★★★★★
Who the hell would think of releasing a set of rehearsal tapes instead of releasing tapes of the live shows that resulted instead ? Graham Parker, that's who! I have been listening to Graham Parker since the earliest days when he was with The Rumour and putting out such wondrous numbers as 'Howling Wind' or 'Black Honey' or the supreme 'Turn Back The Night'...
- www.music-news.com
2011-03-14
★★★★★
Parker reunited with his most famous back-up band, The Rumour, for a low-key gig in a Manhattan bar late last year. The whole shebang was filmed for a forthcoming documentary, which, if all goes well, will boost his 21st Century profile in the same way Oil City Confidential celebrated his pub rock contempoaries Dr Feelgood...
- www.recordcollectormag.com
2011-01-31
★★★★★
Graham Parker's shot at a country record might not sit too well with the Nashville crowd, but as with each new Parker release, it deserves an audience. Parker's songs have always shone lyrically, with the music sometimes lagging, but when the two come together it can be sensational. Much like Elvis Costello, Parker's ace in the hole is the marriage of passion and anger, and much like Costello he created some fiery rock moments, and much like Costello he is trying his hand at American country...
- www.hour.ca
2010-11-02
★★★★★
Graham Parker released "Mercury Poisoning" in 1978 as a kissoff to a record label he blamed for not making him a star within two years of his emergence, and while the song is still a coup, the venom infected no one but him; he quickly turned into a grumpy uncle, spouting conspiracy theories until his albums were consumed whole by bitterness and a persecution complex...
- www.blender.com
2010-08-22
★★★★★
By the late '80s, Parker was considered a once-fiery comet who had passed off the cultural radar. But 1988's return-to-form studio album The Mona Lisa's Sister suggested a reassessment was in order. This live album shows Parker in pugnacious, confident form—if his moment had passed, no one dared tell him...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2010-06-19
★★★★★
In an interview last year, Bob Geldof suggested that the impact of punk had not been entirely a good thing. "It swept away people like Graham Parker, which was a shame because I thought he was fucking great," he said. Yet despite not having had a hit since 1980, Parker has continued to craft potent songs and make highly listenable albums ever since...
- www.uncut.co.uk
2010-06-19
★★★★★
Among all his contemporaries, Graham Parker is the weirdest candidate to write theme music for an American sitcom. A transplanted Englishman who has lived near Woodstock, New York for decades, Parker's hyper-literate, more than a little snarky and the kind of guy who suffers no fools. And you're going to ask him to contribute to the vapid world of TV sitcoms? It's like hiring Tom Waits to record a jingle for the Masters golf tournament...
- www.popmatters.com
2010-03-25
★★★★★
Latest objects of his bottomless rancor: sugar, hamburgers, mailman (black). But not his lost youth--his lost youth makes him feel all gushy inside.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-17
★★★★★
No text for this review; see http://robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-17
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