Today we have John Prine's sixth studio album Pink Cadillac. Released in 1979, the album shows a strong influence from early rock'n'roll and includes significantly more electric guitar work than his past albums. Half of the album is covers from this early rock period. The album received mostly negative reviews upon its release.
You could never guess what might make an album from Dylan or Young bad, but you weren't surprised when they did release an album of poor quality--their personalities made it a given. Prine is different and although I didn't like
Bruised Orange that much, it was a predictable and ultimately fine turn. I suppose toothless lyrics to toothless singing is a logical progression, but this comes as a shock. It's not because of the rock'n'roll, which he's dabbled with before with great success, but because his singing is so devoid of charm, gratification, and even artistic integrity. The songwriting seems to be fine but most of the solos aren't in traditional rock'n'roll style (they don't fit).
C+
