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Review: Simon's "Bare Bodies Bare Assets"



I posted this on O & S but forgot to post it here, sorry- so here you go!

I ordered Simon's new CD from the website on Monday and I was pleasantly
surprised to see it in my mailbox on Wednesday.  I've been waiting for this
disc for a long time, especially after seeing Simon in concert and knowing
how fantastic his songs sound in a one/two-person acoustic setting.  I
enjoyed "Animal Soup," but didn't like it as much as "Among Us" because I
prefer to hear Simon without so many other instruments around him.

"Bare Bodies Bare Assets" is pretty much just Simon (with Ben in a few
tracks).  It's a fantastic disc.  While the liner notes mention that the
tracks "vary sonically," I found that even the "worst" sounding ones still
sound very good- none of the tracks were taken from an audience recording
in the back row of a bar, for example.  If they hadn't mentioned it in the
liner notes, I never would have thought twice about the sound quality.

The great thing about this disc is that a majority of the tracks are songs
that aren't on "Among Us" or "Animal Soup" but are songs that we've grown
used to hearing in concert, like "Comeback," "Response-Ability," and "Time
The Healer."  I'm not familiar with a bunch of these because I haven't seen
Simon in a while, but I'm sure many of you (especially from the UK shows)
will recognize them.  Simon's voice is in top quality and the guitar really
rings out strongly on a good number of these tracks.

As for the tracks that were on the past two albums, Simon treats "Blind as
a Bat," "Highness," "Company" and others as full-tilt rockers just as they
are on the albums.  He gives songs like "For The Money," "Girls on Girls"
(this must be Simon's favorite song as it's on ALL THREE DISCS, hmmm...)
and "The Way It Is" a softer treatment.  I personally don't like Simon's
half-acapella version of "The Way It Is," but it was nice to hear "For The
Money" so drastically different from the "Animal Soup" recording (as it
would have to be for an acoustic number).

If you have any of Simon's other releases, you'll definitely want this CD
(check out www.simontownshend.com).  If you've seen him in concert, this
will sound very familiar to you, and if you haven't, it's a great intro to
how he sounds live.  It's really a nice disc.  If anybody has it, please
post your comments.

One thing:  I could definitely do without the nude Simon on the back cover.

Jay (who can hear himself on "Company")