Chris Isaak...outstanding recordings for hi-fi

[tomlinmgt]

Yes, radio and MTV wore out his one big hit "Wicked Game" in the early nineties, but he is quite a good songwriter with a unique style...Roy Orbison meets early 60's surf with lots of other good genres mixed in. And the recording quality is top notch with excellent production. Really fun to listen to on a good system. "Heart Shaped World", "San Francisco Days", and "Forever Blue" are standout releases . All three of these are usually pretty easy to find anywhere you can get used cd's. Check him out...

 

[stoutblock]

Yes, radio and MTV wore out his one big hit "Wicked Game" in the early nineties, but he is quite a good songwriter with a unique style...Roy Orbison meets early 60's surf with lots of other good genres mixed in. And the recording quality is top notch with excellent production. Really fun to listen to on a good system. "Heart Shaped World", "San Francisco Days", and "Forever Blue" are standout releases . All three of these are usually pretty easy to find anywhere you can get used cd's. Check him out...

My wife likes him and I have learned to like him a lot. First time I heard him I thought it was Roy Orbinson...

 

[Arkay]

I first heard him on a trendy friend's system when he had just released his first album, and immediately went out and got myself a copy. Have added a couple more CDs since then. He has a distinctive voice and style, and generally I like his stuff! :thmbsp: My wife seems to like his music, too, which is always a plus.

 

[chicks]

My wife likes him and I have learned to like him a lot. First time I heard him I thought it was Roy Orbinson...

Heh, my wife loves the guy; I mentioned to her that if she likes Isaak, she should like Orbison. "But he doesn't look like Chris". Whatever...

 

[eljr]

I like him a lot, I think he is excellent.

 

[Ghog]

Love Chris Isaak. Excellent voice and style. I grab everything of his I see.

 

[Hifirob2]

Great voice, and VERY good recordings. I was given a handful of his CDs, and noticed how good the recordings sounded compared to other artists.

I wonder if he had critical recording standards that resulted in a "better" product? With that voice, I'd bet he also only used certain mics to showcase it. (Not implying that other artists had lax standards)

 

[MJSNet]

Definitely agree about quality production. Nice, clean sound that can be played really loud and still be pleasant on the ears. :thmbsp:

 

[targeteye]

Yep.. I concur.. very good

 

[tomlinmgt]

Heh, my wife loves the guy; I mentioned to her that if she likes Isaak, she should like Orbison. "But he doesn't look like Chris". Whatever...

Sometimes I wonder if his good looks might have actually hamstrung his career a bit....if not lost him a little credibility as a musician. Easy to write him off as a pretty boy and never bother to look a little deeper. Hell, that's what I did for over a decade!
But beyond the songs, which are damn good, the production value of his work is top notch. EQ'd to perfection yet still organic and the way the layers and textures of the instruments/vocals/ and effects are recorded is very impressive. Again, it takes a good system to pull it all out, but his stuff really makes my Time Frames, L100T3's, and SDA-1c's show what they've got.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Great voice, and VERY good recordings. I was given a handful of his CDs, and noticed how good the recordings sounded compared to other artists.

I wonder if he had critical recording standards that resulted in a "better" product? With that voice, I'd bet he also only used certain mics to showcase it. (Not implying that other artists had lax standards)

He had the same producer (Erik Jacobsen) and engineer (Mark Needham) on the three releases I mentioned above. Evidently those guys figured out how to nail his sound. They should be very proud. I found this little piece on Wikipedia.

When Heart Shaped World was released in the summer of 1989, it was on Billboard's pop album chart for ten weeks, reaching no higher than No. 149; but in October 1990, after Lee Chesnut, music director of WAPW in Atlanta, played the song repeatedly over two weeks after hearing an instrumental version on the soundtrack from the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, "Wicked Game" was released as a single and the album reached the 7th spot on the chart, garnering sales of more than 500,000 copies.[2]

In March 1991, Entertainment Weekly described the scene at the sold-out start of his post-"Wicked Game" release tour:[3]

Reprise staged a gaudy, sold-out gig at L.A.'s Wiltern Theater. Sean Penn was there. So were Eric Roberts, k.d. lang, Dwight Yoakam, and, standing discreetly in a side aisle, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. There were lots of young girls, whose screaming Isaak may have to get used to. Afterward came The Hollywood Party, where, amid more dazzling stars, Isaak (decked out in his shiny brocade stage suit) got his first gold record while the waiters passed around goat cheese quesadillas and a Hawaiian band played in the background. It was a lot to handle, but then, as Isaak had said the night before..., "I used to tar-paper roofs for a living. So, as far as I'm concerned, this is a pretty fun job."

At the first of a May 1991 two-night stand at the Beacon Theatre in New York City—the first in that city after "Wicked Game" became a top 10 hit— Isaak's performance was characterized as "consummate showmanship": performances "right on the edge of caricature" yet with the ability to "infuse the ballads "Wicked Game" and "Blue Spanish Sky" ... with a spine-tingling intensity."[4]

 

[kneeOhFight]

very talented guy, great voice. His TV comedy show, "The Chris Isaak Show", was so quirky and dorky it was actually good. Anybody else ever see it?

 

[Art K.]

I really enjoy Chris Isaak and have several of his CD's.

 

[tomlinmgt]

very talented guy, great voice. His TV show, "The Chris Isaak Show", was so quirky and dorky it was actually good. Anybody else ever see it?

You know, I saw just one episode of that show when I had a free week of HBO or Showtime or whatever channel it was on. I remember one skit where a young member of his band talked Chris into loaning him several thousand dollars so his girlfriend could get surgery for some dire medical condition...Chris loans him the money and a week or so later the young bandmember and his girlfriend show up at a party or gig or something and she has a fresh new boob job. A week later the girlfriend broke up with the bandmember....cracked me up. Yes, he seemed to have a sort of quirkiness/dorkiness about him that gave the impression he wasn't hung up on himself which I thought was cool. Seemed like a cool show with musical guest cameos and such....should probably track some of that stuff down on Netflix.

 

[grillebilly]

while eying over a bunch of records I was purchasing the clerk handed me a stack of promotional LP's. among them was his first record. Being a big fan of roots music, rockabilly especially, this guy just blew me away.
Naturally my GF at the time (now wife) was enamored as well. She caught him live at Barrymores in Ottawa, for $6. Still have the concert poster on my wall which she grabbed on the way out.
Gotta like this guy, a real cool cat who is also a character off the stage.
Oh yeah, his records do sound great too.
think I'll play some now

 

[chicks]

Again, it takes a good system to pull it all out, but his stuff really makes my Time Frames, L100T3's, and SDA-1c's show what they've got.

Heh, just playing with some "new" Polk Monitor 10's, replaced the TF-350's with them a couple hours ago; Polks have more bass without any boominess. Had to rearrange some furniture to get the Polks to fit, while SWMBO is out. Guess what I'll be playing when she returns and discovers what transpired while she was gone? Testing Heart Shaped World right now, you're right, it sounds pretty darn good!

 

[grillebilly]

my copy of Silvertone has mysteriously disappeared
listening to his second, self titled release now.
have to find another copy of his first record I guess :tears: