The Confessor Songs Ranked
The Confessor is the seventh studio album by the American hard rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Joe Walsh. The album was released in mid 1985, on the labels Warner Bros. Records, and Full Moon Records. The album was produced by Grammy Award winning producer and sound engineer Keith Olsen as well as Walsh himself. The album peaked at number 65 on the Billboard 200. The album includes a cover of Michael Stanley’s “Rosewood Bitters,” which got some FM airplay in the US; Walsh played slide guitar on the original recording which Stanley originally recorded. On this version instead he plays an electric guitar. “Slow Dancing” is a song written by Loz Netto for Walsh. Netto was the guitarist in the English band called “Moon” from the mid-1970s and the band “Sniff ‘n’ the Tears” from the late 1970s. A variety of styles are explored on this album, including elements of blues, pop, and even Caribbean music. The title song is more in the vein of progressive rock. Here are all of The Confessor songs ranked.
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9. 15 Years
“This album was slaughtered by critics upon its release, and has been catagorized as ordinary and typical 70’s rock, but of course, these people are totally wrong. The Confessor finds Walsh in the middle of the eighties still rockin like it was the 70’s.”
8. Dear John
“Joe Walsh is not my ‘Hero’. He has not done anything heroic, apart from his personal success with alcohol addiction. However, along with Jimmy Page, he is a great favourite of mine when it comes to guitar playing. I love the treatment he gives each song with his individual style.”
7. Slow Dancing
“The words and the music gives you a good feel of what is really going on. You travel as you listen to each song. After listening to this record, I’ve always said to myself, “unbelievable, this is so good.””
See more: Joe Walsh Albums Ranked
6. Good Man Down
“Good Man Down” could’ve been a good-ol’-boy rocker if they had the solid sound of real drums, not this imitation electronic kit going “pfft pfft”. I think Szymczyk would have also known not to imbue the shiny sound-of-the-day on the album–Joe Walsh sounds best when he’s jamming, grooving, and having fun; the slick production makes the songs here sound awkward.”
5. Bubbles
“This is both an easy and difficult album to assess. Easy to write it off because it’s essentially a pieced together jumble that suffers from its’ dated-to-the-era production values. So where do the difficulties lie? Unlike the previous album (and even some earlier classics) I find it hard to tell if Walsh is trying to live up to his funny-man reputation here, or if the joke is on him, in a very self-deprecating manner.”
4. Rosewood Bitters
“Rosewood Bitters.” I haven’t heard Michael Stanley’s original, but this is a good ’80s pop-rock song, and one of my favourite ’80s tracks from Walsh. The synths are very ’80s, but they actually fit here.”
See more: Joe Walsh Songs Ranked
3. I Broke My Leg
“A slight return to the past glory for Joe Walsh. Good lord, the title track is a massive guitar workout, actually all of side b is cool. I am not going to say that a mental adjustment and headphones help but they most certainly do.”
2. Problems
“One distinguishing characteristic here are the large amount of session musicians compared to previous albums. That, and the aforementioned production job – especially the drums – which can come off as pretty sterile upon initial listens.”
1. The Confessor
“The undeniable focal point is the title track, which tone-wise feels like the most serious Joe has been in a long time, yet taken within the context of album, one cannot help but think it’s deep cover for something less than.”
