Speak of the Devil

Speak of the Devil Artist: Chris Isaak
Label: Wea International
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 9325583003691
ASIN: B00001NFM3


Release Date: 1999-08-05

Speak of the Devil


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Tracks:

  1. Please
  2. Flying
  3. Walk Slow
  4. Breaking Apart
  5. This Time
  6. Speak of the Devil
  7. Like the Way She Moves
  8. Wanderin
  9. Don't Get So Down on Your
  10. Black Flowers
  11. I'm Not Sleepy
  12. 7 Lonely Nights
  13. Talkin Bout a Home
  14. Super Magic 2000
  15. Baby Did a Bad Bad [Radio Edit]

Amazon.com

Chris Isaak rocks? Indeed. Granted, the crooner's latest is no noisy, post-grunge Nirvana (though the chord progression of the opener, "Please," recalls Kurt Cobain's "Heart-Shaped Box"), but Devil does find Isaak loosening up. His gut-busting vocals on the free-for-all title track are as near to reckless as we're ever going to hear him. He's also toughening up, growling around his lower register in the death-inflected "Black Flowers." The backing band Silvertone kicks up its heels as well, most infectiously on the gleefully two-steppin' "I'm Not Sleepy." Of course, Isaak's signature shivery, quivering, and wistful ballads remain. And the singer still has a winning way with an unshakable melody. Armed with guitarist Hershel Yatovitz's poignant picking, only Isaak could turn a tired platitude like "Don't Get So Down on Yourself" into a true tearjerker. --Sue VanHecke

Album Description

Reissue of the hit vocalist's 1998 album with his contribution to the soundtrack to legendary late director Stanley Kubrick's 1999 film 'Eyes Wide Shut', 'Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing' (Radio Remix), added as a bonus track. 15 selections total, also including the single 'Please'. 1999 release.

Album Details

Reissued with Bonus Track from the Kubrick Film 'eyes Wide Shut', 'baby Did a Bad Thing'.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars The record company did an add add thing............2004-10-12

You could tell that there was something cooking in the Chris Isaak camp when you took a look at the production credits for "Speak Of The Devil." Although longtime associate Erik Jacobsen is still the knob twiddler for the majority of the CD, Isaak also self or co-produced seven of the 14 songs here. There's also the presence of Rob Cavallo, who, as the man behind the boards for Green Day, gave the world "Dookie." Even weirder, Cavallo produced the BALLAD!

So the more things change, the more "Speak Of The Devil" sounds the same. Minor key misery is still the mainstay, spiced with a few blasts from the reverb heavy retro rock Isaak frequently favors. There's even an Elvis come-on with "Please," a one sided plea for Isaak's love to explain things in a crumbling relationship. But is there an answer? Not on your heart shaped world, baby. Almost as flawless is "Breaking Apart," co-produced by Cavallo and co-written with hit maestro Diane Warren. Although it treads dangerously close to formula, it was the album's obvious shot at a hit. That is, before "Eyes Wide Shut" broke "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" from the almost 4 year old "Forever Blue." So somewhere, a smart exec added the radio remix (substantially different from the album version) of that song to this version of "Speak Of The Devil." Fate is a funny thing....

Even if "Speak Of The Devil" got sideswiped by the older song, you should still seek this set out. You can hear Isaak try to push his envelope, be it the near grungey guitars on "Please," the more prominent synths on "I'm Not Sleepy" or the fact that he can make a worn phrase like "Don't Get So Down On Yourself" sound like heartbreak mantra. He even drops the loser in love persona to sing praises of settling down in "Talking Bout a Home." Then, to top it all off, there is the terrific space-spy-surf instra-mental millennium harbinger of "Super Magic 2000" to warp the album to a close. "Speak Of The Devil" flirts with the danger of breaking the mold, and Isaak makes it work.

5 out of 5 stars

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