The Pretty Things - Balboa Island

Album/Artist Review

A problem with bands that have been on the scene for over 40 years (count 'em) is that they can sometimes still write songs with titles like "The Beat Goes On" and "Buried Alive," as if those tropes hadn't lost their edge several decades ago. On the other hand, when a band has played together for four decades its members have often learned one of rock & roll's great lessons: how to create maximum groove with minimal ingredients. So when the Pretty Things lay down a song as thunderous as "Livin' in My Skin," they do so with the ponderous grace and inexorable momentum of an elephant walking to water. They've also been around long enough to have heard some of their source material at the source, which means that they can deliver an ancient Delta blues like "Feel Like Going Home" with a certain arch authority. (And if you want more cowbell, these guys can deliver that with authority as well -- check out the raunchy period piece "Mimi.") On the downside, they sometimes abuse their elder-statesmen status to impose eight minutes of two-chord vamp on their hapless listeners ("[Blues For] Robert Johnson"), and the title track, which closes the album, does so with much more of a whimper than a bang. Not bad at all, but unless you're a die-hard fan you'll want to be a little selective.

Album Description	Track Listing
Artist • The Pretty Things Album Title • Balboa Island Genre • Rock Year • 2007 Total Tracks • 13 Playtime • 00:58:01 Total Size • 363.93 MB ID3-Tag • vorbis Codec • FLAC / 700 kbps Mode/Channels • 2 Posted By • AZOR On 03/09/2019	01. The Beat Goes On (04:10) 02. Buried Alive (03:34) 03. Livin' In My Skin (03:59) 04. (Blues For) Robert Johnson (08:02) 05. Pretty Beat (02:50) 06. In The Beginning (04:44) 07. Mimi (02:32) 08. Feel Like Goin' Home (02:44) 09. The Ballad Of Hollis Brown (06:27) 10. Freedom Song (04:45) 11. Dearly Beloved (04:59) 12. All Light Up (04:25) 13. Balboa Island (04:44)

Balboa Island