Search - Richard Lloyd :: Field of Fire (Dlx)

Can I Hear This Without the Vocals?

Brian J. Greene | Durham, NC | 06/18/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I would love to hear this album as all instrumental tracks. I would even love to hear just the main guitar riffs isolated from the rest of the songs. Richard Lloyd is one of rock's all-time great guitarists, and what he did with Tom Verlaine and their duelling guitars in Television is sublime. But Lloyd was never meant to be a chief songwriter or lead vocalist. His vocal melodies on these otherwise driving, powerful songs are tired and flat, and they bring things down. And his voice - well, you don't have to be a classically-trained singer to be effective taking the lead vocals in a rock and roll outfit, but your voice has to have something about it that makes it worth listening to; Lloyd comes up painfully short on that count. Having made those complaints, I know I will still listen to this album many more times, simply because some of the guitar playing is so great it almost makes up for the other shortcomings of the effort."

Oh, it got the spice!

J. Rupereau | Watts, CA | 11/05/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Preliminaries:



First, I want to make it clear that my review primarily covers the "Revisited" Disc 2 (2007). Second, while I like Television, I primarily come to Richard Lloyd's work through his long time association with Matthew Sweet. Third, if you've listened to Television, it's hard to imagine complaining about Richard Lloyd's vocals.



All that out of the way, this album is a masterpiece. Yes, the guitars sound great--alternating between honky overdriven crunch and sparkly 12 string jangle. Lead guitars are razor sharp and jagged on some tracks, smooth and soaring on others. The guitar performances are uniformly top notch, and the recording is top notch. But that's not all that's here! The drums pop on this record. This is a really well engineered record.



But the surprise gem is the songwriting. These songs are simple, straightforward, varied, and FUN. This record runs the typical gamut of what you'd expect from the "power pop" genre (I hate labels) or a record by the aforementioned Matthew Sweet. That means it's got hard edged rockers featuring angular leads and driving rhythm, 12 string ballads, and just a little country rock. The lyrics are straight forward and frank--just like I like it. His anti-war track is just as poignant today as when this record was first released. And the whole thing has a lot of *energy*. There's almost an r&b (by way of the Beatles or Stones) feel underneath a lot of the record.



A brief word on the first Disc (1987): It's worth listening if for comparison. But you're really paying for Disc 2.



To sum up: this record is a gem. Highly recommended for fans of Sweet, Television, Power Pop, or just great rock n roll in general."