Search - Artful Dodger :: Artful Dodger

One Of The Best Power-Pop Albums Ever Made!

aj82 | OH | 09/15/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The opening track, "Wayside", sounds initially like a Symphony Orchestra warming up then quickly kicks into hard rocker and finishes with the Orchestra warm-up sound. This song received quite a bit of air-play in its time(and still is requested on local Classic Rock stations)and was featured on a Power Pop Compilation CD. "It's Over" is a powerful rock ballad with a great opening Bass line. "Silver And Gold" is a well written slow ballad by Gary Cox. "Follow Me", "Think Think", "It's Alright", and "Waiting Place" are all strong rockers. "Long Time Away" is straight forward pop with great piano work and "New York City" is a novelty which demostrates the bands diversity. What made this group sound distinct was the use of the 12 string guitar coupled with electric guitar work reminiscent of 70's Aerosmith (In fact, Steven Tyler sang backup vocals on "Alright" from their "Babes On Broadway" LP). The lead singer Billy has a very distinctive rasp to his voice (some people compare it to early Rod Stewart). Steve Brigida (drums - a true wizard on the 5 piece) and Steve Cooper (Bass) provided tight rhythm on all the tracks. More of their rhythm work can be found on the Jeff Smith CD's "A Little Romance" and "The Human Wilderness". All four of Artful Dodger's LP's were great (earning at lest 4 stars in the Rolling Stone Record Guide - except "Babes" yielded 3 stars for "belieing on formula" - which I strongly disagree). Video and live recording was done for their 80's "Rave On" tour - hopefully that will surface some day! Compared to what the record companies offer today, you'll do much by better tracking down this CD or any of the band's vinyl LP's!"

Well Worth the Wait!

aj82 | 02/11/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album! These guys would have done a lot better today than in 75. It's worth the wait to find a copy since this is out of stock. (check pendulument.com)"