Search - Chris Rea :: Blue Cafe

Rea really good

angelsgal | South Wales, UK | 10/12/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"From the opening track Square Peg Round Hole, there is a scent in the air that Chris Rea still knows how to punch out a great tune. With his trademark gravelly vocals and superb slide guitar, you know that Rea can always deliver. With songs such as On The Beach and Let's Dance, Chris Rea found success, using simple melodies and riffs to create wonderful music. The Blue Cafe is no different - from the slide guitar on As Long As I Have Your Love to the upbeat rhythm of the title track, Chris Rea still performs excellently. Highlights of the album include the riffy Square Peg, the Bond-esque strings of Shadows Of The Big Man and even the solo of Thinking Of You will make the most earnest toe tap. It is true that this album, whilst being musically terrific, also has something for everyone, so it would be hard not to like this if you aren't a fan already!! Definite entertainment."

Doen't get any better than this

Raymond E. Wilson | West Des Moines, Iowa United States | 08/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Angel's gal fm Wales was right on with this except I'd give it a 5. This guy is terrific and while some of his prior work is better than others this demonstrates he still has it after 21+ years. If a fan you will be able to play it over and over and never tire of it. Go Chris"

Deep to the bone

David A. Baer | Indianapolis, IN USA | 12/31/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It must have something to do with drugs, alcohol, or very, very poor personal hygiene.



Those are the only three reasons robust enough to explain why Chris Rea is not a household name. He is a simply superb bluesman. THE BLUE CAFE is an album worth selling the coffee table for.



Rea's writing, voice, and guitar are a three-punch knockout. Yet a highlight of BLUE CAFE is the bass of Silvan Marc and the mixing and production that bring out this amazing artist's work without letting it overpower the dozen tracks that make this CD indispensible for the blues connoiseur and highly recommended for followers of serious rock and roll.



Highlights? Oh, where to begin ...



'Square Peg, Round Hole' is the way a record ought to be kicked off. If you've never heard Chris Rea before, you'll be on iTunes or Amazon before this intro track is half over. 'Since I found you' is one of the rare upbeat tunes worth risking a blues album on. Rea almost disqualifies himself from the genre with this tune, but his guitar saves the day and wins him absolution for almost crossing over to happiness.



'Thinking of you' is almost spooky for its sketching out of lonely love sliced off from the loved one by distance.



Then, 'Anyone Quite Like You' with its Rea signature opener:



'Ten thousand princes

I've seen them all

I've seen them come

And I see them fall

I've watched them win

I've watched them lose

Since you've been around

No one gets to choose

Because when the game begins

And the time is now

When there is no more talking

Only here and now

There is only here and now

I ain't seen anything quite like you

Ain't been anyone quite like you'





This is as much enthusiasm - always motivated by a single human being who has won Rea's love - as this artist allows himself. Apart from the personal linkage of lover to lover, Rea wears an anarchic suspicion of the powerful and the polished ('Shadow of the Big Man').



At least in his art, he inhabits a gray land where authenticity is the cardinal virtue and ostentation its opposing sin.



Within that world, Rea's preternaturally expressive voice and his persuasive guitar eloquently narrate what it's like to live with no larger hope.



This is blues. Sad. Occasionally wistful. Music at its most compelling, here East of Eden."