For these types of user reviews, people seem to listen to the sappy stories about how this album changed their life and was exactly what they needed at the time. I guess I'll be no different.

I have listened to a lot of the 77s through the years. My dad introduced them to me and I have listened to them for a while, but it wasn't until I took a stab at listening to Tom Tom Blues that I realized how skilled they were at, not only their musicianship, but in their comprehension of suffering and the articulation of their poetic lyrics. In each song, I find a different dark corner of myself that I need to conquer. Besides my personal connection to the album, Tom Tom Blues' presentation of rock and blues is still the best out of all the music I have listened to. Growing up in the devilish age of electronic pop music, Tom Tom Blues brings back the joy of singing about true and incomprehensible pain and the lost art of rock and the purity of expressing pain through angst.

I wish I could find more albums that are purely music like Tom Tom Blues. Each song is carefully crafted to express Mike Roe's struggle with his divorce. I am not usually a fan of struggling love songs, but Roe writes his lyrics with such craftmanship, and the band plays Roe's angst in the way that only the rage of rock and the melancholy of blues can express. Needless to say, each song was able to form feelings in my heart again; reminding me that love may not always work out, but by the end, Roe convinces me that I need to try anyway, and that God will always have control of the situation for the better.

I do know that Tom Tom Blues is not for everyone, and is actually considered one of the more controversial 77s albums, but that does not stop me from suggesting it to everyone, and for believing it is worthy of a perfect score, or in believing that it is my favorite album of all time. Tom Tom Blues is the example I use to my friends and peers that have taste for great music that is lost in today's generation. Tom Tom Blues, however, can easily be considered one of the greatest albums of all time for any rock fan.

JFH Reader Review: written by Benjamin Prose, 4/25/17, for Jesusfreakhideout.com