THe 1980 Listening Post - Max Gronenthal - Max

 Reviewed by Rob Slater

Released: 1980 Max Gronenthal Max Genre: Late 70s Disco Pop Melange Rating: 3.21 out of 5 (sort of a B-) Highlights: Shana Say It Again Love Shows Another Bee Gees wannabe band. I've Got Something Here For You - might have been a hit in 75. Rockin' Chair - Meh. No. 70s crap song. Shana - Cool rhythm work. Nice guitar. Reminiscent of Jane by Starship. A little long. Have A Good Time - I can hear the future sound with .38 Special, also Foreigner. Where Do You Go - Meh. No. Back to the 70s crap song. DNF Say It Again - Decent song, a bit Motown-y. Here We Go Again - Nice piano, which is his primary instrument besides his voice. Near To You - Now we’ve got some. DNF Love Shows - Great beat. I’m movin’ my feet and my butt. Roll Home - Decent song to end with. Some great musicians, good mixes and orchestrations. Mostly folks you’ve never heard of, even if you’re an OCD liner-note reader like me. He probably deserves to be a little better known. When I first read Max Gronenthal, I thought, “Not a great name for a marquee.” Sure enough. Started going by his middle name, Carl, by the time he joined .38 Special in 87, (after a bit more research and a few more Wikipedia grammar corrections, I discovered that his 3rd solo album used his middle name for the ‘stage.’) Try anything for that breakthrough, before you take a job with an established band like .38 Special (Don’t get me started. At least not yet. Can I Have .38 Special when it comes around?) and Grand Funk Railroad. He may be a victim of eclecticism, too. Though A&R said, “We don’t have a single.” If I was the A&R man, and I think I’d be a good one, as I’m sort of a pop-slut, I would have started the album with Shana or a Have A Good Time or Love Shows. To quote Rusty Russell of Nashville’s Music Row Magazine "He is absolutely, without question, among the top handful of Blue-Eyed Soul Singers ever". Ignoring the grammar issues, I’d say NO! He’s no Adele, Amy Winehouse, George Michael, Rod Stewart (oh, wow, check out my search for “blue+eyed+soul+singers,” Eric Clapton, Janis Joplin. Heck, he’s not even a Michael Bolton, who I happen to have REALLY liked.