Album Review

Having gotten back the record-making habit with Fruitcakes, Jimmy Buffett repaired to the Monroe County Library in Key West during the winter of 1994-1995 with cohorts Russ Kunkel, Jay Oliver, Roger Guth, and Peter Mayer, where they read fiction and came up with most of the songs on Barometer Soup. Hence, we have "Remittance Man," drawn from Mark Twain's Following the Equator, and "Diamond as Big as the Ritz," loosely adapted from F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story. Typically, there are also the comedy numbers "Bank of Bad Habits" and "Don't Chu-Know" and an appropriation consistent with Buffett's philosophy, James Taylor's "Mexico." Much of the music is low-key, though there are a couple of up-tempo tunes to add to the concert repertoire. As Jimmy Buffett albums go, this is another one. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi