The Blasters (album)

Infobox Album
Name = The Blasters
Type = studio
Artist = The Blasters


Released = 1981
Recorded =
Genre = rock
Length =
Label = Slash
Producer =
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://wm03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:jiftxqq5ld6e~T1 link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=The+Blasters link]
*Piero Scaruffi rating-10|7 [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol4/blasters.html link]
Last album = "American Music"
(1980)
This album = "The Blasters"
(1981)
Next album = ""
(1982)

"The Blasters" is a 1981 album by American rock band The Blasters. Although the album was released by the independent label Slash, its strong performance required a deal for wider distribution with Warner Bros. Records.Young, Jon. [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=blasters The Blasters] Trouser Press. Accessed October 30 2007.] The album was well received, making "Time Magazine"'s list of "top 10 albums" for 1981 and peaking at #36 on Billboard's "Pop Albums".Waldman, Scott. (November 8 2002) [http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/blasters-021108.shtml A link in the chain] . PopMatters. Accessed October 30 2007.] [allmusicguide |id=10:jiftxqq5ld6e~T3|label=The Blasters Billboard]

Response

The national distribution of "The Blasters" was an eye-opener for listeners of "rockabilly, country, blues, and New Orleans roadhouse R&B", who found a band capable of producing new material that "stood up well to the influences from whence they sprang".Bowden, Marshall. (June 11 2002). [http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/blasters-testament.shtml The Blasters Testament] PopMatters. Accessed October 30 2007.] Staff reviewer John Cruz of "Sputnikmusic" declared "they took all that was old and made it new again and took what was new and played it the way the cats way back when used to play it". [Cruz, John. (January 27 2006). [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=5270 Testament] . "Sputnik Music". Accessed October 30 2007.] Journalist Piero Scaruffi praised the album as more than an imitation, describing it as a sincere and "rootsy" production that captured "the American soul", [Scaruffi, Piero. [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol4/blasters.html Blasters] . Scaruffi website. Accessed October 30 2007.] while "Trouser Press" declared that the album "smokes" and that the band's performance was "tighter than a drum".

Track listing

"Except where otherwise noted, all songs composed by Dave Alvin."
#"Marie Marie"
#"No Other Girl"
#"I'm Shakin'" (Rudy Toombs)
#"Border Radio"
#"American Music"
#"So Long Baby Goodbye"
#"Hollywood Bed"
#"Never No Mo' Blues" (Elsie McWilliams, Jimmie Rodgers)
#"This is It"
#"Highway 61" (Albert Laundrew)
#"I Love You So" (Bo Diddley)
#"Stop the Clock" (Bob Ehret, Damon Robertson)

Personnel

*Lee Allen – tenor saxophone
*Gustav Alsina – cover design
*Dave Alvin – guitar, vocals
*Phil Alvin – guitar, vocals
*Steve Bartel – art direction

References