Stan Rogers - Turnaround

I first heard Stan Rogers' music ages ago - Fogarty's Cove I think was the album my parents had. The most memorable track from that disc was Barrett's Privateers, which I think is probably the song most people think of when they think Stan Rogers.

Nothing else on Fogarty's Cove really stood out for me, but I wanted to give ol' Stan another try and see if he could be more than a one-hit wonder for me. And the answer is... no. There are a couple good ballads on Turnaround - "The Jeannie C" and "Bluenose" are probably the best - but nothing to touch Barrett's Privateers. Stan's at his best when he's really belting out a song, really getting into it. If you've heard Stan before, think "Barrett was smashed like a bowl of eggs", that's what I'm getting at. He gets a little bit of the fire in him on "Oh No, Not I", but overall it just seems like he's coasting through this album. I mean I'm not expecting the poor guy to start headbanging or something but I would like to see a little bit more than the maritime version of Jim Croche.

Yeah. There are certainly some tracks on this disc where you get a glimpse of how good Stan Rogers can be, but overall it just doesn't do anything for me. 2 partridges / 5 golden rings. I'm tossing this one.

As an aside - I've been wondering a little bit if I'll know a 5-star album when I see one. After some consideration, I think so. For instance, I think I would've rated Graceland or Wish You Were Here as 5-star albums the first time I heard them. So we'll see.