Search - Steve Forbert :: Streets of This Town

Forbert's forgotten classic

Peter Blackstock | Poulsbo, WA | 05/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"By 1988, Steve Forbert had pretty much been left for dead. His turn-of-the-decade radio hit "Romeo's Tune" seemed in retrospect to have been just a one-shot fluke, and his third and fourth albums hadn't measured up to the promise of his first two. So you could have been forgiven if you overlooked Streets Of This Town, which ended Forbert's six-year absence from the record racks.It's quite clear, though, that Forbert was still writing through that hiatus, because nearly all of the ten songs on Streets Of This Town rank with his career best. From the unapologetically optimistic opener "Running On Love", to the rockin' urgency of "Don't Tell Me (I Know)", to the aching nostalgia of "I Blinked Once", to the bleak border tale of "Mexico", to the midtempo pop drive of "On The Streets Of This Town" and "Perfect Stranger", to the perfectly-placed penultimate cut "Wait A Little Longer", to the unspeakably beautiful closer "Search Your Heart" -- this is Forbert's finest hour, from start to finish. Only "As We Live And Breathe" and "Hope, Faith And Love" don't quite measure up, but only because the quality of the rest of the disc would qualify as a greatest-hits album for any number of worthy artists.The previous reviewer who plucked out lines from a couple of songs and referred to them as examples of this album's "trite lyrics" is quite clearly someone who cannot appreciate the value of a line within the context of a song. His first example was a line that's integrally locked in to the song's structure and works perfectly within its flow; the second was a scene-setting and mood-evoking lyric that moves gracefully in step with the darkness of the music behind it.Sillier still is this guy's contention that Forbert is trying to be some sort of Springsteen ripoff. Yes, the foundation here is basic American roots-based rock 'n' roll -- but to suggest that Springsteen invented that form, or somehow has a corner on that market, is absurd. The style of both artists is fairly simple and straightforward; what ultimately distinguishes them is how they perform within it.Certainly Forbert will never be the live entertainer that The Boss is; nor will anyone else, for that matter. But as a songwriter, Forbert more than holds his own. Streets Of This Town is easily on par with Springsteen's release from the same year, Tunnel Of Love (though they're very different records in mood and tone). The fact that Forbert's album was produced by the E Street Band's Garry Tallent might further invite comparisons between the two in terms of their style; but my guess is that Tallent wanted to work with Forbert simply because he knows an ace songwriter when he hears one."

One of his best

stu | San Francisco | 06/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I read an interview with Forbert recently in USA Today (in a collection of articles about people who spend most of the year travelling) and it claimed that some of his albums had sold as little as 5000 copies. That is simply incomprehensible. It's enormous shame that someone as talented as this isn't getting his just rewards. This is one of his best albums and a great place to start with his music. His raspy croon is so delightful he could get away with reciting the phone book. There are some great songs here, in particular I Blinked Once, and the collection is given a great and sympathetic production with an energetic live sound. If you like this, then definitely check out the sublime The American in Me."

Someone should package this and THE AMERICAN IN ME on a

greyhoundude | Corvallis, OR | 07/06/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"single disc (total running time: "