Good stuff ! I have owned this for two days, and listened to it 4 times, it gets better and better to me each time through.Great to see Peter continue to stretch and grow through the years, he is unmistakenly a genius at playing the guitar and song writing.I would recommend this cd to anyone who likes Peter Frampton, he is here NOW and he's Back !
Don't miss out I am probably the typical Peter Frampton fan--played the vinyl version of "Frampton Comes Alive" over and over, and then forgot about him. Then, after seeing him recently featured on A&E's "Biography," I remembered how gorgeous his guitar playing is and how hooky his songs are. So I took chance and ordered "Now." All I have to say is, wow! This is the best possible type of CD--maybe it doesn't bowl you over on the first listening (I don't think the little 30-second excerpts you can listen to for free really do the songs justice.) But it'll grow on you, believe me. It's now in my daily rotation.
There's a nice mix here of hard-rock guitar-playing and softer ballads. Go ahead, take a chance. He sounds as good as ever.
A stripped down sound and a worthy Frampton comeback album It has been nearly 10 years since Peter Frampton's last studio album, and it is unfortunate that we have had to wait so long for it to materialise. Though this `comeback' album is a good effort of the standard we are accustomed to from Peter, it is hardly the `magnum opus' that one might have expected after a decade's virtual silence. The sound of the album is quite basic and stripped-down, being essentially loud electric guitars (or ringing acoustic guitars), bass and drums, with subtle keyboard textures, the band being the same as that featured on Frampton's 1999 `Live in Detroit' concert album - Bob Mayo from the 1976 `Comes alive' album, John Regan (another longstanding Frampton associate), and Chad Cromwell the regular drummer with Mark Knopfler. There is little of the synthesizer overdubbing previously used on albums such as `I'm in you' and Frampton's 1994 studio album; the sound is very much that of the live band, but performing in the studio.
The songs are typical Frampton - mostly not particularly memorable at first hearing, but pleasant enough to grow on you when heard several times. Stylistically the album covers Peter's usual territory of acoustic guitar ballads and heavier R&B influenced rock, and listeners hoping for much innovation or experimentation would be disappointed - this is standard Frampton material, and though it is done well one can't help wondering why it took so long for the record to be completed. For me the most satisfying moments are when Peter departs a little from his usual formula, and performs a powerful version of George Harrison's `While my guitar gently weeps', followed by `Greens', a long instrumental piece reminiscent of some of Jeff Beck's `jazz-rock' work in the mid-70s. On these two tracks the extended guitar solos are somewhat more eloquent than in the rest of the album, and are a reminder of Frampton's past track record as a very tasteful and melodic electric guitar soloist.
For anyone not already familiar with Frampton's work, this would probably not be the best place to start, although for the committed fan it will be an essential purchase. I feel that with its generally simple musical arrangements it is a good complement to the 1994 `Peter Frampton' album (his previous studio album), which is more complex in its arrangements and is possibly a more carefully crafted album. Consequently I recommend that the listener should not buy one without the other, and along with the Detroit live album these studio recordings would give a good representation of where Peter Frampton really is at `Now'.
It should be noted that the German edition of `Now' contains three extra tracks compared with the original American edition, and in Britain it is also cheaper. This extended edition on the Framptone / SPV label, with 14 songs and a total length of just over an hour, is a particularly good bargain, and much better than the 11-track US edition. (All credits and vocals are of course in English.) The SPV version of the Detroit live album is also much longer than the US version.
frampton is still alive...barely i bought this cd because i heard his rendition of "while my guitar gently weeps" on the radio. his version of the song is a powerful one. typical of frampton guitar play. melodic that becomes more powerful towards the end of the song. peter does the song justice as i could feel the pain through his guitar play. as for the rest of the songs they are ok, something for noise while you do your homework or pay bills, but nothing that really grabbed me.
Great! I took a listen to this thing at Border's today, thinking, "what the hell." I thought he would sound like a dinosaur, but I was astonished to find myself tapping my foot to the first song. So, I listened some more, liked it and bought it. Now, I'm playing it constantly. Nice job Peter! I'd never bought one of his albums, but I'm glad I got this one.
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