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Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Music CD Review: Don't Tell Columbus
Posted By Grant Britt on Wed, Mar 21, 2007 at 3:48 PM
Graham Parker's Don't Tell Columbus was released March 13, 2007.
The Deal: Former angry young man mellows out (sort of) with age and the help of same tasty guitar hooks.
The Good: Like Dylan’s "115th Dream," Graham Parker’s “Don’t Tell Columbus” is a skewed personal take on American history. “I had the accurate compass,” says Parker, who led his own British invasion in ’76 with his “ bony chested t-shirt, some stolen guitar licks.” No arrogant rockstar pontification, it's a tongue-in-cheek narrative of Parker’s early days when everybody who told him to quit made him more determined to conquer America on his own terms.
But this is not a concept album, and Parker quickly moves on to skewer things other than himself. “We want to see him strung out / we want to see him fail / we want to see him dead already / we wish that we were him,” he says of the unnamed protagonist in “England’s Latest Clown,” succinctly summing up our craving for celebrity dirt and our desire for 15 seconds of reality fame.
Although he’s somewhat mellower, he can still be still pretty blunt, as evidenced on his take on Bush’s handling of Katrina, on the Dylanesque “Stick To The Plan.” “Don’t pay any attention to what the experts say / too much intelligence gets in the way,” he quips, sizing up Bush’s domestic and foreign policies succinctly.
Parker’s barbed witticisms are delivered with snappy rock accompaniment. He has a guitar-driven hook for every occasion.
The Bad: It takes two or three listens to take it all in. Parker’s melodies are so good they distract you from his barbed lyrics. They’re both too well crafted not to give your full attention.
he Verdict: Play it through once for fun, then go back and revel in the wordplay. There’s plenty to entertain you, for a long time to come.
— Reviewed by Grant Britt
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