Romantic Depressive is an album by the American musician Don Dixon, released in 1995 via Sugar Hill Records.[1][2] The album was part of an attempt by Sugar Hill to expand its roster beyond a traditional acoustic style.[3] Dixon supported the album with a North American tour that included shows opening for Hootie & the Blowfish.[4][5]Romantic Depressive was nominated for a NAIRD Indie Award.[6]
Production
Produced by Mark Williams and Dixon, the songs were recorded over a period of four years.[7][1] Dixon pulled from a pool of 30 songs.[8] He played most of the instruments.[9] The first half of the album is about romantic relationships; Dixon considered turning Romantic Depressive into a kind of concept album.[1][10] "Lottery of Lives" is about the military draft.[1] "Good Golly Svengali" is an instrumental.[11] "25,000 Days" was cowritten by Marti Jones, Dixon's wife; Sugar Hill had originally wanted an album of Dixon-Jones duets.[12][13]Bland Simpson played piano on "I Should Know Better".[14]
Stereo Review stated that "Dixon's subject matter is evenly divided between doleful reminiscences about love's labors and reflections on himself and the world from the vantage point of midlife."[14]The Charlotte Observer opined that "the songs are too laid-back."[15]
AllMusic noted that "everything here sheds new light on old traditions ... the sound is dense without being muddy, snappy without being shallow."[9] The Star-Gazette listed the album among the 10 best of 1995.[18] In 2008, the Pittsburgh City Paper deemed Romantic Depressive "old-school soul-pop."[19]
Track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Righteous Side of Love"
2.
"Giving Up the Ghost"
3.
"I Should Know Better"
4.
"Angel Angel"
5.
"Everytime I Think of Home"
6.
"What You Saw"
7.
"Peace for the Last Time"
8.
"Good Golly Svengali"
9.
"25,000 Days"
10.
"Lottery of Lives"
11.
"Never Slow Down"
References
^ abcdMenconi, David (Feb 25, 1995). "Don Dixon's sweet return on the growing Sugar Hill". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 8. p. 16.
[9]