Superb!! - I agree 100% with Long Beach Centaur lb_centaur (Long Beach, CA US) If this album does not imbue you with emotion, you must be dead! This has been one of the finest albums I have ever bought. It tells us so much about life and death and the choices we make throughout. The title song Delilah Blue is one of the most sensitive and touching songs ever written.Joshua is one of the finest artist alive today. Oh..and read Steinbecks The Pearl, then listen to Joshuas song and tell me you don t get chills!!!
Storyteller - It s just amazing how some things stay with us. I was barely 16 the first time that I heard a Joshua Kadison song, and now, at the age of 27, I still keep going back. One interesting note is that- while this site claims the album came out in October of 95, I m almost sure I saw it on the rack during that summer.. I m also a little curious about a couple of the different song titles listed here, my disc doesn t have American Hearts or Bus Stop, but I m guessing that perhaps Bus Stop is a different title for Waiting In Green Velvet?? In any case, the album came out in 95, and while I was a big fan of Painted Desert Serenade, it would take me another six and a half years to pick up Delilah Blue. Why? Well, for one thing, I didn t hear anything promoted back in 95. I don t know if this album had a single or not, but I certainly never heard one track on the radio. I also heard from a friend of mine that it was some kind of religious effort. I guess to a 17 year old, this sort of information didn t exactly send me rushing to the music shop. What a shame though, I had no idea what I was missing. For years, I listened to Painted Desert Serenade, and really began to form an admiration for Joshua s work, so when I found this album at a used book store in 2002, my curiosity finally got the best of me. To be completely honest, at the time I sampled a little, but nothing really grabbed me- except for the unusual, yet beautiful Delilah Blue. In any case, the album ended up being lost within my somewhat vast CD collection- that is until this past summer. Nearly ten years after it s original release, I discovered what a brilliant album this really is. I ended up going through a rather rough time, and I took my three Joshua Kadison albums to work (Yes, I also have the import Vanishing America, but that s a whole different review). What I ended up discovering was a really great album. It s not nearly as commercial as Painted Desert Serenade, which explains why it wasn t really heard on the radio, but the way Joshua tells these stories, it s almost like the listener is living the experiences too. As I said above, I always did find the title track moving, but what really surprised me was Just Like Brigitte Bardot, can this man tell a story or what? I guess the original thing that turned me away from the album was the backup singers, and while they can be a little overwhelming at times, they can also mesh with the songs pretty well, and these songs deserve to be heard. After listening to this album, I pretty much walk away with the impression that it s about survival, and just trying to make it day to day. The album seems to focus more on the underdog, or people who are somewhat on the outside. The album as a whole is pretty remarkable, but my favorites are Delilah Blue, Just Like Brigitte Bardot, Amsterdam, Rosie & Pauly, and Take It On Faith. Amsterdam is hauntingly beautiful with powerful, raspy vocals from Joshua, and Take It On Faith features more raspy, expressive vocals, and is also the only real commercial song here. In closing, I guess it s just unfortunate how this album really went unheard. I think people wanted another Jessie or Beautiful In My Eyes, and while those songs, along with the PDS album are great, this album really explored more of the depth of Joshua s songwriting/storytelling, and let s face it, more of a darker side of life. There was already a good sense of the storytelling element on PDS, but this album proves what Joshua is capable of, and that he deserves to be regarded as one of the greats...Check out the website Joshuakadison.com
What a Blessing - I have looked and looked for Joshua Kadisons music, and cannot find it anywhere. What a blessing to go online and in a matter of minutes have all that I want, and more. What a blessing Amazon is. Thanks, Pastor Christi
superb storytelling and beautiful melodies - I first heard this album nearly ten years ago and it is one of my all-time favorites. Delilah Blue is filled with wonderful emotion and beautiful melodies.In this album, Joshua weaves frightfully honest tales of a dark side of humanity many wish to ignore or would like to pretend doesn t exist. The top reviewer for his latest import CD hated this album because the songs were all about transvestites -- gasp -- that will hurt your [ears] dear little one! These are not misogynistic or testostine-filled love songs common to the rock genre or the sappy heterosexual songs like Painted Desert Serenade, which, I still enjoy because Joshua is a wonderful story teller. Many songs emply gospel style melodies and cadence with great back-up singers. Until listening to this album, I was not a fan of gospel music. But this album expanded my tastes. I doubt you d ever hear these gospel songs in any church.The title track is a torch song ala dialog between Delilah Blue and her friend Black-Eyed Susan. It weaves a tale of their struggles to make ends meet and sadness over loss of their friends from an unmentioned AIDS crisis. If you have no idea what I m talking about, you need to watch the movie Priscilla, Queen of the Desert or Torch Song Trilogy.The track Pearl is a nice ballad but is completely out of place with the other tracks. Maybe they needed to fill up extra space.
Joshua Kadison s NEW WEBSITE ! - Check out Joshua Kadison s new website: www.radiohumanity.comNEW songs to download and lots of new information about a great singer/songwriter !!!(April2005)Greetings,GABIOLA :)gabiola123@t-online.de