, I had not forgotten them."
How could he? Most of his songs catalog each defeat, which is why his fans love him so. Westerberg is a kindred spirit for many, and his trashed vulnerability reduces the distance between fan and singer. Westerberg's problem lately is a general laziness in his songwriting. Nearly every song on "Come Feel Me Tremble" contains a moment that stirs anyone who remains stunned by "Little Mascara," but Westerberg too often settles for that moment instead of turning it into a real song.
The highlights are still essential for fans. "Meet Me Down the Alley" is the beaten-down response to Westerberg's own "Skyway"; "Making Me Go" is ragged pop (and lifts its riff from "Little Mascara"); "My Daydream" is sing-along perfection; "Never Felt Like This Before" is a short, painfully sweet, piano ballad; and "Knockin' Em Back" is irresistible, especially if you're familiar with Westerberg's history with alcohol.
"Crackle & Drag" is the best song Westerberg has written in years. The story of a single mother's suicide is told in two versions, electric and acoustic, and both are riveting. "What's the matter here? You'll never repair, the lady's cursed with insight," he sings. "You'll never fix her with a cold stare, she's all broken inside."
It's classic Westerberg, and that's saying a lot. It's good enough that fans should add a half-star to the album's rating, while the truly ate-up should add a full star. You know who you are.