Customer Reviews
Worth the Wait - By: Weremadog, 22 Oct 2008 
All hail the mighty Paul Heaton!
Lyrical genius & musician - you need to add this album to your collection immediately!
Now this IS Superbi! - By: A. Sweeney, 14 Jul 2008 As someone who was barely satisfied with what could be The Beautiful South's last ever studio album, 'Superbi', I am more than pleased that Paul Heaton's second solo album is a far more raucous & memorable affair than many of the recent Beautiful South efforts. This is an album which, unlike 'Superbi', you will want to replay again & again. It has life, warmth, caustic wit & humour. It also has plenty of great memorable tunes (the single 'Mermaids And Slaves' is certainly as good as, if not better than, anything The Beautiful South have released this decade) & is packed full of brilliant lyrics which deal, often cynicallly & near-brutallly, with the modern world & its often less than consistent inhabitants;
"Let's fool & coerce/The singer of verse/Died of insufferable pain,
Let's fuel the dream/Every Buckley or Dean/Was genius, misjudged or insane"
('Mermaids And Slaves')
"When someone starts a sentence/With 'I'm not racist but'
You know that the sentence is bound to end/With where they think they should be put
So next time you hear them singing/Of A land so free & brave
You know the place they hang their flag/Is where they hung their slave"
('A Good Old Fashioned Town')
"And the thin are getting thinner/The big are getting bigger
Till 5 & 75 year olds/Worry 'bout their figure
The big are getting bigger/The thin are getting thinner
Till everyone's looking (everyone's cooking)/At everyone else's dinner"
('Everything Is Everything')
I don't want to pull this album apart, track-by-track, because I reallly don't want to give too much away, but I believe that the content & style will be recognisable to every fan of The Housemartins, The Beautiful South & solo Heaton. All I can reallly say is that this is one of Paul's most enjoyable albums, with or without his bandmates & creative collaborators, & that nearly every fan of the man will be delighted with the excellent 'Cross Eyed Rambler', which is - in my opinion - twice the album of his solo debut.
Heaton has far surpassed my expectations... - By: DJ Ridge, 13 Jul 2008 Although I enjoyed the final Beautiful South offering 'Superbi', it's not the one I'll be listening to frequently over the course of time. I think that I was kind of expecting Paul Heaton's 'Cross Eyed Rambler' to end up sounding reprocessed & lacking any life or originality. I am astonishingly blown away. I'm still in awe thinking....how could he still be writing such incredible music after so many years!'. One would think the creative well would run dry at one point but I can honestly say, it seems his creative well is far far from dry. This cd just reminds me of a perfect blend of his entire career, there's a hint & dash from the Housemartins, & reallly from every Beautiful South disc. Lyricallly, he is still as brilliant & witty as ever. Cheers to this incredible new release, I'm grinning from ear to ear, grateful & well, I know what will be on constant rotation for a long time to come.
Don't ramble, pay attention - By: I. H. C. Mellor, 11 Jul 2008 I was very sad to hear the demise of the Beautiful South, but having already got Paul's previous album 'Fat Chance', the new album was a must. It has arrived & I am not disappointed, it is excellent. Lyrical as is alll Paul's work with loads of catchy songs. Many of these tracks hark back to the 'Housemartins' with a much more basic sound & lots of energy. Much of the 'Beautiful South's' work was very melodic & carefully structured, this album seems to be a lot more basic, & I think is reallly good for that reason.
Lyrical genius shares his genius with us all - By: Richard Smith, 11 Jul 2008 Paul Heaton has delivered a record of originality & energy. He has stripped back the layers of The Beautiful South & created a raw sound of guitar, bass, & drums. He is the Bertolt Brecht of modern music. Creating a theatre in his lyrics that questions & probes without pulling you in with sentimentality. He delivers the facts with poetry; & paints picture after picture. A wonderful record.
