It's Alright (Chris Stamey album)

Last updated

It's Alright
It's Alright (Chris Stamey album).jpg
Studio album by
Chris Stamey
Released1987
Label Coyote/A&M [1]
Producer Chris Stamey, Scott Litt, Bill Scheniman
Chris Stamey chronology
Instant Excitement EP
(1984)		It's Alright
(1987)		Fireworks
(1991)

It's Alright is an album by the American musician Chris Stamey, released in 1987. [2] [3] Stamey supported it with a North American tour that included Alex Chilton on keyboards. [4] [5] It's Alright was expected to be somewhat of a mainstream success; it did not perform as well as envisioned, and Stamey was dropped from A&M Records two years after its release. [6]

Contents

Production

"The Seduction" was inspired by Georges Seurat's A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte . [7] Stamey played lead guitar on the album; Richard Lloyd and Mitch Easter played rhythm guitar. [8] [9] Chilton and Marshall Crenshaw sang on It's Alright. [10] Jane Scarpantoni played cello. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [12]
Chicago Sun-Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [10]
Robert Christgau B [13]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Los Angeles Daily News A [15]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
The Record Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Trouser Press called It's Alright "an emotionally lucid pop-rock album." [18] The Philadelphia Inquirer labeled it "an impressive and graceful solo pop-rock album that presents his gifts for songwriting and guitar-playing in full flower." [19] The Los Angeles Daily News considered it "a near masterpiece," writing that "Stamey makes his way through the lost terrain covered by mid-'70s Memphis-based popsters Big Star." [15]

Robert Christgau wrote that "Stamey's new wave supersession is excessively conventional, subsuming his mad pop perfectionism and repressed inner turmoil in mere well-madeness." [13] The Washington Post opined that "tracks such as 'It's Alright' and 'If You Hear My Voice' are elaborate studio chamber pieces in the spirit of the best of the late-'60s Beatles and Beach Boys." [9] The Charlotte Observer determined that, "with a wispy voice, shimmering pop-rock melodies and lyrics full of irony and disillusionment, Stamey looks suspiciously at modern love." [20]

AllMusic deemed It's Alright "the most uncomplicated and genuinely poppy album of his career." [12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Cara Lee" 
2."From the Word Go" 
3."When We're Alone" 
4."The Seduction" (Full Length Version) 
5."It's Alright" 
6."Big Time" 
7."Of Time and All She Brings to Mind" 
8."In the Dark" 
9."If You Hear My Voice" 
10."27 Years in a Single Day" (Full Length Version) 
11."Incredible Happiness" 

References

  1. ↑ "Spins". Spin. Vol. 3, no. 8. January 1988. p. 24.
  2. ↑ "Chris Stamey Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Thompson, Dave (September 7, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  4. ↑ Oberg, Mel (November 6, 1987). "Stamey to Swagger into Town". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. D4.
  5. ↑ DeVault, Russ (November 13, 1987). "Chris Stamey says he's 'really proud' of the five-man band...". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. P4.
  6. ↑ Schoemer, Karen (April 19, 1991). "Music Without One Eye on the Charts". The New York Times. p. C6.
  7. ↑ Klein, David (June 17, 2015). "Chris Stamey's new Euphoria balances details and delight". Indy Week.
  8. ↑ Willman, Chris (December 11, 1987). "Chris Stamey's New LP Is Quite 'Alright' to Former dB's Partner". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
  9. 1 2 Jenkins, Mark (November 18, 1987). "Southern Latitudes". The Washington Post. p. B7.
  10. 1 2 McLeese, Don (October 29, 1987). "Now Playing". Features. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 69.
  11. 1 2 Jaeger, Barbara (February 18, 1988). "Chris Stamey Is Doing More Than 'Alright' in His Solo Career". The Record. Hackensack. p. E10.
  12. 1 2 "Chris Stamey It's Alright". AllMusic.
  13. 1 2 "Chris Stamey". Robert Christgau.
  14. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 7. MUZE. p. 697.
  15. 1 2 Rosen, Craig (December 4, 1987). "'Alright' is much better than all right". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L34.
  16. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 315.
  17. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide. Random House. 1992. p. 667.
  18. ↑ "Christ Stamey". Trouser Press. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  19. ↑ Hiltbrand, David (November 5, 1987). "A Rocker on His Home State and the State of His Music". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. D3.
  20. ↑ Haight, Kathy (January 10, 1988). "From Punk to Polka, N.C. Bands Play It All". The Charlotte Observer. p. 5F.
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