jdb1971

“Now With 100% More Meh!”

Revisado: 09-14-21

Sadly, sometimes I neglect to take advantage of the Preview feature on Audible listings. This was one of those times.
I haven’t listened to the entire book (maybe 60-70%), but so far it’s essentially Juvenile Fiction. If you like your horror dark and gritty, this is not for you.
The narrator sounds like he’s constantly imitating a nerd character from The Simpsons or King of the Hill. He isn’t though - unfortunately, that’s just his normal narrator voice.
A regrettable purchase.

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A Story That Needs To Be Heard...

Revisado: 05-11-21

I searched this out after hearing a podcast that summed up Smalls' life in 20 minutes (and wanting more). This is genuinely an American Story that deserves to be heard, and needs to be told...
While listening, I was at first put off a bit by the narrators' "imitations" of historic characters' quotations - I felt it was distracting and a bit hokey at first... the more I listened, the more I realized that the way this is executed is actually the best possible way to handle the numerous quotes.
This mans' story should absolutely be conveyed in the medium of film. What an epic life Smalls led, and what an impact he had.
I genuinely enjoyed learning about this inspiring man and the lives that intertwined with him. An awesome book, and well read. So grateful to Cate Lineberry for telling this tale, and illuminating me.

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Absolutely Fantastic (and I'm a snob)

Revisado: 05-11-21

This is pretty much the very best horror anthology I have listened to on Audible, and trust me, "horror anthology" is my main search phrase.
These stories are intelligent, creative, and engaging... they typically don't answer all of your questions (and I *love*that!!!), they don't spell things out for you, and they have just a touch of the surreal. There's natural... then supernatural... then beyond that you get into the surreal/unreal, and this has just the right amount of that last element.
Honestly, I've probably listened to *hundreds* of horror collections here, and this one checked all my boxes. Many times I listen and think I should do a review (whether positive or negative) - this collection *compelled* me to do a review.
Big thanks to all who were involved. The narrator made me a bit uncomfortable right from the first story, where he breathily sang for the sake of the story... as the stories wound along, I found that slight uncomfortability only added to the experience.
So very happy with this purchase. If you like your horror edgy, not always with the "good side" winning, and leaving you with lingering questions to ponder, this is probably very much for you.

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A few duds, but the Narrator is worth the journey!

Revisado: 07-28-19

I enjoyed this about 85% - a few titles fell flat, And a few stories lacked the ingredients to firmly place it in the "Horror" genre (like more of a romantic happy ending, or primarily humorous).
But the *Narrator*!
Aubrey Parsons is the epitome of an engaged, engaging story narrator. He had me hooked about 10 minutes in when this British voice performer did an extremely decent cookie monster impersonation. Heh. (If that scares you off a bit, trust me, you have to take it in context.) Some narrators who do "voices" to dramatize the material do a really half-way job, They aren't "seamless" when bouncing from true-narrator to character A to character B (etc). Parsons is a complete pro at it, and he never leaves you consciously aware of the audiobook "recording process." (I myself only noticed because I had just finished an audiobook poorly executed.) While most of the characters are obviously from the UK, there are several dialects/accents on (very talented) display, which gives variety to the characters and stories.
I'm glad to have an opportunity to review the book, and praise the narrator (and the choice of narrator).
PS - I''ve never met Mr. Parsons, nor am I related to him. (Heh.)

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Compellingly interesting, well-balanced, and FUN.

Revisado: 05-04-19

I'm about 2/3rds the way through the audiobook... I'll be honest, 90% of my love for Ian Mcnabb's work (solo and in the Icicle Works) is wrapped up in the IW debut album (and it's b-sides and alternates, which, if you haven't explored, make up an entire album to themselves). That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, the story of his youth and introduction to writing/playing music, as well as his life after that amazing first IW album.
I'm a semi-professional musician myself, and from that perspective, his insights and details are fun, funny, informative and varied (studios, locales, types of personnel, etc.).
The funnest thing about listening to his story, for me personally, is the simple fact that I find he & I agree on so many perspectives on relationships, politics (or lack thereof), musicianship, etc. I totally relate to Mcnabb on a lot of levels!
If you enjoyed a lot of the bands floating around during the 80s and 90s, you will enjoy hearing his stories that include many well-known (and some not-so-well-known) fellow musicians and artists (such as Stuart Adamson of Big Country, Mike Scott of the Waterboys, Joe Walsh, and Neil Young's band Crazy Horse).
Performance-wise, Mcnabb does a great job (this is for the audiobook, which he reads himself). The reading flows very well, and you don't really ever get the sense that he's "working" (i.e. you aren't ever distracted by the visual of him sitting on a stool in front of the mic with a sheaf of paper in his hand, as you can be with other narrators). The one practical nitpick I have is the "silent space" between chapters (they could have inserted a slightly longer break between the last line of chapter A and the beginning of chapter B), it feels a bit forced in that sense and does take away from the natural flow just a bit.
If you are even just a casual fan, but you find the music business/musicians-in-general interesting, I would highly recommend buying this and giving it a listen/look. I don't think you'll regret it one little bit. A very thoughtful, interesting and fun ride.

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Some good intentions, but sidelined . . .

Revisado: 03-03-19

**Disclaimer: I want to keep this brief. In doing so, I may fail to be very articulate and risk making more of a negative impression about myself rather than an objective review of the audiobook. That's my disclaimer and I hope you'll accept that as I mean it to be.**
There are two main things I want to say about this book:
1) It is more about the legends and stories *behind* any accounts moreso than about accounts themselves. I actually like that about the book. If you like to watch those reality-TV shows where teams go into places and do a lot of infrared video, and show you EVP graphs and such, this book will probably disappoint you.
2) The author repeatedly discusses racial injustice and discrimination in this book. I understand. I get it. Honestly, I genuinely do. But they come back to it, chapter after chapter after chapter in such a way as to leave me thinking they should have either titled the book differently, or should simply write a book geared toward and discussing racial injustice in the arena of folklore. (And that would probably make a great book. I very well might buy it, with a transparent approach from the author intact.) It just got to the point of where you felt they had a second agenda they were trying to sell, the way the author would touch on it, move on to another location and another set of legends, only to come back to it again, move on and come back to it again. If it was a solid thread that weaved through the entire book, it would have been more enjoyable (but would, as I said, be better suited with a relevant title). Overall, I enjoyed the book enough to stick with it, though.

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esto le resultó útil a 6 personas

Not Like "Frozen Frights"! Be Aware...

Revisado: 12-25-16

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I didn't pay close attention when I purchased this. I had just enjoyed Frozen Frights Vol 1 and somehow was thinking this was the same premise. It is NOT. This is not a collection of stories, but rather a "soap opera" based on the actual fictional Icebox Radio station, and it's key players. While the script does have it's moments, and it does have some very unique plot twists, the performances are pretty amateur for the most part, and, compared to Frozen Frights, I was disappointed. (Again, to be fair, had I paid closer attention to the description, I would have saved myself the disappointment.)

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

One Unique Caveat, Only For Fans Of Bob & Ray

Revisado: 10-09-16

Any additional comments?

Buyer beware, if you happen to be a Bob & Ray fan (and a fan of Lovecraft) - listen to the audio sample before purchasing. (I didn't. Heh.) As it happens, the narrator sounds a heck of a lot like Bob Goulding, when doing his "straight" characters (those without a lot of accent or heavy inflection). I noticed it immediately when I started the book. And later when he does do various character voices, it's even more noticeable. Kinda makes it hard to take the dark stories very seriously... for me, anyway. Some of them are very good, though, in spite of this.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas