Happy 35th birthday "But Seriously Folks"! Love this album!
LOVE this album.
Probably my favorite Joe solo album....Life's Been Good - 'nuff said!
First side of that album is GODHEAD!! Awesome. If I never heard Life's Been Good again, that would be fine.
Wintertime is a razor blade that the devil made
It's the price we pay for the summertime - J.W. '69
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO BUT SERIOUSLY FOLKS ...!!!
This is one of my favorite Joe solo albums too. Wow - will be listening to a lot of Joe lately. The Confessor just celebrated an anniversary. Now, I've got to listen to There Goes the Neighborhood in the early part of this week, and then I'll close out the week by listening to this one! Such a chore!
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
I listened to TGTN and BSF this week, and I have to admit that I got But Seriously Folks mixed up with So What when I said it was one of my favorite Joe solo albums. To be honest, I think it is just 'okay'. As much as I love the song and agree that Life's Been Good is a standout on this album, it does seem somewhat out of place here. I guess one could argue that it's a good contrast to the other rather laid back slow tempo songs. Maybe it wouldn't seem out of place if there were a couple of other uptempo songs on the album. To me, that would provide the variety that is lacking. When there isn't variety in tempo on an album, I begin to get bored because all the songs start sounding alike to me. Of the first five songs on the album, Tomorrow is probably my favorite. On the other hand, maybe Life's Been Good is so remarkable that it makes the others seem pale in comparison.
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
I'm so sick of Life's Been Good I rarely listen to it anymore. In fact I prefer the Flock of Wah, Wah's afterwards to the song itself. I absolutely adore the first side of the album tho. Some of Joe's prettiest songs.
However, having said all that, So What is absolutely incredible! Barnstorm is my fav. Joe album w/So What close behind.
Wintertime is a razor blade that the devil made
It's the price we pay for the summertime - J.W. '69
OMG, MV - I don't think I'll ever get sick of hearing Life's Been Good. But, there are some songs that I just never tire of and this is definitely one of them!
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
Happy 37th birthday But Seriously Folks.
I've only heard 6 of the 8 songs on the album thanks to Pandora and Iheart Radio. I think this is my favorite album of Joe's.
I often wondered why Joe tended to release his albums around May time. It happened too often to be a coincidence.
But Seriously Folks was the first Walsh album released after I became a Walsh/music fan. I didn't buy it straight away, as it was more expensive than his back catalog that I was searching, high and low for. I spent a long time, in record shops, looking at the fabulous, gate-fold cover though.
I firstly bought the single from a cut price, ex-chart bin, the short version of Life's Been Good, coupled with Theme From The Boat Weirdos.
I never really liked Life's Been Good until I saw it performed live on the Eagles HFO tour in 1996. I saw the attraction of it though. The instrumental B-side was much more to my liking. Joe's slide guitar was/is just genius.
The album as a whole was a little bit too much, Eagles AOR, for me. Second Hand Store was pleasant enough, Over And Over had a brilliant slide guitar solo but I was pretty indifferent to the rest.
Over the years I've grown to like it more, after hearing live versions of Over And Over, Indian Summer and Tomorrow. I remember the startlingly enthusiastic crowd reaction, Joe got, when he started playing At The Station, for the first time in about 2005.
I like the little instrumental reprisals that occur, a couple of times, during the album, not forgetting instrumental interlude Inner Tube. I dislike the inclusion of, funny once, A Flock Of Wah-Wahs that was later added to the CD version of the album. The last time I heard Life's Been Good on the radio, A Flock Of Wah-Wahs was played too!
I can completely acknowledge Life's Been Good as a worthy, second Walsh signature tune but it's kinda left Joe, feeling an obligation to include a large dose of humour on all his subsequent albums. It's great that Joe can be very funny but his true greatness, imho, is as an, out of the ordinary, musician.
Maybe But Seriously Folks, after his part in the huge success of Hotel California, was just a little too conventional for me to rate it as highly as his wonderful early 70s LPs.