Tom Armstrong's Hit Songs That Make the Jukebox Play - Classic Music Collection for Bars, Diners & Retro Parties

I don't really know where to start with this review. I decided to write after listening to 'Sings Heart Songs' for the umpteenth billion time and wondering why Tom doesn't have more of a following.I seem to remember getting emails about shows on the west coast from a long defuct yahoo groups mailling list and wishing that I had the flexibility to travel there to listen to Tom play with one of his successive iterations of bands. I'm sure if the shows had even an ounce of the deeply heartfelt performances contained in his studio albums, they must have been amazing.I love this album, and it stands as a counterpoint to the bleak heartbreaking genius of Sings Heart Songs. Those songs, to a one, were firmly about love and relationships gone wrong and bottoming out and being freshly escaped from. It was an album that saw me through the darkest hours of a broken marriage and a long, bitter divorce. That said, you can't really enjoy it once the dust settles and you start to realize that life without love isn't even worth living. Songs that Make the Juke Box Play is about optimism and giving over to another chance at happiness and things finally getting back on track. It's a contrast to the AA-fueled misery of Wine-Stained Heart as well, but amazingly they are all important parts of the same journey.Thanks, Tom, for all the earnest lyrics, sincere devotion to a dead or dying art form, and the inexpensive therapy. It's useless to discuss what kind of music this is, if you get it then welcome to a small slice of compressed audio heaven.I guess the ship has sailed a little bit for my shot at being a super fan of Tom Armstrong, but don't let that stop you from buying every piece of music you can by him.