> From: "floatingunder" > Subject: Re: Eric Carmen > So I'm wondering how other's some up his first solo disc (esp. people > who were huge Raspberrie fans). Was it a major let down? What song's > stand out? Bruce, very curious which tracks you dug and didn't on > this one? > Steve D. It wasn't a letdown to me at all. I was a huge Raspberries fan ever since I saw them play live at my junior high school in May of 1972 (I wish I remembered more of that show!), and was really saddened by their breakup. When I heard "All By Myself" for the first time, a few months before Carmen's first album was released, my first thought was "I'm really glad he's recording", my second thought was "wow, this is way different from The Raspberries!", my third thought was "this is great!", and my fourth thought was "is this a song about the aftermath of the breakup?" (I didn't listen to the lyrics, and was just going by what I'd inferred from the title; it was quite an irony for me when I later found out that another song from the album, "No Hard Feelings", *was* about that!). When I finally got the debut album I was very pleased! I love "Sunrise" (one of my all-time favorite songs, and in my top 2 or 3 of 1975), "Last Night", "My Girl", and the hits in particular, but almost everything is great! I like Carmen's next album, Boats Against The Current, almost as much. Though some critics called it overwrought (and I can see where they're coming from), I still love it. "Marathon Man," "She Did It", "Nowhere To Hide," and "Love Is All That Matters"-great stuff! After that it's really hit and miss for me in the Carmen catalogue. Each succeeding album has a few tracks I like, but as whole works none of them really do it for me...and I just cannot get into the Geffen album at all. "You Took Me All The Way"; what a load of crap that is! Finally, I don't know that one can guage how a Raspberries reunion show would come off, based upon the "wimp factor" of Eric's solo work. After all, he'd be performing Raspberries songs, as a Raspberry, and I'm sure he would do his best to rock. -- Pop Rules!!!!! Take Care, David