Search - Roger McGuinn :: Back From Rio

Unfulfilled Potential

Compton Roberts | Hamilton, Ontario, CANADA | 07/29/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As this is McGuinn's first solo album in over ten years, this comes as something of a disappointment. While his signature Rickenbacker electric 12-string guitar rings out and shimmers here with a clarity not heard since 1968's "Notorious Byrd Brothers" (recorded with his old band The Byrds, of course) and his vocals are as strong and as nuanced as ever, the songwriting, never a consistent ability of his, is undernourished. McGuinn has always thrived, as an artist, in a fertile artistic environment, as witnessed by choice partnerships in past incarnations of The Byrds. A commercial Hollywood producer is no help to him here. Good melodic ideas are saddled with mundane lyrics (co-composed with his wife Camilla) or are arranged in a post-Eagles or contemporary Tom Petty mold. Nothing patently quirky or innovative here. McGuinn's original material ("Someone To Love", "Suddenly Blue", "Without Your Love") is generally ear-catching but lacks substance with "Car Phone" and "King of the Hill" (co-written with McGuinn acolyte Tom Petty) being the exceptions. It is in McGuinn's covers of Jules Shear's "If We Never Meet Again" (a great Byrds song if there ever was one) and Elvis Costello's "You Bowed Down" (written especially for McGuinn) that we see the old master at work. These performances and the many guest cameos (Costello, Petty, Stewart, Penn and former Byrds Crosby and Hillman), make this worthwhile for any serious fan of McGuinn. For the casual listener or Byrds fanatic, check out McGuinn's eponymous debut solo album or the compilation "Born To Rock and Roll"."

Puts most of today's rock/pop artists to shame.

D. Mok | Los Angeles, CA | 10/04/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roger McGuinn is still the king of melody, class, and folk-rock amalgams. I recently rescued a copy of this superb 1991 solo album from a bargain bin at HMV and it has absolutely no business being there; Back from Rio is relevant, smart, crisply arranged, written, and recorded.First, the songcraft is superb as befits an artist of McGuinn's status. "Somebody to Love", "King of the Hill", "Without Your Love", "The Trees Are All Gone" -- any of these could be a modern Byrds classic. (Byrds comparisons are inevitable, given that McGuinn provided that band with most of its spirit and musical signature) McGuinn's singing is assured and expressive, while retaining the shaky quality that's distinguished it since the verse to "Mr. Tambourine Man" blared out of radios back in the '60s. Now it's an engagingly shaky voice, endearing but also pregnant with narrative power.Get this album before it goes out of print on us. You'll be glad to have it in your collection."

DELICIOUS COUNTRY ROCK

Pieter | Johannesburg | 07/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On Back To Rio, McGuinn is assisted by Dave Crosby, Chris Hillman, Tom Petty, Elvis Costello & Dave "Eurythmics" Stewart. Exceptional tracks include You Bowed Down (with Elvis Costello), King Of The Hill (with Tom Petty), and Car Phone with its rivetting guitar solo. Very enjoyable melodic rock and McGuinnn's supercool vocals keep it all together in style. Great stuff!"