| Kerosene Man | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Steve Wynn |
| Cover: | Kerosene Man.jpg |
| Released: | 1990 |
| Label: | Rhino |
| Producer: | Joe Chicarellia |
| Next Title: | Dazzling Display |
| Next Year: | 1990 |
Kerosene Man is an album by the American musician Steve Wynn, released in 1990.[1] [2] Wynn supported the album with a North American tour.[3]
The title track was released as a single.[4] The album sold more than 70,000 copies in its first year of release.[5]
Recorded in early 1990 after the resolution of legal issues related to the breakup of the Dream Syndicate, the album was produced by Joe Chicarellia.[6] [7] Wynn had 40 songs to choose from, selecting 11 that were in a more pop style.[8] "Conspiracy of the Heart" is a duet with Johnette Napolitano.[9] "Here on Earth as Well" was written in the early 1980s.[10] Steve Berlin played saxophone on some of the songs; Fernando Saunders played bass.[11] Wynn used strings on some tracks.[12] Edward Colver contributed some of the photography.[13]
The Orlando Sentinel wrote that "some of Wynn's influences become pretty obvious, but he puts his own spin on them with his distinctive voice that couches a snarl in crooner-smooth phrasing"; the paper listed the album among the 10 best of 1990.[14] The New York Times noted that the songs "are more tuneful and often funnier or more compassionate than typical Dream Syndicate fare."[15]
The Dallas Morning News determined that "guitar noise still predominates ... occasionally, Mr. Wynn lets things get all languid and acoustic."[16] The Plain Dealer opined that "it seems that throughout the album when the writing is there the music fails, and when the music is working the writing breaks down."[17] Spin stated that, "unpredictable and obsessive, Wynn's characters carry an unsettling edge of preoccupation."[18]