Its been about three years since its release.. Thought this album was gold the first time I heard it.. not a bad track on it..
Its possibly his best album.. I assume he was trying to place himself in a sound that would have been what he could have produced if he was around in '72..

"She was feelin 1972.. groovin to a carol king tune"


Show your love for this record.. and if u havent heard it.. check it out.. beautifully inspiring.

Allmusic Review 4.5 out of 5 stars.



Review by Tim Sendra

Josh Rouse's 1972 gives away the game in the first line of the first song, the exquisite title track, when he name-checks Carole King. The record is going back in time and it is going to have fun doing it. Rouse's records have always been highly literate and highly musical, but they have never been fun like this, and make no mistake, 1972 is a fun record. Rouse sounds as loose as a goose and the songs reflect that. Not always lyrically, as some of the songs touch on such non-fun subjects as loneliness, repression, and bitterness, but definitely musically. To that end, Brad Jones' production is spot-on perfect — not an instrument is out of place and the whole record has a jaunty bounce and a lush dreaminess. 1972 is coated with sonic goodness: fluttering strings, piping horns, cotton-candy sweet flutes, funky percussion, handclaps, and great backing vocals. Rouse and Jones find inspiration in all the right places: in the laid-back groove of Al Green, the California haze of Fleetwood Mac, the dreamy melancholia of Nick Drake, the sexy groove of Marvin Gaye, and the wordy lilt of Jackson Browne or James Taylor. The songs are the strongest batch Rouse has written yet. "Love Vibration" is the hit single; it has everything a hit single needs: musical hooks, lyrical hooks, vocal hooks, a smoldering sax solo (optional), and a groovy video. Other songs that are sure to be in heavy rotation are "James," a funky ballad that shows off Rouse's wonderful falsetto (as does "Comeback [Light Therapy]") and takes time for that most elusive creature, a good flute solo; "Under Your Charms," a sultry, sensual ballad that takes a potentially squirm-inducing subject and actually does it right, Marvin-style; and "Rise," a beautifully orchestrated epic that ends the record on a perfect note. 1972 should vault Rouse to the forefront of intelligent pop alongside kindred spirits like Joe Pernice and Kurt Wagner (of Lambchop). If you say you've heard a better adult pop record this year, you are lying

I love love LOVE this record! My uncle gave it to me for Christmas at a time when something like that was exactly what I was looking for! Like you said, there ain't a bad track on it!

guitarslinger44 said:

awsme.. i'd check out Nashville and Subtitulo also.. very good.

POOK said:

I have a nice cage at home.. i'm looking for a paticular monkey that can't speak proper english... we'll see who will be singing about slaveships...
[Edited 3/23/06 17:49pm]