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Tim Carroll | Not For Sale

CD, milesofmusic.com

Tekst: Steve Schmidt

Publicatiedatum: 12 februari 2001

While I was shopping at Miles of Music, the woman on the other end of the line suggested 'Not For Sale', based on other purchases I was making. It proved to be an impulse buy I wouldn't regret.
'Not For Sale' is ostensibly a re-release of Carroll's 1997 album 'Rock'n'Roll Band" (A dispute with Sire Records kept 'Rock'n'Roll Band' from seeing the commercial light of day). Rolling from the country lament 'When She Wants To Cry' to flat-out rockers like 'After the Hurricane' and 'Good Rock From Bad', Carroll proves he can successfully straddle both sides of the alt.country line. However, make no mistake about it, 'Not for Sale' is a rock'n'roll record and a good one at that. Track one kicks things off in strong fashion with a mid-tempo stomp, 'The House That Ruth Tore Down', that features some of Carroll's strongest vocals. 'Five Year Town' refers to Nashville and the challenges of making it big with hundreds of ten-cent cowboys and lap-dancing cowgirls around every corner. In contrast to Robbie Fulks' 'Fuck This Town' (in which Carroll is mentioned by name), Carroll offers a hint of optimism despite those odds. Carroll sings of therapeutic powers in a country song in 'A Good Cry': "I'm not really gonna need a shrink/When I've got George Jones to help me think/Now I know why/It's called a good cry/It's helping me to get by". Who needs Freud when you've got country music? The only misstep is 'Find A Way To Win', which rings of an early 70s pop tune and doesn't quite fit comfortably with the rest of the tracks. The disc rebounds and ends strongly with 'In Memory's Arms' and 'You Call This A Song', an intimate tale of a fractured relationship. Carroll finds refuge in the tune and takes the listener with him: "You call this a song/I call it my only hope/A little way/That I can cope". With a sparse, stripped down sound, it is a beautiful way to close the album.
'Not For Sale' is filled with so many first-rate songs that one can't help but wonder what Sire Records was thinking. On second thought, this is exactly the kind of record that most major labels screw up by insisting the artist change their sound to find a hit single. Do yourself a favour and buy 'Not For Sale'

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/tim-carroll/not-for-sale/72/
Meer Tim Carroll op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/tim-carroll