Final Exam (album)

Last updated

Final Exam
FinalExamalbumcover.jpg
Studio album by
Loudon Wainwright III
Released1978
StudioMZH, New York City
Genre Folk
Label Arista
Producer John Lissauer
Loudon Wainwright III chronology
T Shirt
(1976)		Final Exam
(1978)		 A Live One
(1979)

Final Exam is an album by the American musician Loudon Wainwright III, released in 1978. [1] He supported it with a North American tour. [2] The album was re-released on Telarc in 2007, coupled with his 1976 album, T Shirt . [3] In 1995, Wainwright acknowledged that it was his least favorite of his albums. [4]

Contents

Production

The album was produced by John Lissauer. [5] Wainwright was backed by the band Slow Train. [6] "Pretty Little Martha" is a tribute to his daughter Martha Wainwright. [7] "Heaven and Mud" is about an attempt at sobriety. [8] "Golfin' Blues" is about the golfing life, in the style of a Delta blues song. [8] "Mr. Guilty" is a parody of the tropes of country music. [9] The title track is addressed to a high school student taking spring semester exams. [10]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Christgau's Record Guide B+ [12]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]

The New York Times wrote that Wainwright "deals primarily with a quirky kind of humor that seems almost to mask emotion." [14] The Commercial Appeal considered Final Exam to be Wainwright's best, writing that he "operates without the philosophical cleverness of Randy Newman, preferring instead to use a straightforward, crazed style to push his point across." [15] The Journal & Courier praised Wainwright's acoustic guitar playing. [16]

The Arizona Daily Star noted Wainwright's "mind like a steel trap ... a warped steel trap." [8] The Star Tribune opined that "the clever cynic ... has become a television sit-com writer." [17] The Morning Call determined that Wainwright "furthers his reputation as an unconventional, witty songwriter ... but there are no real standouts." [9]

In 1983, The Philadelphia Inquirer labeled the album "self-pitying and melodramatic." [18] Reviewing the reissue, Music Week deemed it an "enjoyable [fusion] of his more traditional folk style with a harder, rockier edge." [19]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Loudon Wainwright III

  1. "Final Exam"
  2. "Mr. Guilty"
  3. "Penpal Blues"
  4. "Golfin' Blues"
  5. "The Heckler"
  6. "Natural Disaster"
  7. "Fear with Flying"
  8. "Heaven and Mud"
  9. "Two-song Set"
  10. "Pretty Little Martha"
  11. "Watch Me Rock, I'm Over Thirty"

Personnel

Slow Train

with:

Technical

Release history

References

  1. ↑ Sullivan, Jim (November 20, 1981). "Loudon Laughs at Life". Arts. The Boston Globe. p. 1.
  2. ↑ Takiff, Jonathan (April 4, 1978). "School Daze". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 36.
  3. ↑ Daoust, Phil (May 23, 2007). "G2: Radio: Pick of the day". The Guardian. p. 32.
  4. ↑ Terrell, Steve (August 11, 1995). "Everything About Wainwright Is in His Lyrics". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 44.
  5. ↑ Patterson, Rob (May 16, 1978). "Final Exam Loudon Wainwright". The Cincinnati Post. NEA. p. 15.
  6. ↑ Wainwright III, Loudon (2017). Liner Notes: On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay & a Few of My Other Favorite Things. Blue Rider Press. p. 190.
  7. ↑ Bledsoe, Wayne (March 29, 1996). "Wainwright's Motto: If You Live It, Write It". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. T10.
  8. 1 2 3 McNally, Joel (April 9, 1978). "On his new album...". Arizona Daily Star. SPS. p. 4G.
  9. 1 2 Seigendall, Jane (April 15, 1978). "Records". Weekender. The Morning Call. p. 49.
  10. ↑ Mullinax, Gary (April 30, 1978). "Wainwright: Caught". The Morning News. p. D2.
  11. ↑ "Final Exam Review by Mark Deming". AllMusic. Retrieved February 14, 2024.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: W". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 21, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press.
  14. ↑ Rockwell, John (April 7, 1978). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. p. C22.
  15. ↑ Dawson, Walter (April 2, 1978). "Stay up and listen". The Commercial Appeal. p. 19.
  16. ↑ Arganbright, Frank (April 9, 1978). "Final Exam". Journal & Courier. p. D10.
  17. ↑ Carr, Tim (April 14, 1978). "Records". Star Tribune. p. 2C.
  18. ↑ Tucker, Ken (March 9, 1983). "Wainwright Is Back with One of His Best". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. E7.
  19. ↑ "Loudon Wainwright III T-Shirt/Final Exam". Music Week. April 28, 2007. p. 30.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.