My buddy Fenwick recently bought a box set of Robert Palmer - The Island Years. It covers the following albums below.

We've been on a journey together to listen to this back catalog. And it's been a fucking challenge. His first record was really good, the rest wavered greatly. By the time we got to Pride, I'd almost given up. But I knew how good Riptide was, so I stayed the course. Fenwick made it three songs into Pride and ejected the CD. For now.

Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley

Pressure Drop

Some People Can Do What They Like

Double Fun

Secrets

Clues

Pride

Riptide

I have to say, from Sneakin' to Pride, you maaayyy get a 40 minute album of decent songs. There are standouts. "Sneakin' Sally," "Every Kinda People," "Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor Doctor)," "Some Guys Have All The Luck" (actually from a half-studio/half-live album called Maybe It's Live).

Even his covers are relatively good throughout. Kool and the Gang's "You Can Have It," "Pressure Drop" by Toots & The Maytals, "You Really Got Me" by Ray Davies, and others. There's an extended ending on "You Really Got Me" that throws me back to Sign O The Times tour rehearsals.

Palmer really loves to either go super weird and artsy or delve into island rhythms that sometimes make sense, and sometimes don't. He's obviously a big fan of Marvin Gaye as he would later cover Gaye's music. But his delivery on some of the songs on the Island albums are very Marvin Gaye inspired.

It's still a 30/70 split of good to bad music. For me.

So the question is this: What is your thoughts on these particular albums by Robert Palmer? Is anyone a fan of his earlier albums? Am I missing something on these records? Because he has good players, and cowriters sometimes, but the overall package is often less than stellar.

Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley has The Meters as his backing band and is my favorite album.

What I really loved about Robert Palmer was his class and integrity as an artist. The journey he took in styles and growth as a musician didn't always click with me but I respected everything he did.

The other factor was that he killed it in a live setting consistently since the 1970s and that's another thing that not everyone can pull off. This performance in 1990 has always stayed with me and really made me a fan.

https://www.youtube.com/w...-SuJME0_SE