Boomchild & Back to the real world.

[gr8dane]

I was given copies of these a while back (with no info).I have tried to listen to them for several times.I find them rather dull and pedestrian.Yes "the Voice" is there ,but hohum it goes.Yes, I am not saying this without having listened to them (hint froy).
My question is.Beside the guitar player Dziallo or whatever his name is,(who has been said to be with DDY on all his solo albums),are there other musicians on these???.They sound rather programmed.
Black Wall is the only song that really stands out .

[Abitaman]

AT times the songs do sound sterile, but over all they are good. Dennis production is sometimes to clean-ERIC

[bugsymalone]

It took me awhile to get used to some of the songs on those two recordings, but I really like Unanswered Prayers, Black Wall and I'll Get Lucky from Back to the World. I got to where I liked the bluesy Call Me too.

I like his version of Beneath the Moon on Boomchild. Also from that one I like Best is Yet to Come, What A Way to Go, and Outside Looking in Again is a really terrific piece of songwriting.

I identify with Boomchild so I sort of like it, but it is not my favorite music he has ever done. The video for it is terrific though.

Harry's Hands is one of his best songs period.

Busgy's review -- unasked for, but given anyway!

[gr8dane]

Thank Bugs.
I will dig a little deeper.

[Zan]

FWIWMOSHUO:

Harry's Hands is not that good. The music is terrific. The lyrics - eh. I like his ability to tell a story, but I've just never gotten into the whole concept of that tune. I give it a 4, 5 on a good day.

BLACK WALL, SOUTHBOUND RYAN, & (whatthehellisthenameof) THE LAST SONG ON BOOMCHILD are all incredible songs.

[styxfanNH]

Black Wall and Southbound Ryan are my two favorite songs on that album. Black Wall should have been an adopted song for the vets, but never got the exposure.

Call me is your basic Dennis ballad, also a favorite.

Back To the World was Dennis' best solo stuff.

Harry's Hands was about Dennis' father. The lyrics are good, but the music is only so so.

[bugsymalone]

I really think Harry's Hands tells the story of the outsourcing of jobs better than almost anything I have heard. Written in the 80's, SO appropriate for today.

Dennis was on the committee that helped organize the largest pro-Vietnam veteren's rally ever, held in Chicago. There is a member here who was there that day and perhaps could expound a bit more, but supposedly the parade was amazing.

Black Wall was written for that event and I think it is one of the most powerful pieces of music and lyrics he has ever written.

My feeling about his solo works was it takes awhile to get into some of the songs. After his work with Styx, I had a hard time with some of them at first, but found much to like after listening several times.

And, of course, he has his share of really bad songs on all three solo recordings of original material that he did. But the good outweighs the bad on them in my estimation.

Bugsy

[Ash]

BLACK WALL, SOUTHBOUND RYAN, & (whatthehellisthenameof) THE LAST SONG ON BOOMCHILD are all incredible songs.

The name of the song is "Won't Go Wasted".

I also like "Outside Looking In".


I'll never forget when I learned that Boomchild was coming out.... I was working in the Lay-Away department at K-Mart in York, Pennsylvania. I was in high school. Lady comes up to the department with a bunch of stuff.... part of this is that I get all their personal info.

The woman's last name was DeYoung... I think her first name was Patricia... not sure. I asked if she had any relatives in Chicago and she tells me her husband's family is from there. Her husband is a cousin of Dennis. She was the one who mentioned Dennis had been working on a new solo record although she called it "Baby Boom" not "boom child" ... subtle difference.

Boomchild is a good record... not as good as Back To The World, but better (overall) than Desert Moon. I can listen to all of Back To The World without skipping a song... I skip many on Desert Moon. On Boomchild the only one I have a hard time with is "Who Shot Daddy".

[bugsymalone]

By the way. The title Gr8 is Back to the World. Not Back to the Real World. The reason I bring this up is Vietnam vets used that phrase "back to the world" to mean their return and their ultimate acceptance. ("Let 'em ....back to the world")

I am particularly fond of the opening line to Black Wall, because SO many guys I knew back in the day would think this if they were not sent to Vietnam -- "I was lucky you know. I wasn't there. And I didn't have to go. And face my fear."


Bugsy

[yogi]

I like Boomchild the best of all of DDY's solo work. Outside Looking In, and Wont Go Wasted are two of Dennis's best. I also did like Back To The World. Warning Shot , Black Wall and Unanswered Prayers were all very good. Desert Moon I felt was by faaarrr his weakest effort. There were some songs I just did not like at all on that record. Gravity & Desert Moon were good. Dear Darling & Dont Wait For Hereos were fair at best.

[gr8dane]

Awriite.
Maybe a slim version of each cd combined into one cd would do wonders.
I have listened to 'Back to the real world' five times after one another today, and the good songs are getting better.But the poppy songs sounds just so damn perky and to me a total turn off.(mainly on Boomchild)
I do not know if this would be totally unacceptable for Dennis purists. Since the songs are so keyboard dominated,I think if he was more prog than pop,there could be some excellent chances of some killer songs.
Black Wall is amazing and more in that vein is getting closer to bulls eye IMHO.
He could venture into Camel,Manfred Mann's Earth Band,Genesis(...and then there were 3) territory.
Now,that would be fantastic.But unlikely likely.

[kiddo]

>>>Dennis was on the committee that helped organize the largest pro-Vietnam veteren's rally ever, held in Chicago. There is a member here who was there that day and perhaps could expound a bit more, but supposedly the parade was amazing.

Black Wall was written for that event and I think it is one of the most powerful pieces of music and lyrics he has ever written.<<<

Actually, from what I know occurred at the time, Dennis was instrumental in bringing the moving wall version of the Viet Nam Memorial to Grant Park for the Welcome Home events. The $$$ from the concert he gave earlier in the spring that year at Park West ( it was a great show) paid for the scaled down version of the memorial to be transported and set up at the lakefront. I saw the memorial with my husband before Dennis' concert that evening. As a Boomer, it brought closure to me for a very difficult and painful time in our country.
It's been my hope Dennis knows what a truly wonderful and generous thing he did by bringing The Wall to the people of Chicago. He never mentions his actions but I trust he knows how grateful people are for his efforts.

Black Wall which easily could have been a Styx DeYoung song IMO, was written for Dennis' brother in law and friend Chuck Lofrano who toured 'Nam as a Marine I believe.

kiddo

[bugsymalone]

I could not remember all the details of this. Thanks for that info, Kiddo.

Bugsy