Hugh Cornwell - Hooverdam

Artist : Hugh Cornwell
Album Title : Hooverdam (2008)
Genre : Rock
Rating : ***** ** (out of 10*)

This Week I'm Listening To...

A long time ago, Hugh Cornwell played guitar for the quasi-punk group, The Stranglers (whom I've heard of, but can't say I've ever listened to). They parted company in 1990, and Hugh has been putting out solo albums ever since. Hooverdam (one word) is somewhere around his 16th release.

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What's To Like...

There are 10 tracks on Hooverdam, and they're all catchy. The guitar-work is passable, but not exceptional. The lyrics are Dylanesque - lots and lots of rhyming (albeit, on simple sounds to rhyme), with the overall meaning of the songs coming out slightly surreal (just like you find in Mr. Zimmerman's best work - Mr. Tambourine Man, for example).

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Best of all, this album is free. You can download it with the artist's blessing at his website : http://www.hughcornwell.com/ . Gotta love that.

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What's Not To Like...

Eeeyeewww, the vocals are flatter than an anorexic fashion model. I thought every studio nowadays auto-corrected the singing. Apparently not. I'd tolerate these vocals in a live performance, but not on a studio album.

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The song-order could use some tweaking. The first three tracks are mediocre, saved only by their witty lyrics. So you might give up on this album before you get to the best tracks (#4-#6 and #8-#10). All the tracks are made for radio-play, 3-4 minutes long each.

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Hugh? Doesn't That Rhyme with "Who?"

I'd frankly never heard of Mr. Cornwell before a friend clued me in about the free download. I have no idea how Hooverdam compares to his 15 earlier albums, but judging from the dearth of reviews at RateYourMusic, he apparently hasn't generated much excitement since leaving The Stranglers.

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Therefore, the release of a free album is a good marketing move. Hooverdam is a solid , if somewhat unambitious effort. You can't beat the price, and it serves to introduce you to someone you'd probably never listen to otherwise. Indeed, if Hugh ever comes to Phoenix, I'd definitely go see him. We'll give it 7 stars, noting that it would've been rated higher if the studio had done its job with the vocals.