Times Like This

Last updated
Times Like This
Times Like This.jpg
Studio album by
Slim Dunlap
Released1996
Genre Rock and roll [1]
Label Medium Cool/Restless
Slim Dunlap chronology
The Old New Me
(1993)		Times Like This
(1996)		Thank You Dancers!
(2020)

Times Like This is the second album by the American musician Slim Dunlap, released in 1996. [2] [3] Dunlap supported the album with a North American tour. [4] The title track was recorded by Steve Earle for the 2013 benefit album Songs for Slim. [5] Bruce Springsteen admired the album; he played "Times Like This" on his radio show and recorded a cover of "Girlfiend". [6] [7]

Contents

Production

The album was recorded over two years in four different studios. [8] [9] Paul Westerberg played piano on "Nowheres Near", about a band carrying on despite a lack of recognition. [10] He also encouraged Dunlap to rerecord many of his vocal parts, telling him that they "didn't have any guts". [11] The title track was written after Dunlap's tour van caught fire, destroying much of his equipment. [12] "Hate This Town", about taking over the family business, was inspired by an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend. [13] [14] "Radio Hook Word Hit", a satire of the music industry, is purposely without a hook. [15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Alternative Rock 6/10 [1]
Detroit Free Press Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [17]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
Lincoln Journal Star Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [14]
Orlando Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [19]
San Francisco Examiner Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [20]

The Orlando Sentinel noted that Dunlap "can tell a story with wit and conciseness." [19] The Los Angeles Times said that Dunlap's albums "crank out a loose and juicy Stones-'Mats-rockabilly mix while taking a basement-level underdog's view of the rock 'n' roll life, skewering those with star-trip pretensions." [21] The Santa Fe New Mexican opined that the album is "just this side of sloppy... [But] it sounds like he actually had a great time recording it." [22]

The Lincoln Journal Star said that the album "has the same easy-going, let's-rock attitude of Dunlap's live performances and his Keith Richards-meets-John Prine voice endearingly scratches its way into the aural nerve center." [14] Stereo Review concluded that "the instantly addictive 'Girlfiend' is hands down the most perfect two-minute single that's never going to get on the radio." [23] No Depression labeled Times Like This a "ragged, rickety mesh of Keith Richards-style rock, strummy country and bar-band slop." [24]

In 2010, the Star Tribune opined that the "classic Times Like This might be the best overall post-'Mats album". [25]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Not Yet/Ain't No Fair (In a Rock'N'Roll Love Affair)" 
2."Girlfiend" 
3."Hate This Town" 
4."Little Shiva's Song" 
5."Jungle Out There" 
6."Cozy" 
7."Cooler Then" 
8."Chrome Lipstick" 
9."Nowheres Near" 
10."Radio Hook Word Hit" 
11."Times Like This" 

References

  1. 1 2 Thompson, Dave (2000). Alternative Rock. Miller Freeman Books. p. 393.
  2. ↑ Mehr, Bob (2016). Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements. Hachette Books. p. 401.
  3. ↑ Gilmer, Vickie (February 1997). "Times Like This". Audio. Vol. 81, no. 2. p. 80.
  4. ↑ Reece, Doug (November 2, 1996). "Roadwork". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 44. p. 23.
  5. ↑ Kelly, Nick (June 1, 2013). "A love letter to little John Henry". Review. Irish Independent. p. 16.
  6. ↑ Jordan, Chris (May 1, 2020). "Springsteen: virus shows cracks in American dream". Asbury Park Press. p. J4.
  7. ↑ Jordan, Chris (January 1, 2025). "Bruce Springsteen looks to 2025". Argus Leader. Gannett Media Corp. p. B8.
  8. ↑ Meyer, Jim (October 11, 1996). "Dunlap holds a mirror to rock industry". Star Tribune. p. 3E.
  9. ↑ Gilmer, Vickie (October 13, 1996). "Discs". The Day. New London. Knight-Ridder. p. B3.
  10. ↑ Amorim, Kevin (January 19, 1997). "On the Record". Newsday. p. C23.
  11. ↑ Moon, Tom (November 22, 1996). "Guitar Man Gets By with Small Expectations". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 17.
  12. ↑ Keyes, Bob (December 12, 1996). "Dunlap hopes for fewer fireworks". Venture. Argus Leader. p. 2.
  13. ↑ Lepage, Mark (January 18, 1997). "Slim Dunlap Times Like This". The Gazette. p. E7.
  14. 1 2 3 Wolgamott, L. Kent (December 22, 1996). "'Times Like This': Dunlap crafts one of the year's best discs". Lincoln Journal Star. p. H6.
  15. ↑ Lochridge, Eric (October 24, 1997). "Slim Dunlap: Terrific Storytelling". Rapid City Journal. p. D1.
  16. ↑ "Times Like This Review by Ralph Heibutzki". AllMusic. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  17. ↑ Byrne, Steve (November 3, 1996). "Rock". Detroit Free Press. p. 6G.
  18. ↑ Mayhew, Malcolm (October 18, 1996). "Rock". Star Time. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 14.
  19. 1 2 Gettelman, Parry (October 25, 1996). "Slim Dunlap". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 10.
  20. ↑ Stolder, Steven (October 20, 1996). "Pop CDs in Brief". Datebook. San Francisco Examiner. p. 45.
  21. ↑ "Best Bets". Los Angeles Times. October 31, 1996. p. F2.
  22. ↑ Terrell, Steve (December 13, 1996). "Terrell's Tune-Up". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 36.
  23. ↑ Simels, Steve (January 1997). "Times Like This". Stereo Review. Vol. 62, no. 1. p. 103.
  24. ↑ "Slim Dunlap – Times Like This". Reviews. No Depression. November 1996.
  25. ↑ Riemenschneider, Chris (September 10, 2010). "Slim pickin' again". Star Tribune. p. E5.
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