Ready Eddie

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Ready Eddie | type = Album | artist = Eddie Money | cover = Eddiemoneyreadyeddie.jpg | alt = | released = May 18, 1999 | recorded = | venue = | studio = * Cherokee Studios (Hollywood, California) * Rumbo Recorders (Canoga Park, California) * Hookmo Recording (Los Angeles, California) * Can-Am Recorders (Tarzana, California) * Chicago Trax Recording Studio (Chicago, Illinois) * Right Track Recording (New York City, New York) | genre = Rock, pop rock | length = 46:27 | label = CMC International | producer = * Curt Cuomo * Frankie Sullivan * Eddie Money | prev_title = Greatest Hits Live: The Encore Collection | prev_year = 1998 | next_title = Complete Eddie Money Live | next_year = 2000 }} '''''Ready Eddie''''' is Eddie Money's tenth studio album, released in 1999. It was his final album of original material to be released before his death in 2019.

==Background== ''Ready Eddie'' was Money's first and only studio album for the American independent record label CMC International. During its recording, the album's budget was exceeded by $56,000, which came from Money's own pocket after CMC refused to pay it.<ref name="Tucson Citizen">{{cite news |last=Wyckoff |first=Mark |title=Where's the Eddie Money party? Old Tucson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/580024430/ |newspaper=Tucson Citizen |date=June 17, 1999 |pages=3–4 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> In a 1999 interview with the ''San Francisco Examiner'', Money said about ''Ready Eddie'', "I think it's a really good record. I just wanted to get back into the world of rock. The last studio album I made was ''Love and Money'', which was mostly a romantic album."<ref>{{cite news |last=Vaziri |first=Aidin |title=Pop Quiz: Q & A with Eddie Money |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/462647366/ |newspaper=San Francisco Examiner |date=May 30, 1999 |page=44 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> He told the ''Tucson Citizen'' that CMC "wanted a hard-rock, bang-your-head-to-the-wall album" and picked "So Cold Tonight", "Broken Down Chevy", "Can't Go On" and "Turn the Light Off" as his favorite tracks. However, Money was not happy with the entire album and felt he made a concession by including two tracks, "Ready to Rock" and "It's Gotta Be Love", which CMC wanted on there. He considered "Ready to Rock" to be "so mundane and so '80s" and was even more resentful of "It's Gotta Be Love", telling the ''Tucson Citizen'', "I hate the song, with those stupid, sissy choruses. I wrote the verse and the B-section and I said to CMC, 'Look, the song's not ready. Why don't you just let me save the song for the next record and I'll write a great chorus.' But no."<ref name="Tucson Citizen"/>

==Release== ''Ready Eddie'' was released in the US by CMC International on May 18, 1999.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Upcoming Releases |magazine=CMJ New Music Report |date=May 17, 1999 |issue=618 |page=40}}</ref> "Don't Say No Tonight" was issued as a single from the album.<ref>{{cite magazine |editor=Chuck Taylor |title=Reviews & Previews: Singles |magazine=Billboard |date=June 5, 1999 |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |volume=111 |issue=23 |page=20 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> It achieved radio play in the US and reached a peak of number 40 on the ''Radio & Records'' Rock Top 50 airplay chart in June 1999.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rock Top 50 |magazine=Radio & Records |date=June 18, 1999 |publisher=Radio & Records, Inc. |issue=1304 |page=86 |issn=0277-4860}}</ref>

==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{Rating|2.5|5}} [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r420685|pure_url=yes}} link] |rev2 = ''Calgary Herald'' |rev2score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Calgary Herald">{{cite news |last=Muretich |first=James |title=CD Reviews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/485940455/ |newspaper=Calgary Herald |date=May 27, 1999 |page=HL24 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Nanaimo Daily News'' |rev3score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="Nanaimo Daily News">{{cite news |last=Pierce |first=Walter |title=CD Sampler: Music Reviews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/325604922/ |newspaper=Nanaimo Daily News |date=May 28, 1999 |page=D2 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> |rev4 = ''The Press of Atlantic City'' |rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Press of Atlantic City">{{cite news |last=Schroeder |first=Charles |title=The Sounding Board: Rock |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/924986014/ |newspaper=The Press of Atlantic City |date=May 28, 1999 |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> |rev5 = ''The Windsor Star'' |rev5score = {{Rating|1|5}}<ref name="Windsor Star">{{cite news |last=Shaw |first=Ted |title=Seen & Heard: CD Reviews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/504343195/ |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=May 20, 1999 |page=E6 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> |rev6 = ''The Winnipeg Sun'' |rev6score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}<ref name="Winnipeg Sun">{{cite news |last=Sterdan |first=Darryl |title=Albums: Retro-Rock |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/736215378/ |newspaper=The Winnipeg Sun |date=June 18, 1999 |page=45 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> }} Critical reviews were mixed to positive, generally describing the album as formulaic but well-made.

Upon its release, Walter Pierce of ''The Daily Advertiser'' commented, "If you're a fan, you'll get what you deserve: a solid set of pop rockers and rocking ballads that are très Eddie. It's good to see one of the last few demigods from the album-rock firmament still chugging away."<ref>{{cite news |last=Pierce |first=Walter |title=Music: For the Record |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/539274041/ |newspaper=The Daily Advertiser |date=May 7, 1999 |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> Charles Schroeder of ''The Press of Atlantic City'' concluded, "Money doesn't always make the most consequential music, but every few years he shows us again he has an ear for likable, listenable rock 'n' roll. He does it again, and rather well, on ''Ready Eddie''."<ref name="Press of Atlantic City"/> Steve Jenkinson of the ''Nanaimo Daily News'' called it a "heavy offering of riff-laden meat and potatoes rock that deviates little from a well-travelled path sprinkled with hits" and added, "Money is nothing, if not consistent. His past hits have a comfortable familiarity that is continued here."<ref name="Nanaimo Daily News"/> Darryl Sterdan of ''The Winnipeg Sun'' stated it "pretty much sounds like any of his old records", with Money's "sandpaper rasp as scruffy as ever, and his roster of '70s-style air guitar rockers and Bic-lighter ballads as slick as ever".<ref name="Winnipeg Sun"/>

John Wooley of ''Tulsa World'' believed Money sounded "just as unremarkable but alarmingly catchy as he's ever been". He felt the songs were "so predictable you'll be able to sing along with them on first listen" and the lyrics a "veritable smörgåsbord of rock's most tired clichés", but concluded, "Still, for those still titillated by the fast cars and busty babes pictured on the cover, there are plenty of tickets to paradise here."<ref>{{cite news |last=Wooley |first=John |title=CD Reviews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/895413331/ |newspaper=Tulsa World |date=May 21, 1999 |page=14 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref> James Muretich of the ''Calgary Herald'' noted Money's music was the "same as it ever was" and summarised, "As an unintentional comic pastiche of a past rock era, this is the Spinal Tap of retro rock."<ref name="Calgary Herald"/> Ted Shaw of ''The Windsor Star'' was negative in his review, calling it an "undistinguished collection of rock tunes" and a "stuck-in-the-'70s release with songs about fast cars and love on the run". He continued, "This arena-sized rock was largely a waste of time 20 years ago; it doesn't sound much better now. Money keeps going back to the same well long after it went bone-dry."<ref name="Windsor Star"/> John Terlesky III of ''The Morning Call'' noted, "Party-metal rockers vie with Bic lighter ballads for the title of 'Most Accurate Throwback to the '80s,' but nobody really wins here, especially the listener who welcomed the demise of that aesthetically displeasing decade."<ref>{{cite news |last=Terlesky III |first=John |title=Disc Reviews |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/278725859/ |newspaper=The Morning Call |date=May 29, 1999 |page=A55 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 21, 2024}}</ref>

==Track listing== #"Ready to Rock" (Curt Cuomo, Jake Hooker, Eddie Money, Frankie Sullivan) - 4:21 #"Don't Say No Tonight" (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan) - 5:05 #"So Cold Tonight" (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan) - 4:24 #"Let It Go" (Dedicated to "Jack and Diane") (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan, Larry Lee) - 4:06 #"Turn the Light Off" (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan) - 3:18 #"It's Gotta Be Love" (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan) - 4:30 #"Can't Go On" (Cuomo, Money, Sullivan) - 5:11 #"Nobody Knows" (John Nelson, Money) - 3:26 #"When You Gonna Satisfy Me" (Monty Byrom, Money, Danny Chauncey, Ira Walker) - 4:19 #"Need a Little Rock" (Eddie Rice) - 3:26 #"Broken Down Chevy (God Only Knows)" (John Nelson, Money) - 4:21

== Production == * Jake Hooker – executive producer * Ray Koob – A&R * Eddie Money – producer, additional photography * Curt Cuomo – producer, engineer * Frankie Sullivan – producer, engineer, mixing (4, 11) * Shawn Berman – engineer * Jim Mitchell – engineer * Posie Muliadi – engineer * Dee Robb – engineer * Chris Steinmentz – engineer, mixing (4, 11) * Frank Filipetti – mixing (1–3, 5–10) * Steve Muzar – mix assistant (1–3, 5–10) * Fred Hahna – Pro Tools editing * Ted Jensen – mastering at Sterling Sound (New York, NY) * Alan Chappell – art direction, design * Ioannis – art direction, design, cover painting, digital retouching * Mark Weiss – photos of Eddie Money

== Personnel ==

'''Musicians''' * Eddie Money – vocals, harmonica (1, 3, 11) * Arlin Schierbaum – Hammond B3 organ (1, 3, 6) * Curt Cuomo – keyboards (2, 7) * Chris Cameron – acoustic piano (4) * C.J. Vanston – strings (5), orchestration (5) * Randy Forrester – Hammond B3 organ (11) * Frankie Sullivan – guitars (1–8, 11), bass (5) * Fred Tackett – guitars (4) * Tommy Girvin – guitars (6, 11) * Monty Byrom – guitars (9, 10) * Trent Stroh – bass (1–4, 6–11) * Kenny Aronoff – drums, percussion * Johnny Schneider – additional percussion (8)

'''Backing vocals''' * Curt Cuomo (1, 7, 8, 10) * Larry Lee (1, 4, 6) * Frankie Sullivan (1–3, 6–8) * Eddie Money (4, 10) * Monty Byrom (9, 10)

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:1999 albums Category:Eddie Money albums Category:CMC International albums

Ready Eddie

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