lewis taylor

The first album is one of the best of the 90s. Dynamics, as you say: an extraordinary grip on a very funky climax-and-release (I think marcello has descrrbed this well in his website blog); and a breadth and depth of melodrama, sound, and wit that repays constant relistenings.

Crap lyrics, though.

What is this s/t you mention?

I'd agree with Jon that the first album is one of the best of the 90s. It sounded unusual when I first heard it, still sounds unusual now.

What's the problem with the "idea of" Lewis Taylor? Whatever the idea, the reality's pretty good.

Great guitarist and studio manipulator besides that voice.

You couldn't say he's gone further 'out there' on this one - there are tracks in a similar vein to the first album alongside poppier efforts (the lovely 'Send me an angel').

Worth hearing though. As is the second one - a lot denser, and he seems to have disowned it himself but I like it.

Wow, I picked up Lewis Taylor's The Lost Album today, totally on a whim, and it's floored me so far. Nothing revolutionary about these songs, but Taylor's multi-tracked harmonies make this very immediate.

Anyone else heard it? An ILX search turned up almost no discussion of Taylor (and I hadn't heard of him before reading a few recommendations for this disc).

Yeah, I downloaded it from emusic a while ago and it's really lovely. Much more of a Todd Rundgren vibe than you would expect given his rep as a soul guy.

Like The Lost Album, love Stoned.

"Leader Of The Band" also great...

very odd, sitting here in Colorado listening to The Lost Album. So I still have not heard what is described as blue-eyed soul previous records, but definitely on some of this he sounds like Marvin Gaye. But this is one great record by any standard--now he plays like Hendrix, now he multi-tracks like later Arthur Lee, now he sounds like Brian Wilson, now he uncannily evokes Big Star (on "Listen Here," which is sort of everyhing Chris Bell ever wanted to do, right down to LT's guitar solo which brings "I Am the Cosmos" to mind. But he kinda cuts or at least holds his own with all the above, and I think it comes off, well, excessively musical, canny and elusive, as opposed to just another homage. I've had this record since it came out and I'm just now hearing how incredible it is. I think the excessive musicality works against, commercially, and I do perceive here how the lyrics (someone upthread says this) could be heard as kinda dopey. On the other hand, he sings his ass off and another comparison might be Green Gartside, in the sense that you've got someone manipulating this stuff but somehow staying really heartfelt. There are some incredibly subtle and amazingly fucking solid ideas on every song, and "Listen Here" and "Leader of the Band" I've become slightly addicted to. It sounds great out here in the clean mountain air, big cumulus clouds marching along in a blue sky...

Every few months these days, when I feel like I need a pick-me-up (but not of the "angry" or "ironic" variety), I return to The Lost Album. Today (New Year's Day, 2008) is one of those days.

What a great album. At the moment, I'm mostly hooked on Hide Your Heart Away, and really loving the little touches in it, e.g., the echoing voices that fade out with the song. And every comparison point Whisperineddhurt makes above is absolutely OTM.

Listening to this, I wonder why Lewis isn't bigger. He has a big pop sound, the harmonies are amazing, and there are interesting ideas in every song on The Lost Album. The point above -- that Taylor's music is "excessively musical" -- sounds possibly right ("Too many notes," Antonio Salieri might say). The lyrics are dopey, but I can't imagine this holds Taylor back.

yeah, I need to get this back out--it's late-summer/early fall music, if you know what I mean. I guess by "excessively musical" I mean subtle--there's something really classically finished about his music that coexists nicely with what can seem like looseness. I think he ranks up there with Chris Bell, Chilton, Crenshaw, Stamey, at the game of instant nostalgia which is also real longing. I gotta get his whole catalog this year, good new yr's resolution. Anyway, could be why he's "not bigger," Daniel--maybe he can seem thoeretical to people who aren't pop obsessive types (but why deny yourself that pleasure?). and man, his Brian Wilson imitation is uncanny.

I haven't downloaded his other discs available on eMusic: Stoned, Pt. 2 and Limited Edition. The samples sound very different from The Lost Album, though. I see references above to Taylor discs, but I'm not sure they're the same ones eMusic has available (which appear via the attached link). If anyone's heard them and has an opinion, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Now that I'm giving it further thought, maybe the reason that Taylor isn't "bigger" is because there isn't much room on the charts these days for either "blue-eyed soul" (terrible term) or power-pop? For instance, with their amazingly catchy hooks, I wonder why The New Pornographers haven't been chart staples, but in some ways, I think their type of music is bit of an anachronism these days.

not heard anything since lewis 2 but always found his faux marvin gaye vocals a little annoying. love 'lucky' from the first album though.

not heard anything since lewis 2 but always found his faux marvin gaye vocals a little annoying. love 'lucky' from the first album though.

Have you heard The Lost Album? I hear Marvin Gaye in Taylor's voice, but it hardly sounds like pastiche or mere mimicry to me.

I just popped into a Lewis Taylor forum to see if it had information about upcoming projects. Instead, I see some fans reporting that Taylor is working as a plumber now. Maybe that's just something for Taylor to do between projects, but to me it's another example of how the music industry -- really the arts, in general, with some exceptions -- are not a meritocracy. This is the point I was making (inartfully, in all likelihood) on the Bill Cosby Defeated Hip Hop thread.

"are" = "is" in the second-to-last sentence above. thx.

An ILX thread got me wondering about my favorite albums of the decade. I think The Lost Album is among them, so I went over to a Lewis Taylor fansite and saw this announcement:

Latest Official News
direct from LT's management

Lewis Taylor no longer records or performs, he quit the music industry in June 2006. He doesn’t support this fansite or any myspace profile.

That's a shame. The guy is very talented.

this is great ! wow. seriously, how someone this talented gets thrown to the wayside is just sad...
and yes this music is meant for "theoretical pop obsessive types". probably too "musical " for those who like their pop generic and MOR, and probably too "pop" for those who are interested in the proggier aspects of the music.

Yeah, it is a great album. Anyone have an update on the guy since he retired in June 2006? His website has been frozen in cache form since then, and there's no new information anywhere.

He's entitled to his privacy and to totally back away from the public light, of course. I was hoping he'd decide to record again.

It happens, occasionally.

I only know Robbie Williams' cover version.

Good luck to the guy.

There should be a thread "Artists who just walked away", i.e. reasons other than 'health'...

Lewis Taylor, The Sundays, etc

The wiki page needs a bit of work too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Taylor

Well this is fascinating if frustrating...

http://souljones.com/exclusive-features/2016/6/14/questions-answers-lewis-taylor

wow. good on him.

Releasing a new album this year apparently …this has now officially been a most strange year

It’s out now, and it’s gorgeous