Jimmy Buffett Album: “Far Side of the World”

This is one of the most interesting albums I have listened to in years. There are songs on here to suit many different tastes. Yet while Jimmy experiments (mostly successfully) with different sounds, they all have a common denominator in that they are uniquely his style. He has an uncanny ability to lend his own signature sound to a bunch of totally different styles and come up with a cohesive album.

I thoroughly enjoyed about 9 out of 12 songs on this album, was content with one (hokey pokey), and was only really disappointed by two (Autour de Rocher and Altered Boy). The lyrics for these songs are good, but the music is either too experimental for JB (Autour) or a bit too odd for my taste (Altered Boy).

The rest of the album was a delight for me as a lover of good music, and particularly Buffett music. There are several great up-tempo songs which leave you either tapping your feet or driving a bit too fast if you are in you car listening to this CD. There are great Buffettesque tunes such as "Savannah", "Someday I Will", "Mademoiselle" and "Blue Guitar" which instantly transport you to another place, even though that place may not necessarily be Margaritaville. Perhaps the finest work on the album is the title track, "Far Side of the World", which is one of Jimmy's best songs in years, and would stand up to any "greatest hits" list. Jimmy closes the album with "Tonight I Just Need My Guitar", which is a beautiful acoustic guitar song that harks back to his earlier days. It rounds out the album perfectly in that even though he experiments with all these styles and sounds, ultimately it all comes back to Jimmy being himself.

One glaring omission on this album was the absence of Fingers Taylor. There are several parts which would have sounded great as harp, but are mixed in with accordion. Fingers would have made this "A" album an "A+", and possibly the best work put out by JB and crew.

I highly recommend this album to old and new JB fans, as well as anyone looking for a very diverse sounding, pleasant, fun album. This one gets better and better with each listen.

It's been quite a long time since Buffett has cranked out a CD with as much flavor and consistently enjoyable sound as Far Side of the World, but it was well worth the wait. All too often you see critics pointing to his earliest work (i.e., the stuff he wrote back when Ford was President) and attempting to make a rigid, unworkable comparison between a songwriter barely out of his twenties to a guy with three kids lookin' at sixty. But in this album, Buffett has actually managed to throw in those untamed lyrics that made him a beach bum icon right along with the relaxed anecdotes and introspection that can only come from years of living the life (or something approaching that) which he writes about.

Songs like "Last Man Standing" and "Zydecoldsmobile" have something about them that's vaguely reminiscent of his work in the late 70s early 80s, while "Tonight I Just Need my Guitar" and "Altered Boy" seem to achieve that new groove Buffett has been laboriously attempting to create since Barometer Soup.

All and all, I think this album is fantastic--arguably his best work since Off to See the Lizard. Far Side of the World should undoubtedly be seen as one of the peaks in Buffett's repertoire, the finished product of many years of attempting to create a "new sound" that, while undeniably different, is no less palatable to long-time Parrotheads and aspiring beach bums than A1A or Coconut Telegraph. Enjoy!

I've been a Buffett fan for about 30 years now and frankly haven't purchased much of his music since the early days with the exception of Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads"-- itself a compilation of earlier releases.

This one, however, stand on its own. With the exception of "hokey Pokey" (which makes a much better bumper sticker than song) and UUS Zydecoldsmobile (which is fairly obnoxious) I love this collection of JB music.

The best track on the CD is "Autour De Rocher" but, I'll admit, it took a while to grow on me. Finally the infectuous beat and the great story won me over. Now it's my favotite track.

"Blue Guitar", "Savannah", "Mademoiselle Voulez-Vous Danser", "Someday I Will" and "Tonight I Just Need My Guitar" round out the other best bets on this ballad-laden collection of JB music.

It's not just beer, pirates and margaritas anymore, but it is JB at his best.

Buffett's new CD hearkens back to some of his classic songs that every true Parrothead knows and loves, because many of the songs are stories taken from his own life's experiences. Unlike his last CD, which was good but had a few "stand-alone" songs that could have been sung by a variety of musicians, this CD could only be created by Jimmy. With the exception of a few songs that are well-done cover versions of other material, Buffett again takes us with him to places he's been, while at times making us look at our own lives as he reflects on his. His song, "Someday I Will" is a wistful song about making choices in life, whereas "Last Man Standing" is an upbeat song that only Jimmy could weave. All in all, a big A+ for his 33rd album!! Keep 'em comin'!!!

The old songs like Fins, Margaritaville, Let's Get Drunk, Cheeseburger, etc. that made the parking lot the place to be before the concert will always be there to draw the new fans in. And Jimmy will be in his glory onstage singing them.

But there is the other Jimmy Buffett; the man of the love song, the poignant story, the beautiful poem. And "Far Side of the World" might just be that Jimmy at his best. The acoustical guitar work is great on this album.