The Indescribable Wow

Rate It! Avg: 5.0 (8 ratings)
Sample Album
The Indescribable Wow album cover
Album Information
  • Artist: Sam Phillips (See All Albums by Sam Phillips)

  • Date Released: Jun 29, 1988

  • Genre: Alternative/Punk, Style: Rock, Indie Rock, Alternative, Commercial Alternative

  • Label: VIRGIN

  • Copyright: (P) (C) 1988 Virgin Records America, Inc.. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws. Manufactured by Virgin Records America, Inc., 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011.

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 34:24

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5 Star Winner

battlefeverj

This is the best album I've downloaded this year! No kidding, this one album was worth my entire year's subscription. INDESCRIBABLE WOW is loaded with 10 tracks of solid songwriting and production. It avoids the use of 80's musical "gimmicks"; that's probably why this still sounds so sweet 23 years later! The songs are smart, but not flippant or cynical, and with an honesty that makes them emotionally engaging. Mix this in your queue along with those old Marshall Crenshaw albums, you'll be glad you did.

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Sam Phillips’ aptly titled secular debut is a pop marvel, a bright, colorful collection produced with verve by T-Bone Burnett. At times, Phillips’ sweet voice and bouncy songs conjure the spirit of prime girl-group-era pop, but her mature, pointed lyrics — largely devoted to sophisticated dissections of modern relationships — shrug off such easy comparisons. Similarly, Burnett’s production straddles both the past and the present — for all the 1960s nods of the Beach Boys-like “I Can’t Stop Crying” or the Beatlesque “Remorse,” The Indescribable Wow never sounds dated or retro, just timeless. – Jason Ankeny