# MAGNET - USA - n° 50, June/July 2001 - site
"Come On Beautiful (Big Night), a tribute to American Music Club, is populated by a wealth of heartfelt covers that illuminate the myriad nuances of Mark Eitzel's songwriting. Among the highlights: Calexico's shimmery/weepy country take on "Chanel #5", Lambchop's '50s ballad-waltz for "Wy Won't You Stay", Steve Wynn' gothadelicized reading of "Highway Five" and Portastatic's tingly, eletro-poppy "Firefly". Other participants include Ida, M. Ward, Jenny Toomey & Amy Domingues, Willard Grant Conspiracy and Chris & Carla.
- Fred Mills"

# UNCUT - UK - n° 45, February 2001 - site
"Since the tragic death of best friend and muse Kathleen Burns just over two years ago, AMC songwriter Mark Eitzel has hit serious atrophy - no record deal and an inability to break the shackles of artistic limbo. Meanwhile, this immaculately crafted homage of AMC covers is testament to his enduring maverick genius. Lambchop contribute a churning, heartwrenching "Why Won't You Stay", Jenny (Tsunami) Toomey and Amy Domingues "Last Harbor" is soul-bleedingly affecting, Willard Grant Conspiracy's "Will You Find Me?" is a masterpiece of pitch-dark beauty and Steve Wynn's "Highway Five" is downright ballsy. Here's to better days.
-Rob Hughes
**** (four stars out of five)"

# No Depression - USA - n° 31, January/February 2001 - site
There is an excellent review of "Come On Beautiful" in the famous  alternative-country magazine. 

# Les Inrockuptibles - France - n° 262, October 2000 - site
"It was May 1991 and here's what we wrote about Mark Eitzel, the leader of American Music Club, who were then even less famous than they are today: "In fifteen years, when les Inrockuptibles write the great history of the American rock misfits, Mark Eitzel will be granted a whole chapter to himself." 2006 hasn't arrived yet, but in the meantime beatification is already underway with a sumptuous tribute album, "Come On Beautiful - The Songs of American Music Club." As they make these songs their own, softly but deeply, Lambchop, Calexico, Tarnation, Steve Wynn, and Lille, France's own Vera Clouzot remind us how that broad and generous songwriting was already obviously classic. We have five years left to write the chapter on that unforgivable waste."

# Comes With A Smile - UK - November 2000 - site - e-mail
The excellent November issue of "Comes With A Smile" will feature an interview of Mark Eitzel and a review of the tribute to AMC :
"Just behind the Unplugged workout, the tribute album is another highly questionable piece of modern ephemera; pistols at dawn between sincerity and merchandising. With no doubt the purest of motives- a desire to doff the collective cap to an artist or shine some light under a previously unlifted stone- the end results are so often mixed. Fans are left (inevitably?) underwhelmed, and detatched observers remain nonplussed. Ida open the proceedings here with a beautifully fragile version of What Holds the World Together that perhaps raises the bar a little too high, and their sweet simplicity remains the highlight of this motley record. Like it's supposed to, I suppose, Come On Beautiful reaffirms how great these songs are (duh!), but like someone shooting themselves in the foot by including a cover version that eclipses their own sickly material, the album also makes a solid gold case for how integral Mark Eitzel is to his own songs. Though he can be slotted into some version of the singer-songwriter pigeonhole, Eitzel (and there's a case to be made that this is a tribute to Eitzel rather than AMC) is nothing if not a passionately idiosyncratic performer. But it's fascinating to hear what others do with these songs. M.Ward makes a dobro lullaby out of Fearless, Kurt Wagner brings an unsettling tenderness to the surface of Lambchop's version of Why Won't You Stay? and Chanel #5 becomes a moody quaver at the hands of Calexico. And it's just possible that Steve Wynn's transformation of the lament of Highway 5 into something almost bright and breezy, or Portastatic taking Firefly and swatting it into a knot of bedroom beats, is just enough to make the most devoted fans cross themselves (and in a release limited to 1000, this is 'one for the fans'). Vera Clouzot gets close to the murmured unease of Pale Skinny Girl, Paula Frazer brings her yearning clarity to the stumbling waltz of Hollywood 4-5-92, while Dakota Suite emulate the creeping tone of This Year. It's trite to state that nothing here matches up to the versions you'll already know; like an art school rendition of an old master, these reproductions only hint at the majesty and brilliance of the originals. If Come On Beautiful doesn't have you running back to Everclear or Mercury or California or Engine or San Francisco or United Kingdom (we'll leave out Restless Stranger for now) just to prove that you were right about American Music Club all along then it's achieved nothing. Time for a Best Of... perhaps? 
- Martin Williams"

# MAGNET - USA - October 2000 - site
"THEY LIKE AMERICAN MUSIC
The late American Music Club, a critically lauded San Francisco band that created stunning, melancholic music of everyday tragedy and departed love, is seeing new life breathed into its songs via an upcoming tribute album, Come On Beautiful: The Songs Of American Music Club (Big Night). The record was conceived by Willard Grant Conspiracy guitarist and devout AMC fan Paul Austin after thinking, "With all these 'songs of' CDs out there, why had no one ever done one featuring AMC?" With a stellar cast including Lambchop, Calexico, Portastatic, Steve Wynn, Paula Frazer (Tarnation), Jenny Toomey (Tsunami), Ida and the Willard Grant Conspiracy adding their own personal touches to AMC's riveting, elegant songs, it's sure to be a fan-pleasing affair. American Music Club folded in 1995 under the mounting weight of disappointing sales and internal strife, but leader Mark Eitzel -- often cited as one of the greatest living American rock songwriters -- still astounds as a solo artist. Come On Beautiful isn't only testament to Eitzel's impressive songcraft, but also to AMC's influence on fellow musicians. But before you rush to your local record store, take note: The limited-edition album is available only by mail order. "It's just something that a one-off (label) is putting out by a fan for fans," says Austin. For more information, go to http://comeonbeautiful.free.fr.
- Doug Sell"

# Les Inrockuptibles - France - n° 257, September 2000 - site
"We haven't yet been able to listen to the tribute that some crack shots are about to pay to one of their peers, Mark Eitzel ("Come On Beautiful - Songs of American Music Club," out October 2nd), but we're already salivating at the thought of such a beautiful casting: Calexico, Dakota Suite, Lambchop, Steve Wynn, Ida, Paula Frazer, the French band Vera Clouzot."

# NME - UK - September 2000 - site
"MUSICIANS CLUB TOGETHER FOR EITZEL : Mark Eitzel is being honoured by a host of musicians, including Lambchop, Calexico and Ida, on a 12-track tribute album, titled 'Come On Beautiful - The Songs Of American Music Club'.  Twelve artists chose their favourite American Music Club songs to record. The full tracklisting is: 'Chanel #5' - Calexico, 'Blue And Grey Shirt' - Chris & Carla, 'This Year' - Dakota Suite, 'Hollywood 4-5-92' - Paula Frazer, 'What Holds The World Together' - Ida, 'Why Won't You Stay' - Lambchop, 'Firefly' - Portastatic, 'Last Harbor' - Jenny Toomey & Amy Domingues, 'Pale Skinny Girl' - Vera Clouzot, 'Fearless' - Matt Ward, 'Will You Find Me?' - Willard Grant Conspiracy, 'Highway Five' - Steve Wynn."

# Les Inrockuptibles - France - n° 252, July 2000 - site
"American Music Club, the band Mark Eitzel led from 1983 to 1996, will have its memory justly honored in September with the release of "Come On Beautiful - The Songs of American Music Club." This tribute album--hatched in the mind of Willard Grant Conspiracy guitarist Paul Austin--will feature some fans and long-time friends, including Chris Eckman and Carla Torgerson (from the Walkabouts), Steve Wynn, Lambchop, Matt Ward, Ida, Jenny Toomey (from Tsunami) and Amy Dominguez, Paula Frazer (from Tarnation), Vera Clouzot, Willard Grant Conspiracy of course, Dakota Suite, and Calexico. Initially, there will be only 1000 copies, and the CD will be available exclusively through mail order from the Big Night label."