This review was written and sent by some friends of mine in Ohio, so technically it's not 'press,' but I like it, so it's posted here.

(In other words, take it however you wanna take it.)

First we must say that Ross Live is an experience not to be missed. Anyone who was not able to (or just didn't show up) to see Ross on his latest tour missed out on a laughing till you cry, spit your drink out your nose, fall on the floor good time! It seems that the Ross Man only gets better with age.

WARNING: Do not try to listen to this CD while driving. The first time you listen you will be torn between laughter and "wait, what did he say?". This makes for a dangerous travel environment for others on the road, or maybe it's just our driving.

After downloading the CD onto our trusty computer and listening to it till we were singing along without even knowing it (and getting all the words right), we must give it a totally qualified four star CrowsNest rating. Why, you say? Well, we will be more than glad to go over our review song by song.

1. Over You Now
A touching breakup song worthy of anything that ever came out of country music without the actual country music. Who cannot remember a time when one committed felony for love? Good use of rhythm and mental imagery.

2. 83 Ribbons
A socially thought provoking song that gave us all pause. Maybe that was do to some of "us" not paying attention the first five times! We have long been boycotters of the "ribbon of the week" craze so this song will become an overused catch theme for us in about a month, but we will still think of it fondly for a long time to come.

3. Idiot
Undeniably our favorite song on the CD. This song is destined to become our new car song. It joins the prestigious ranks of 'TNT' by AC/DC and 'Little Bunny Foo Foo' by Songs For Kids On The Move. (Let me tell you if you have never seen a 6- and 9-year-old singing AC/DC or a 38-year-old man sing 'Little Bunny Foo Foo' then you just haven't been in the right car!) Yep, Uncle Ross' little sing-a-long song is a big hit and fun for the whole family.

4. Princess From Saturn
Now here is a girl you just don't see everyday. While this is a good tune we do get the feeling that this was a doomed relationship and we hope it was not autobiographical.

5. Nothing Ever Happens
Was someone watching Jerry Springer while writing this song? We wonder (not really). I smell some Weird Al in here somewhere, and that's a good thing. Look at all the $$$ he rakes in with this stuff.

6. Don't Get Me Wrong
NO not that song. OK, at first we were worried that our dear Ross had jumped on the pop band wagon, but we were happily surprised by this one. A very nice, sweet (did we say that?) heart-felt song. We think we're going to play it for our anniversary dinner this year because to us it IS a love song. Seriously Ross, this one is very, very good.

7. Pieces Of Me
Now this one is a love song, right? We were not sure, but we found it very toe-tapping anyway. We also loved the play on words, and the harmonica solo was a nice surprise.

8. Tribute Album
A sad little song for one so young. A very in-depth look at modern music stars. If you have ever watched Behind the Music on VH1 you will understand right away. We know that this will never happen to Ross because he is so in-tune with his status as a musical genius.

9. Ed's Secret Identity
Whew! We were glad to hear that Ed was a normal super hero and not playing "Edith" on the weekends. A nice reminder that we are all heroes in our own world, in our own life. If we may be a little critical, this song didn't really need the reference to a person missing in our hero's life. We think he is pretty super all by himself!

10. Suitcase Campus
LOVED IT! Wow, were you spying on our youth? The over-30 members of our little clan really identified with this song. When you're in one place (in life) you sometimes spend too much time looking back instead of looking around at were you are now. This song also has a nice little music lesson in the middle. A little tribute to Dad maybe?

11. Souvenirs
This number has a really good introduction, making you really want to listen to the song. Once the song started we thought that maybe it was time to clean out the storage room in the basement. What is in those boxes anyway? At the end, one wonders if this person kept Ross or was he just a memory in her junk drawer.

12. Time For One More
A good song to end with (even if it was not the true last song). We can tell that Ross has spent a LOT of time at open mike nights. We had always thought that performing was its own reward, but maybe that only lasts for the first hundred times. Again, we must state that we really like the Idiot song.

13. Unlisted Hidden Bonus Tracks
...part 1: Ross on speed, too much regular coffee, and/or sleep deprivation. At any rate we sang along because let's face it, those were the best parts of all of the songs and most likely the only parts we know anyway.
...part 2: An interesting peek behind the scenes with Ross while recording. We did NOT like the lady who complained about the Idiot song. As we have stated earlier in this rambling review we are very attached to that song! We think we have had a run-in with the woman who told the sad, mental patient story, and she told us a different version. By the way, was that 'Guiding Light' we heard in there? No? Well, it was some kind of soap opera (we should know, we are soap junkies). [Editor's note: No, it wasn't 'GL,' but there IS a Ross on that show, so that was a darn good guess. - R]

To sum up, we are having a lot of fun listening to this CD and plan to keep having said fun for a long time to come. We would recommend it for long car drives (after the first listen), cleaning the house, and family gatherings that have gone on too long.

-- The Crows