Old School (Nils Lofgren album)

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Old School
Studio album by
ReleasedDecember 6, 2011 (2011-12-06)
Length44:31
LabelVision
ProducerNils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren chronology
The Loner – Nils Sings Neil
(2008)
Old School
(2011)
Face the Music
(2014)

Old School is an album by Nils Lofgren, released on December 6, 2011, through Vision Records. The album received mixed reviews.

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Classic Rock[2]
PopMatters3/10[3]

Hal Horowitz, reviewing the album for AllMusic, stated that "to his credit, Lofgren doesn't modernize his style to endear himself for a younger audience, but has written 11 out of these dozen selections in the same melodic rock format that he's adhered to since his days in Grin".[1] Classic Rock's Terry Staunton found "Lofgren is sprightly enough to play most of the instruments himself" and noted he "show[s] the whippersnapers how it's done".[2] Allison Stewart of The Washington Post summarized the album as "alternately rueful and upbeat" with "midlife crisis anthems ('60 Is the New 18'), get-off-my-lawn rockers (the title track) and graceful, just short of gloomy ballads ('Miss You Ray')".[4]

Brice Ezell of PopMatters wrote that the album is "likely to appeal to die-hard fans of Lofgren and maybe some fans of bluesy guitar solos, but to those unfamiliar with Lofgren's career the album will sound aged in both sonic and lyric".[3] Rob Tannenbaum of Rolling Stone described it as a "weird, funny, crabby LP about seemingly everything that annoys [Lofgren]: Congress, yoga, lattes, sexting, any teen 'dressed like a whore.' Lofgren switches from acoustic ballads to Stones–ish rock, where his voice turns craggy and stubbly".[5] Shawn Donohue of Glide Magazine stated, "Grumpy-Old-Pissed-Off-Man might have been a more apt title" for the album and concluded, "sure Nils may be decidedly Old School, but if you are looking for a new school way of hearing him in 2012, wait for the next E-Street tour as his sideman guitar work is still his best asset".[6]

Track listing[edit]

Old School track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Old School"3:12
2."60 Is the New 18"3:03
3."Miss You Ray"2:39
4."Love Stumbles On"3:52
5."Amy Joan Blues"2:43
6."Irish Angel"5:12
7."Ain't Too Many of Us Left"4:42
8."When You Were Mine"4:33
9."Just Because You Love Me"2:32
10."Dream Big"4:30
11."Let Her Get Away"3:09
12."Why Me"4:24
Total length:44:31

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for Old School
Chart (2011) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[7] 60

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Horowitz, Hal. "Nils Lofgren – Old School Album Review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Staunton, Terry (February 2, 2012). "Nils Lofgren: Old School". Classic Rock. Retrieved July 19, 2023 – via Louder Sound.
  3. ^ a b Ezell, Brice (February 1, 2012). "Nils Lofgren: Old School". PopMatters. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Stewart, Allison (December 2, 2011). "Music review of Nils Lofgren's Old School". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (May 23, 2012). "Old School". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  6. ^ Donohue, Shawn (January 2, 2012). "Nils Lofgren: Old School". Glide Magazine. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
  7. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Nils Lofgren – Old School". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 19, 2023.