An unexpectedly tame debut from a veritably experimental figure in rock that is, regardless, done very well. Baroque rock mixed with some country elements come together to create an enjoyable record, arguably a great start that exhibits the less experimental side of John Cale; some personal highlights include "Big White Cloud", "Adelaide", "Hello, There", and "Ghost Story". Definitely great stuff throughout and is worth the listen if you are going through ... read more
Cale's debut takes no insignificant an amount of flak from some quarters and you can understand why; for this artist's first solo release to be made up of the sort of music you could never apply the descriptor of 'experimental' to was a shock and yes, for many a disappointment.
The style he adopts on 'Vintage Violence' is close to country rock mixed with an old school variety of singer/song writer pop - for sure you could label this set of songs as old fashioned. Luckily for me I enjoy these ... read more
Keeping in mind that this an artist who I believe would make some of the best records of the 70s just following this one, you can definitely hear the seeds being planted within his writing. Overall, this is a more simplified and reserved record that is missing what I think would be an essential element to his sound which is the arrangements. With that being said, this is a good album but I don't think he has completely found his musical identity yet.
1 | Hello, There 2:44 | 87 |
2 | Gideon's Bible 3:20 | 87 |
3 | Adelaide 2:19 | 86 |
4 | Big White Cloud 3:29 | 97 |
5 | Cleo 2:32 | 87 |
6 | Please 4:17 | 82 |
7 | Charlemagne 4:59 | 80 |
8 | Bring It On Up 2:22 | 87 |
9 | Amsterdam 3:11 | 80 |
10 | Ghost Story 3:46 | 87 |
11 | Fairweather Friend 2:29 | 85 |