Non Fiction (The Blasters album)

The album was produced by the Blasters; the band intended for it to be a concept album about "lost dreams," and a refutation of their revivalist music party image.{{cite web |title=Blasters |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/blasters/ |website=Trouser Press |access-date=11 October 2021 |archive-date=28 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928132226/https://trouserpress.com/reviews/blasters/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Morse |first1=Steve |title=Blasters Explode |work=The Boston Globe |date=27 Apr 1983 |department=Arts |page=1}} "Long White Cadillac" is dedicated to Hank Williams.{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=David Hugh |title=Record Guide |work=The Christian Science Monitor |date=July 7, 1983 |department=Arts/Entertainment |page=16}}

"Tag Along" is a cover of the Rocket Morgan song.{{cite news |title=Rollicking 'Blasters' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1983/04/28/rollicking-blasters/32288afb-3c43-4265-b20a-2dac16880cb9/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=11 October 2021 }} The other cover song, "Barefoot Rock", was released as a single; much to the band's chagrin, their record label kept choosing the Blasters' covers as singles, rather than their originals.{{cite news |last1=McLeese |first1=Don |title=Defection of Blaster doesn't spell disaster |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=July 11, 1986 |department=Weekend Plus |page=3}}

{{album ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/non-fiction-mw0000836703|title=Non Fiction|website=AllMusic|access-date=2021-10-11|archive-date=2021-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028165618/https://www.allmusic.com/album/non-fiction-mw0000836703|url-status=live}}

|rev2 = Robert Christgau

|rev2score = A{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1388|title=The Blasters|website=Robert Christgau|access-date=2021-10-11|archive-date=2015-12-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210121000/http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1388|url-status=live}}

|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=1 |pages=668–669}}

|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide

|rev4score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=71}}

|rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

|rev5score = {{rating|2.5|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |pages=65–66}}

|rev6 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

|rev6score = 9/10{{cite book |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |date=1995 |publisher=Vintage Books |page=48}}

}}

The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau thought that "this is r&b Jerry Lee could be proud of ... Dave Alvin writes with an objective colloquial intensity that fits the straight-ahead dedication of his cross-racial and -generational band." Trouser Press opined that the album "presents a series of well-crafted vignettes reminiscent of Robbie Robertson’s work with the Band." The Philadelphia Inquirer determined: "Choosing the simplest words to tell clear, vivid stories, lyricist Dave Alvin is one of the best writers in popular music."{{cite news |last1=Tucker |first1=Ken |title=The Blasters' Sound Is the Hippest Around |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=28 Apr 1983 |page=E5}}

The Washington Post wrote that "Phil Alvin's anguished voice is a treat... This singer, who can inflict a sense of torment on the silliest syllable, is one of rock's most underrated vocalists." The New York Times concluded that the Blasters "are able to conjure a vision of America that is uniquely their own with the help of Dave Alvin's snapshot-sharp images and deftly idiomatic music."{{cite news |last1=Palmer |first1=Robert |title=The Pop Life |work=The New York Times |date=27 Apr 1983 |page=C19}}

AllMusic wrote: "Like Television's Adventure and the New York Dolls' Too Much Too Soon, the Blasters' Non-Fiction followed an instant classic, and seemed like a disappointment on first glance, but give it a listen on its own terms, and it plays like the work of a great band working with heart, soul, and plenty of skill, and it's one of the finest roots rock discs of the '80s." The Spin Alternative Record Guide stated that "Alvin's tales of men leaving and sometimes returning, lost in boomtowns and bus stations, resemble the drugstore paperbacks of '50s writers like Jim Thompson." The San Diego Union-Tribune deemed Non Fiction the eighth best album of the 1980s.{{cite news |last1=Seigal |first1=Buddy |title='80s shifts add to difficulty of picking top albums |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |date=December 22, 1989 |page=C4}}

All tracks written by Dave Alvin, except where noted.

{{Track listing

| all_writing =

| title1 = Red Rose

| length1 = 2:31

| title2 = Barefoot Rock

| length2 = 2:29

| note2 = LaCharles Harper, Joseph Scott

| title3 = Bus Station

| length3 = 2:31

| title4 = One More Dance

| length4 = 2:26

| title5 = It Must Be Love

| length5 = 2:54

| title6 = Jubilee Train

| length6 = 3:00

| title7 = Long White Cadillac

| length7 = 2:54

| title8 = Fool's Paradise

| length8 = 2:44

| title9 = Boomtown

| length9 = 3:34

| title10 = Leaving

| length10 = 3:26

| title11 = Tag Along

| length11 = 2:53

| note11 = Rodney Morgan

| total_length = 31:45

}}

• Lee Allen – tenor saxophone
• Dave Alvin – composer, guitar, lyrics
• Phil Alvin – guitar, harmonica, vocals
• Bill Bateman – drums
• John Bazz – bass
• Steve Berlin – baritone saxophone
• The Blasters – producer
• Steve Crimmel – engineer
• Frank Gargani – photography
• Jim Hill – associate producer, engineer
• Laura Livingston – engineer
• Hudson Marquez – art direction, illustrations
• Gene Taylor – piano, vocals

{{reflist}}

{{The Blasters}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:The Blasters albums

Category:1983 albums

Category:Slash Records albums