Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 A simply great piece of work January 5, 2009
Fridomeister (Staffordshire, UK)
I was never a Beautiful South afficionado. I have always admired some of Paul Heaton's work but could not say I was a fan. I did like a lot of Housemartins stuff though. The point is ...... this isn't a recommendation from a B/South fan.
Anyway, this album is terrific. It's rare to get an album of such unremitting quality, with such a range of tracks. I just keep playing it and I find it hard to think of an album I have enjoyed more.
The only minor weakeness, in my view, is the first couple or tracks. After that, the tracks just get better and better.
I think the album is more Housemartins than Beautiful South, but that's probably an uneducated comment given that I don't have much B/S material.
BUY BUY BUY!
 with a backing harmony from paul young December 30, 2008
Peter Lehany (Niddrie)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Oh deary me, whatever were you thinking of. I cant believe that this album was penned by the same man who gave us Choke, Welcome to the Beautiful South and 0898. If you walked into a pub and heard someone singing this stuff in the corner, you might not finish your pint. In fact, you might not even finish your vodka and coke. Dull tunes, dodgy lyrics, God Bless Texas aint too bad, but come on Paul, what were you thinking ? My advice to you would be- start drinking heavily again, you were far more creative. You see people leaving Coronation street and a few weeks later they're on Casualty, then they're in The Bill a month or so later. Tucker Jenkins did that, and so did Leanne Battersby. Unfortunately Tucker can't go back to his fruit and veg stall as they killed him off, but Leanne did the right thing and went back to what she knew best. So please stop churning out this old yad and go back to what you do best, reform the Beautiful South and sing us one we know. Look at Ken Barlow, now there's a man who knows his limitations. Ken in The Bill ? Never !
Worth the Wait October 22, 2008
Weremadog (West Midlands, UK)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
All hail the mighty Paul Heaton!
Lyrical genius and musician - you need to add this album to your collection immediately!
Now this IS Superbi! July 14, 2008
A. Sweeney (London, England)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
As someone who was barely satisfied with what could be The Beautiful South's last ever studio album, 'Superbi', I am more than pleased that Paul Heaton's second solo album is a far more raucous and memorable affair than many of the recent Beautiful South efforts. This is an album which, unlike 'Superbi', you will want to replay again and again. It has life, warmth, caustic wit and humour. It also has plenty of great memorable tunes (the single 'Mermaids And Slaves' is certainly as good as, if not better than, anything The Beautiful South have released this decade) and is packed full of brilliant lyrics which deal, often cynically and near-brutally, with the modern world and its often less than consistent inhabitants;
"Let's fool and coerce/The singer of verse/Died of insufferable pain,
Let's fuel the dream/Every Buckley or Dean/Was genius, misjudged or insane"
('Mermaids And Slaves')
"When someone starts a sentence/With 'I'm not racist but'
You know that the sentence is bound to end/With where they think they should be put
So next time you hear them singing/Of A land so free and brave
You know the place they hang their flag/Is where they hung their slave"
('A Good Old Fashioned Town')
"And the thin are getting thinner/The big are getting bigger
Till 5 and 75 year olds/Worry 'bout their figure
The big are getting bigger/The thin are getting thinner
Till everyone's looking (everyone's cooking)/At everyone else's dinner"
('Everything Is Everything')
I don't want to pull this album apart, track-by-track, because I really don't want to give too much away, but I believe that the content and style will be recognisable to every fan of The Housemartins, The Beautiful South and solo Heaton. All I can really say is that this is one of Paul's most enjoyable albums, with or without his bandmates and creative collaborators, and that nearly every fan of the man will be delighted with the excellent 'Cross Eyed Rambler', which is - in my opinion - twice the album of his solo debut.
Heaton has far surpassed my expectations... July 13, 2008
DJ Ridge (Allentown PA, USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although I enjoyed the final Beautiful South offering 'Superbi', it's not the one I'll be listening to frequently over the course of time. I think that I was kind of expecting Paul Heaton's 'Cross Eyed Rambler' to end up sounding reprocessed and lacking any life or originality. I am astonishingly blown away. I'm still in awe thinking....how could he still be writing such incredible music after so many years!'. One would think the creative well would run dry at one point but I can honestly say, it seems his creative well is far far from dry. This cd just reminds me of a perfect blend of his entire career, there's a hint and dash from the Housemartins, and really from every Beautiful South disc. Lyrically, he is still as brilliant and witty as ever. Cheers to this incredible new release, I'm grinning from ear to ear, grateful and well, I know what will be on constant rotation for a long time to come.
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