Rock and Roll Savior.......Your Damn Right!
Hyo J. Kim | 07/20/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I own both of these albumns on LP and each is great individually, but together.........well it would have to be on my 10 CD's to have on a desert island list. I'll make an even bolder statement, one of the 10 best albumns in rock history.
How Van Zandt's solo work has been neglected by the masses is one of life's great mysteries to me. Thankfully he's happy with the twists his career has brought him and wasn't crushed by his lack of solo success.
There was a time in my life that I accessed old friends and new acquaintences by how they reacted to these albumns. I can think of only one individual that didn't become an immediate fan who's still a friend. Even that balanced out because his little sister fell in love with Little Steven and was my companion at the greatest live concert I've ever seen. That would be Little Steven and band from the VOA tour at Meriweather Post Pavilion in '83. It was the basic band, without the horn section of Men Without Women and the absolute raw power........well I had never heard before, nor have I heard since anything to compare. I'll never forget Danelli's drum kit 20 feet in the air with huge tube extensions that went all of the way to the stage, the reggae vesion of "Lyin'In a Bed of Fire" with Beauvoir's Haitian accented background vocals. Those two produced such a thunderous rhythm beat that you started to breathe in unison with them.
The place was only half full, maybe 7-8,000 people, but I remember talking with folks after the show on the way to the parking lot, people were soaked in sweat and just about everyone's reaction was, "that was the best thing that I have ever seen, heard and FELT!"..........."
LITTLE STEVEN RULES
MUSH | NEW LENOX, IL | 02/10/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"LITTLE STEVEN IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER BEFORE. HE COULD HAVE RODE THE BOSS'S COAT TAILS, BUT INSTEAD BLAZED HIS OWN TRAIL. THE MUSICAL AND LYRICAL THEMES OF THESE ALBUMS ARE TIMELESS."