Pay in installments of $4.53 with
,
and
Shipping Estimate
USA
- USA
- CAN
- USA
- CAN
Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Aug 30 - Sep 4
For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15
Description
John Train: Mesopotamia Blues - COMPACT DISCSTitle: Mesopotamia Blues Artist: John Train Label: CD Baby Product Type: COMPACT DISCS UPC: 837101384537 Genre: Folk Release Date: 2007 09 25 Number of Discs: 1 JOHN TRAIN responds to Neil Young's challenge and returns with the MESOPOTAMIA BLUES In 2006, Neil Young released his Living with War CD. In several interviews, he stated that he had been waiting for a younger songwriter to stand up and write an anti war record but, alas, none did. Jon Houlon,
Title: Mesopotamia BluesArtist: John Train
Label: CD Baby
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 837101384537
Genre: Folk
Release Date: 2007-09-25
Number of Discs: 1
JOHN TRAIN responds to Neil Young's challenge and returns with the MESOPOTAMIA BLUES In 2006, Neil Young released his Living with War CD. In several interviews, he stated that he had been waiting for a younger songwriter to stand up and write an anti-war record but, alas, none did. Jon Houlon, singer-songwriter for John Train, took that as a challenge. "I understood where Neil was coming from. But I also felt that his approach to the war was somewhat ill-considered. I decided to hit the books." And hit the books Houlon did. In addition to reading about the current conflict, he studied Iraqi folk tales, read a history of Britain's involvement in Iraq (which was previously called "Mesopotamia"), and, in general, "pulled the threads." Mesopotamia Blues, John Train's 4th CD and first for the Philadelphia-based Chapter 7 Records, represents the fruits of his labor. "I think it's crucial to see this war as part of a much larger continuum. It goes back at least as far as England's involvement in the early 20th Century." Houlon continues, "I also see this conflict as a continuation of what happened in the Vietnam Era and during Ronald Reagan's war against homeless people in the 1980s. It's all connected. One long war." Houlon felt it important to include other voices and opinions. In addition to setting a Rudyard Kipling poem to music, he draws on the catalogues of some of his favorite songwriters: Butch Hancock, Tom T. Hall, Terry Allen, and John Stewart. Houlon adds, "In a way, I didn't feel qualified to write about, say, Vietnam. So I pulled on some of my heroes. The particular songs I selected aren't very well known but, in my book, they're as good as it gets. I wanted to see if I could write some tunes that could compete along side of them. I hope I succeeded!" None of this would matter if Mesopotamia Blues failed to deliver the sonic wallop necessary to support Houlon's lofty concept. Fortunately, the band hooked up with renowned Philadelphia engineer Brian McTear and recorded the CD in his Fishtown studio, Miner Street/Cycle Sound. Houlon comments, "While I'm very fond of our first three records (Angels Turned Thieves, Looks Like Up, and The Sugar Ditch all on the Record Cellar label), I think we've upped the ante with this one. It sounds bigger, more aggressive." As he has on their previous releases, John Train dobro whiz, Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner, takes the production seat. From the opening salvo of "Alfredo Garcia" to Butch Hancock's epic "Already Gone" to the concluding elegy of the title track, Mesopotamia Blues is a work of great insight and musical power. John Train (now in it's 12 year!) has achieved legendary status based both on their recorded work and the hundreds of shows they've played, drawing on their vast repertoire of folk and country covers as well as Houlon's critically acclaimed originals. But longtime fans and new listeners alike will be shocked and awed by the new direction of the Mesopotamia Blues. Perhaps Neil Young will be as well!
Tracks:
1.1 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia
1.2 Equipment Failure
1.3 Don't He Look Good?
1.4 Leachman's Ghost
1.5 Draft Age
1.6 Mulloy 2006
1.7 Mama Bake a Pie
1.8 The Kind Merchant
1.9 Yo Ho Ho
1.10 Already Gone
1.11 Look Her in the Eye
1.12 Mesopotamia (1917)
Shipping Notes
- Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
- Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
- Delivery to the USA:
- Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
- If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
- We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
- Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
- To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
- Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
4.3 ★★★★★
Based on 17 reviews
Sort
Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Amazing!
Format: Kindle, Format: Kindle
This book was phenomenal, I devoured it within a few days! For this being a debut novel, it is fantastic and I would’ve thought the author was a seasoned author. I have zero complaints about this book.
Let me start by saying that the world building was phenomenal. I could picture everything in my head because of how detailed it was — that’s how good it was written. And I absolutely love the “captive/captor” trope so much, it’s become one of my favorite tropes, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that this book had that.
I loved the banter between Rogue and Ara — they’re both snarky and witty, plus with the romantic tension, it made the dialogue that much better. Speaking of romantic tension, yes there is spice but not so much of it that it overrides the plot, which I loved. For me, this would probably be on the 3/5 level of spice.
This book had a ton of plot twists and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2024
★★★★★ 4
High on Tropes and Satisfaction
Format: Kindle
This is a great Romantasy book full of action, adventure, and everything you look for in this genre.
I won’t lie: it does kinda feel like the author found every common trope from every successful book of this kind and threw them all into this novel. But if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Especially in romance, there’s a large audience who has specific expectations, and they want them every time. Nothing wrong with that and many times I’m one of them.
I have no idea what defines a spoiler honestly, so
spoiler alert!!!!!!!
Tropes include:
Only one bed at the inn/bar
Dissatisfaction with life before hunk appears
Lost royalty
The chosen one
Montage of dress up time followed by shocked hunk
Forbidden romance between two from rival peoples
Power that cannot be controlled, simply guided/asked
Gathering intel at the inn/bar
FMC who knows how to fight/use weapons well
There’s probably more but no need to list them all.
Good story and I would recommend!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2024
★★★★★ 5
Beauty as an assassin? Yes, please.
Format: Kindle
I am a sucker for Beauty and the Beast retellings, especially when there is fae magic involved.
This story is a stand-alone and can easily be read and enjoyed as such, but the story in the background is waiting to unfold.
Briannis is a lost woman trying to find her place in the world. She happens to be an excellent assassin, but only when there is a good reason behind the job. She runs afoul of the law and is coerced into killing the King of Fae.
Their tale begins with much violence and mistrust. They reach an understanding that turns into more as they are stuck inside the Keep thanks to the murderous roses encasing the building.
Some of my favorite quotes
"This is not very..."
"Proper?" His low drawl curled around her guts, sweet and syrupy. "I thought you'd realise by now that I'm far from a
proper man, Miss Iavi."
She swallowed hard. "You're... you're not making sense. You don't even like me."
"I don't?" he said dryly.
"I tried to kill you! Three times in a row!"
"You may want to leave," he added, barely even moving his lips. His voice was low and raspy, little more than a growl; the words came out with laboured breaths. "Before I no longer let you."
"You can’t just act like you didn’t have your fingers inside me a few hours ago! That’s not something you talk about over strawberries!"
He took a sip of tea. "You’ve had your knife inside me too."
"That," she said exasperatedly, "is something extremely different."
"In the sense that I’d be happy to repeat one incident and not the other, yes." He smiled at her over his teacup, shameless...
"You make a terrible king out of me, Briannis Iavi."
"Are you very sure? There’s no need to be polite if you—"
"I’m not being polite!" A trembling laugh escaped her. "I have no intention at all of being polite to you!"
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2023
★★★★★ 4
So cute
Format: Kindle
I really enjoyed this retelling! This read was a quick read, and had all the love you need in it! I love the King and the assassin. Cannot wait to continue this series!
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2023
★★★★★ 3
Love how this author writes, BUT..
Format: Kindle
I wanted to love everything about this book. I had this book release on my calendar. I read it the moment it became available. I’ve become a big fan after Marshall’s Blood and Bindings series, and I think she does a beautiful job writing complex, thoughtful characters.
BUT.
Spoilers below-
This book missed the mark in two important ways for me. The first is the intro - this “very proper lady assassin” - first of all - we are supposed to believe that SHE is who the most powerful man in the city chose to assassinate his mortal enemy? Sure. She had killed some unsuspecting guys. But the leap from there to a Fae king with magic? And when she goes to do it- she does it by blindly bumbling around his castle and walking into the room where he is and trying to stab him in the middle of the day? I am willing suspend a lot of disbelief for a good story, but that was a major stretch that made the whole premise of the book feel contrived.
And second… a whole dead side of his body? Like … dead. As in.. she smelled the rot. Saw the skeleton and dead mouth and skin. And then … had sex with it?
Um. I’m no prude but … yuck. I couldn’t get past the necrophiliac imagery and visual, and it was a major turn off for me.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2023