Dirt

So to 2002's "DIRT" album from Mark Selby which has now had at least a dozen plays in my car and Home system and I really am chuffed to bits with this one, even though it's not primarily a blues album! Nope, what we have here is a little slice of adult oriented rock, interspersed with a little blues and touch of country too...but whether being played for background or for serious listening, "DIRT" delivers on all levels and even includes numbers that will have you humming the melodies even if you don't want to sing along. Mark Selby shows here why he's sought after as a songwriter as he's clearly gifted in the lyrics department as well as being able to dish up riffs and tunes aplenty that will embed in your brain - from the opening "Reason Enough" to close out of track 11 (and title track) "Dirt", this is without doubt just one of those albums that you can stick into your player and allow to run and run without ever a reason to skip.Clear and crisp recording adds to the overall effect and if I have a gripe, then it's simply that Mr Selby doesn't show us enough of his capabilities with his guitar soloing - certainly no "Storm's Comin'" here, which is a shame because he really is a pretty good player, particularly in slide mode...but that's just a minor quibble as these songs all stand up in their own right.If you like adult rock that doesn't need interpretation, then this really is one for you - I cannot recommend it more highly!!

MARK SELBY IS A NASHVILLE BASED BLOOZE GEETARIST. HE WRITES COUNTRY POP FOR MUCH YOUNGER STARS AND HAS HAD MANY US COUNTRY HITS. HIS OWN MATERIAL IS MUCH MORE EARTHY AND BLOOZE BASED. THIS IS HIS 2ND ALBUM OF 9 HE HAS RELEASED. I THINK ITS HIS BEST ALBUM AS HIS LATER ALBUMS GOT MORE COMMERCIAL AND OVER PRODUCED. HE MEANS NOTHING IN THE UK BUT BRUCE SPRINGTEEN AND ZZTOP ARE BIG FANS. IF YOUR INTO THE EAGLES AND OTHER COUNTRY ROCK CHECK THIS CHEAP CD OUT.

Like the songs a lot

Great!!

Every once in a while an album gets released which you can’t stop playing from the moment you first listen to it; each track is so good, you find yourself immediately relistening to it. For me that happened with pretty much all of the Beatles albums, the ‘golden era’ of Stones records (1968-1972), and others such as Springsteen’s The River, Ten Summoners’ Tales by Sting, Manassas by Steve Stills, one or two others. We all have our favourites. Add Dirt by Mark Selby to that list: it is absolutely fantastic. Selby’s guitar playing is second to none, essentially blues-based but that does not even begin to describe his range and skills: he can rock as hard as Keith Richards, but can also play exquisite acoustic guitar. His slide solo on “Back Door to My Heart” recalls Lowell George at his very best. And you will never hear a funkier sounding acoustic than on “Unforgiven”. He plays most of the guitars on this album, and every single one fits the arrangements perfectly. His voice is soulful, expressive and rich. His band is fantastic. But, very best of all, he writes (often with his wife) memorable songs. Like I said, you play them, and you have to play them again straight away. There isn’t a duff track on Dirt, and the version that I have (which I think is the European version) has two of the very best songs, Deep Pockets and Going Home. The man deserves to be heard – take it from me.

Really enjoyable

Eine großartige Platte! Southern-, Country-, Blues-Rock vom Feinsten, wie immer von Mark Selby. Allerdings stimmen die Titelangaben auf der Rückseite nicht mit den tatsächlichen Songs und deren Reihenfolge überein. Da hat man es sich nach Fertigstellung der Verpackung wohl noch mal anders überlegt...Kleiner Tipp: Die Songreihenfolge stimmt mit der im Booklet/Textblatt überein. Der Musik und deren Qualität tut das ja keinen Abbruch - und darum geht es bei Mark Selby. No bulls***, just music. Fette 5 Sterne.

après son premier album "More storms comin" très impressionnant, voici le second opus de ce jeune songwriter pétri de talent. Il fait presque tout : il a écrit toutes les chansons, il chante et joue de la guitare et produit même l'album avec Brent Maher. Il me fait penser à John Hiatt dans sa façon de chanter (il a le même timbre de voix) et dans le style de ses chansons, avec certaines plus dépouillées ("Moon over my shoulders", "You") que d'autres. Du bon rock ricain, qui évoque les immenses espaces du Grand Ouest avec un côté blues loin d'être déplaisant, et en plus aussi bien fait que John Hiatt...

Gute Scheibe.

On first listen this sounds quite inferior to the brilliant 'MORE STORMS COMIN". The sense of humour present on the first CD was somewhat missing on this one. After 4 weeks of listening, this has grown on me. Not one bad track on this CD and every song is a killer. If you liked "STORMS" you will love this as well. SELBY is one of the best song writers out there today. This confirms his status. Every song has a life of its own and you find yourself singing along after a few listens, although you hadn't realised that you even knew the lyrics.BRILLIANT - buy it now!!!

This is simple I heard the song "Back Door To My Heart" on a music channel. I remembered I had seen Mark Selby's name as song writer for Kenny Wayne Shepherd's albums and immediately went to Amazon to find "Back Door To My Heart". After a review of the snippets I purchased Dirt. I was so satisfied by Mark's creative song writing that I have since purchased all the rest of his catalog. But I always come back to Dirt. He opens with "Reason Enough" with lyrics to live "I won't tell the truth just to keep from tellin' lies, I'm not gonna to live cause I'm afraid to die". He slows it down with "Back Door To My Heart" following strongly with "Willin' to Burn". He continues up and down an emotional roller coaster with "If The World Was Mine, Moon Over My Shoulder, One Man, You", and the sultry "Desire" with his wife Tia Sellers whispering in his ear.In this unworthy economy with $4.00 a gallon gasoline, save your fuel money and pick up a copy of Dirt it will be money better spent.

awesome

this guy should be famous. oh wait, he has too much talent. that is not what it takes these days.