Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

There's the self-titled MODERN LOVERS debut album, a self-titled JONATHAN RICHMAN album (recorded well into his career), and this, the self-titled Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers release. This was the second Modern Lovers--only David Robinson remained from the original line-up and he soon left to join The Cars.
Jonathan's desire to turn the volume down while keeping everything rocking was being realized gloriously and his songs were finding beauty in all manner of surprising places, from "Rockin' Shopping Center" to "Lonely Financial Zone." There's also one of the songwriter's most beautiful songs, "New England," written to celebrate his home turf. And just when you thought you'd do just fine never hearing another version of "Amazing Grace," Jonathan goes and gently makes it his own, earning the right to sing it whenever he cares to.