The Golden Age

The Golden Age Artist: Bobby Conn
Label: Thrill Jockey
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 790377008425
EAN: 0790377008425
ASIN: B000007TT3


Release Date: 2001-10-23

The Golden Age


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Tracks:

  1. A Taste Of Luxury
  2. Angels
  3. You've Come A Long Way
  4. The Best Years Of Our Lives
  5. Winners
  6. The Golden Age
  7. No Revolution
  8. Pumper
  9. Whores

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Amazon.com

In this age of irony, some say the pendulum is swinging again towards artistic sincerity. While there has been much speculation as to Bobby Conn's artistic and ideological intentions, <I>The Golden Age</I> pegs him as one of the most sincerely entertaining songsmiths of our time. Conn is the consummate performer, donning masks and making concept albums with his tongue so far in his cheek you'd swear he was dead serious. A mainstay in the experimental Chicago rock tradition, his latest record has been described as a distillation of "a lifetime of Midwestern Top 40." If you think you hear some references to Judas Priest's "You've Got Another Thing Comin'" on "Pumper," you're probably right, but that's not all you'll hear. On this truly postmodern tract, Conn continues to make theatrical pop-funk culled from the darker corners of American consciousness, contemplating (often in a soulful falsetto) revolution, evolution, and angels while violin player Monica BouBou rallies him on with soaring melodies and backup vocals. With help from U.S. Maple's Pat Samson, Michael Zerang, Fred Longberg-Holm, and Cheer-Accident's Thymme Jones, these songs resonate with countermelody and movement in a dynamic production that could only be described as a period piece, an exquisitely arranged rock opera of excess. Still, no element whatsoever is superfluous; Jim O'Rourke and Tortoise's John McEntire add the perfect amount of polish. <I>--Cyndi Elliott</I>

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars the tarnished age.......2004-07-12

i give this a rather low score because i had such high hopes for it. i was certain when i bought it that it was going to be wonderful, but such is not the case, unfortunately. i had heard one song before buying it, and that one song was superb, really groovy and danceable, and i was told the album followed its example. maybe, but that song is three times as good as anything else on the cd. the record is all the buzz here in athens, but i find the guy's voice to be extremely grating. and the music, despite it being dandied-up and watered-down white boy funk, it isn't *bad*, just not good enough to cover for the vocals.

5 out of 5 stars Bobby Conn is brilliant.......2004-04-07

I love this CD! The lyrics are sensational and so real. I love all the tracks, but Whore is my favorite. It's hilarious. Bobby Conn is a songsmith for the Golden Age.

5 out of 5 stars Heavily influenced yet wildly original.......2003-10-19

This was an impulse buy. Like Billy McBride I purchased this album because it sported the Thrill Jockey imprint. Unlike him however I have not pegged this recording label to house any genre. Little Billy break out!!!

I slid this jem into the car CD player and was met with odd delight. By the time "Winners" came up I was daydreaming of the first time I heard David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" yet I still could not pin it. Bowie crafted a fine rock concept album that is Ziggy but the lyrics pouring from Conn were more raw and sexual. I reached for the answer. I pulled into my driveway and rushed into the house. I new I had heard this sound. I fumbled through my extensive collection till I came across the highly underrated...Alex Harvey. The Sensational Alex Harvey.

Much like Alex's songs Action Strasse, Next, Faith Healer and Gang Bang, Bobby has developed wonderfully crafted song structures accompanied by cello, piano, trumpets, flutes, saxophones, trombones and all with vibrant, fun and sometimes chilling lyrics. David Bowie, Alex Harvey, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop & even Frank Zappa helped pioneer that which is considered glam "stageshow" Rock 'N' Roll/Punk. This style is richly multitextural. Few artists today have been able to recreate the feel of that era. Bobby has brightly succeeded with "The Golden Age" and has done so while still being wildly original. Come to think of it on the umpteen listen it paints the picture of Rocky Horror Picture Show (not really sure why). Maybe its the sexual ambiguous nature of the lyrics.

Now keep in mind I am not saying Bobby is a Ziggy, a Spider, a Stooge, a Faith Healer, or a Ruben and The Jets. No, Bobby is still a fresh talent and most of his songs will not gain mass appeal... but damn this album is a fun listen.

from track 4:
"...Oh this land would be so pretty, once we push these peasants into the sea and we will be golfing for our charities, playing bingo with our memories, they always kiss my ass, when I live in the past and I'm lost inside. The best years of our lives."

I am looking forward to the next one Bobby! Oh...who is this Richard guy anyway? Could he be the Leper Messiah?

5 out of 5 stars Don't listen to Billy McBride; he doesn't know music........2002-12-12

Bobby Conn is one of the best songsmiths I have heard. Ever. His lyrics are great to boot. Billy McBride obviously doesn't like music which is too interesting for his brain to handle. Maybe you should buy a nursery rhyme album Billy.

5 out of 5 stars

Music Album:

  1. Extended Versions ~ Molly Hatchet
  2. Jesuseater ~ Jesuseater
  3. Rock and Roll Forever/Now Playing ~ The Ventures
  4. Walls Between Us ~ Time Spent Driving
  5. Change ~ Blind Melon
  6. Alive in the City ~ The Mighty Blue Kings
  7. The Best of Humble Pie ~ Humble Pie
  8. Ultra Selection ~ Steve & Cockney Rebel Harley
  9. The Road to Hell: Part 2 ~ Chris Rea
  10. Nerves ~ The Nerves

Music Album

Music Album

Music

Samba ~ Various Artists

Live at Mahogany Hall

Deelings ~ Darren Barrett

Soul Stirrin ~ Bennie Green

Maggot Corps ~ Slipknot

Entre-Nous ~ Chim%C3%A8ne Badi

Remembering Me ~ Yanayo

Mark T. Small ~ Mark T. Small

Melodies for the Devil ~ Anduscia

Chansonchic Soiree ~ Soiree