REVIEWS:
Post your comments about Jimmy Buffett
(John Sieber's review)
Why oh why is Jimmy Buffet so criticized? Poor guy. I like him just fine. His beachy country-rock (I've heard it called "Tropical rock") is right up my proverbial alley. And this damn good 13-song compilation! Some of these songs even became hits! Go Jimmy! Um... unh. Anyway! Well, we start with the catchy anti-dieting anthem "Cheesburger In Paradise". My anthem now that I work at a burger joint. Next is a pretty, but forgettable, steel-guitar driven ballad entitled "He Went To Paris". Nice, but he's written better ballads, as you'll see later on in this very review. "Fins" claims the 3rd track, and it's a good-time song about guys hitting on this hot chick. I mean, musically, it's a rip-off of "Cheeseburger", but damnit the lyrics rule! "Fiiiins to the left, fiiiins to the right, and you're the only bait in town!" No wonder I hear it in the clubs on the Rue Bourbon in the great city of New Orleans! It's a classic pick-up song!
Anyway, next is another slow number, "Son of a Son of a Sailor". Not bad! Following is "A Pirate Looks At Forty", a retrospective ditty that starts slow, dragging like Aunt Edna's dog in that movie, National Lampoon's Vacation? Remember? They left the dog tied to the bumper and took off? I saw that when I was eight. My mom told me that was evil! Evil! Then, when she left the room, I never laughed so hard. Anyway, it picks up when he starts singing about getting drunk, but then it slows back down! AAHHHHHHH!! Fuck it - that's why Cd players have the "Skip" button. Sittin' pretty at Track 6 is the world renowned "Margaritaville", which is certainly good, but not the masterpiece others see it as (like my brother).
Now, remember earlier when I told of a good ballad later in the review? Well, here it is! "Come Monday" kicks all sorts of ass, in a ballad-y way. What a love song! Easily his second-best song ever. Second only to the next cut, "Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes". God I love this song. Retrospective in a more abstract way, Mr. Buffett reminds us to have fun in life. One of my anthems... "If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane". Another good-time bar tune follows, entitled "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw". Take a GUESS what this one's about. "Pencil Thin Mustache" is an enjoyable tune with a memorable line: "And only jazz musicians were smokin' marijuana". Cute. Just like the next one, "Grapefruit-Juicy Fruit". Damn catchy melody, here, fellas!
"Boat Drinks" features a steel drum and the melody of "Cheeseburger" again, a la "Fins". This happened probably because he wrote those three at about the same time. And finally, "Volcano" is one of those you've heard but won't recognize until you hear it. Yet another that I've heard more than once on my treads through Bourbon St. (God I love attending school in New Orleans). Well, my verdict on the album should come here, but I think you all know what I think about this thing, besides the fact that it's the best compilation of songs to drink rum to! And make it Captain Morgan, please! Dammit, please buy this thing, people!
Ah, Jimmy Buffett. Some people absolutely adore the man and everything he ever recorded.....the Parrotheads. Other people like them some Margaritaville, but other than that, don't give a flip about the guy. Still others hate his music and the laissez-faire, easy-going lifestyle he represents. And of course, there are NBA officials, who really hate Jimmy and kick him out of games for using extreme amounts of profanity.
I'm a bit torn as to where I stand. I DO love me some Margaritaville, and I like his music, but then again, I'm by no means a Parrothead. I definitely have some gripes with the man, specifically that his non-tropical balladeering bores the absolute dickens out of me. Songs like He Went To Paris can just go get drunk and screw each other in uncomfortable positions from the Kama Sutra. That said, I DO like Son Of A Son Of A Sailor which, while mellow, manages to avoid the boredom boat. Then again, it's nowhere near being my favorite song here, either. Biffett's best material comes in the form of his songs about bars, boats, and the beach. Material not related to those topics sucks a butt.
That's what saves some of the slower songs, such as Pirate Looks At 40. Buffett makes good music about easy living in the sun, mainly because it's what he knows - the man has made a career out of glorifying the life of a bar-hopping beach bum with a thing for boats. The best songs here are the ones capturing those vibes. I know it's cliched to call it his best number, but I really do think Margaritaville stands taller than the rest of the songs on this humble little collection. It's a bright, sunny, fun little number about beach life and my personal favorite frozen beverage. Seeing as how I grew up by the beach and took it for granted, songs that remind of the beach I can't just hop up and go to if I feel like it when I'm at school are guaranteed winners, and this is one of them. Margaritaville is one of the greatest songs devoted to lazy lifestyles and coastal devil-may-care outlooks ever penned. It's this attitude that makes Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes and the songs that follow it good stuff - Buffett's music is by no means revolutionary, and while the man is talented, he's not a melodic genius, either.
Ultimately, this is a good, though not great, collection of well-known songs from a good, but not great, musician. If you like Margaritaville and its easy life vibes, you'll enjoy this set. If not, then you REALLY need to move somewhere coastal for a while and LIGHTEN THE HECK UP!!!
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