Rough Trade Us
2005
Gemstones
About This Album
Musically, Adam Green is a strict classicist, a pop craftsman par excellence. He seems to be a very keen and very gifted student of pop music's vast and intricate rule book. Thus his music is not especially original in any way, though often sophisticated, tuneful, and clever. On Gemstones, the third and best of his solo albums, Green seems to have perfected his art. Some of the tracks here rank among the finest pop songs that are made these days. These tunes all have something in common: almost every one of them lasts for about two minutes, stripping away every possibly unnecessary part. They are also all pretty much arranged the same way: just acoustic guitar, bass, electric piano, and some tastefully arranged strings here and there. Green and his excellent backing band makes the most of that simple lineup on every track. Then, of course, there are the lyrics. Green sings the darndest things. Who else could write a great stomping cabaret-pop number with all clean and fun lyrics except for that one crucial line (and song title!) "Choke on a C**k"? This penchant of his for extremely obscene and downright childish lyrics can surely turn people off, but it seems to be an integral part of his artist persona.
Track List (try tracks 1,3,5,7 and 8)

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