The Album Review Club - Week #141 - (page 1860) - JPEG Raw - Gary Clark Jr.
- Thread starter RobMCFC
- Start date
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
Geography alert?
BlueHammer85
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Prince - Around The World In A Day
Black&White&BlueMoon Town
Well-Known Member
Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail
(I saw Bruce Hornsby live in concert on my college campus - in that same state - in the late 80's).
I don't recall saying I live in DC, but Irish Basement is from there, and they'd likely tour in this region if so.
Oh, and I'm betting the line about you singing on stage is TRUE.
That's just the way it is...
(I saw Bruce Hornsby live in concert on my college campus - in that same state - in the late 80's).
I don't recall saying I live in DC, but Irish Basement is from there, and they'd likely tour in this region if so.
Oh, and I'm betting the line about you singing on stage is TRUE.
That's just the way it is...
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
BOOM! Correct in one.
You'll all be glad to know that the line about being a Manchester United fan is false.
RobMCFC
Well-Known Member
The Album Review Club
Spirit Trail – Bruce Hornsby (1998)
Selected by RobMCFC
Introduction
Christmas 1998. I’d become a dad for the first time less than three months earlier. It was a time when I still treated myself to a few new albums to listen to over the festive period and beyond. That year’s purchases included Beck’s Mutations and Bruce Hornsby’s Spirit Trail.
I remember on Christmas morning, getting up in the early hours to sooth my 2-month-old daughter and when I’d got her settled, I stuck my headphones on and listened to Mutations and Spirit Trail whilst rocking the pram with my foot.
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby hit the bigtime in 1986 with his first album, The Way It Is and the eponymous single from that album. I’m sure you know the tune, but I’ll bet most of you have taken your eyes and ears off him since.
After a string of radio hits, including great songs for other artists (including “The End of the Innocence” with Don Henley), he carved out a decent and varied solo career. He played on tour with the Grateful Dead for a few years, made a jazz trio album, partnered with bluegrass legend Ricky Scaggs for an album, and has collaborated multiple times with filmmaker Spike Lee (200 pieces of music and counting). He even made an experimental electronica album. He continues to put out ever more experimental albums that even I’ve lost touch with, although I notice he is collaborating with a group called yMusic for a new album about water, to be released in March.
Bruce and Me, Live on Stage!
I saw Bruce Hornsby live three times, all at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester, in 1986, 1988, and 1990.
The first occasion was at the first concert I ever went to, where Bruce Hornsby & The Range were the support act for Huey Lewis & The News.
On the second occasion, I was one of about 20 people who got to join him on-stage for the chorus of “The Valley Road”. I shook his hand and said, “Nice concert, Bruce”, as I left the stage.
These first three concerts make my favourite Bruce Hornsby music the songs and albums that he put out in that era: three albums that were choc-full of pop hits, but with hints that he was capable of so much more. In fact, the use of mandolin, accordion, hammered dulcimer and an array of other instruments on his debut album, The Way It is, predated Mellencamp’s The Lonesome Jubilee by a year, so I think this is probably where the seed for my love of these kind of instruments was planted.
In the 1990s, Hornsby went solo, and began to make music where he stretched out the instrumentals, shifting the dial more towards jazz, blues and folk than the poppiness of those first few albums.
Artists such as Pet Metheny, Branford Marsalis, Bela Fleck and the late/great Jerry Garcia all contributed to these records. But on Spirit Trail, although there are still plenty of supporting musicians, it’s largely Bruce himself who drives the sound. It may be challenging in terms of running time, but this album is his magnus opus, and I think it best represents Bruce Hornsby as a musician, and is objectively his best album.
Spirit Trail
Everything that makes a great Bruce Hornsby album is on display here, from the lyrics that tell stories of small-town life, religion and the darker side of town to songs of a more whimsical nature. His lyrical approach is in step with the singer-songwriters that a few of us on this thread love, but of course he makes them sound unique and personal due to his exceptional piano skills. As if he wasn’t already good enough, in the years leading up to this album, Hornsby taught his two hands to play piano independently.
Whilst there’s lots of great instrumental passages on show, he doesn’t forget to throw in the odd catchy chorus here and there.
"King of the Hill" kicks off proceedings – a song from the perspective of a worker as he observes the “big boss man”. The imagery in the lyrics is well thought out, and it’s the first of several long piano workouts on the album.
“Resting Place” is classic Hornsby – pop piano and a big, catchy chorus.
"Preacher in the Ring", which appears as two consecutive tracks in slightly different styles, tells the tale of a “Thomas in doubt” whose friend takes him to see a snake-handling preacher and a subsequent “wild-eyed scramble over tables and chairs to see the light.” Again, fantastic lyrical imagery – like a book in a song – backed by piano rolls. This song was in fact inspired by the book Saving Grace by Lee Smith.
There are some fabulous, jazzy piano chords on "Sad Moon" whilst “Fortunate Son” is inspired by Lewis Puller’s autobiography of the same name, and it shares the inner thoughts of the wounded Vietnam vet in a way that is both dignified and touching.
"Sneaking Up on Boo Radley" is a relatively sparse number that has some catchy little piano lines and changes, and “Great Divide”, a big number featuring violin, brings the first disc to a close.
Final Thoughts
You may notice that my review of the album’s songs stops about halfway through: this is because I’m giving the listeners a choice.
This has come about because the UK version of Spirit Trail that I have on CD mixes up the order and loses some of the songs from the double-CD US release. To be fair, most of the good songs are on the single disk and appear in the first 10 tracks of the full album on Spotify. There are some gems on the “second disk”: “Line in the Dust” and “Sunflower Cat”, the latter a reworking of a Grateful Dead song, are worth a listen.
But if you feel that the full album is too much, I’m happy for you to judge it on the first 10 tracks, which is around the 45-minute mark.
If you are listening to the 2023 remaster, the album ends at the 90-minute mark with “Variations On Swan Song & Song D”.
Spirit Trail – Bruce Hornsby (1998)
Selected by RobMCFC
Introduction
Christmas 1998. I’d become a dad for the first time less than three months earlier. It was a time when I still treated myself to a few new albums to listen to over the festive period and beyond. That year’s purchases included Beck’s Mutations and Bruce Hornsby’s Spirit Trail.
I remember on Christmas morning, getting up in the early hours to sooth my 2-month-old daughter and when I’d got her settled, I stuck my headphones on and listened to Mutations and Spirit Trail whilst rocking the pram with my foot.
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby hit the bigtime in 1986 with his first album, The Way It Is and the eponymous single from that album. I’m sure you know the tune, but I’ll bet most of you have taken your eyes and ears off him since.
After a string of radio hits, including great songs for other artists (including “The End of the Innocence” with Don Henley), he carved out a decent and varied solo career. He played on tour with the Grateful Dead for a few years, made a jazz trio album, partnered with bluegrass legend Ricky Scaggs for an album, and has collaborated multiple times with filmmaker Spike Lee (200 pieces of music and counting). He even made an experimental electronica album. He continues to put out ever more experimental albums that even I’ve lost touch with, although I notice he is collaborating with a group called yMusic for a new album about water, to be released in March.
Bruce and Me, Live on Stage!
I saw Bruce Hornsby live three times, all at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester, in 1986, 1988, and 1990.
The first occasion was at the first concert I ever went to, where Bruce Hornsby & The Range were the support act for Huey Lewis & The News.
On the second occasion, I was one of about 20 people who got to join him on-stage for the chorus of “The Valley Road”. I shook his hand and said, “Nice concert, Bruce”, as I left the stage.
These first three concerts make my favourite Bruce Hornsby music the songs and albums that he put out in that era: three albums that were choc-full of pop hits, but with hints that he was capable of so much more. In fact, the use of mandolin, accordion, hammered dulcimer and an array of other instruments on his debut album, The Way It is, predated Mellencamp’s The Lonesome Jubilee by a year, so I think this is probably where the seed for my love of these kind of instruments was planted.
In the 1990s, Hornsby went solo, and began to make music where he stretched out the instrumentals, shifting the dial more towards jazz, blues and folk than the poppiness of those first few albums.
Artists such as Pet Metheny, Branford Marsalis, Bela Fleck and the late/great Jerry Garcia all contributed to these records. But on Spirit Trail, although there are still plenty of supporting musicians, it’s largely Bruce himself who drives the sound. It may be challenging in terms of running time, but this album is his magnus opus, and I think it best represents Bruce Hornsby as a musician, and is objectively his best album.
Spirit Trail
Everything that makes a great Bruce Hornsby album is on display here, from the lyrics that tell stories of small-town life, religion and the darker side of town to songs of a more whimsical nature. His lyrical approach is in step with the singer-songwriters that a few of us on this thread love, but of course he makes them sound unique and personal due to his exceptional piano skills. As if he wasn’t already good enough, in the years leading up to this album, Hornsby taught his two hands to play piano independently.
Whilst there’s lots of great instrumental passages on show, he doesn’t forget to throw in the odd catchy chorus here and there.
"King of the Hill" kicks off proceedings – a song from the perspective of a worker as he observes the “big boss man”. The imagery in the lyrics is well thought out, and it’s the first of several long piano workouts on the album.
“Resting Place” is classic Hornsby – pop piano and a big, catchy chorus.
"Preacher in the Ring", which appears as two consecutive tracks in slightly different styles, tells the tale of a “Thomas in doubt” whose friend takes him to see a snake-handling preacher and a subsequent “wild-eyed scramble over tables and chairs to see the light.” Again, fantastic lyrical imagery – like a book in a song – backed by piano rolls. This song was in fact inspired by the book Saving Grace by Lee Smith.
There are some fabulous, jazzy piano chords on "Sad Moon" whilst “Fortunate Son” is inspired by Lewis Puller’s autobiography of the same name, and it shares the inner thoughts of the wounded Vietnam vet in a way that is both dignified and touching.
"Sneaking Up on Boo Radley" is a relatively sparse number that has some catchy little piano lines and changes, and “Great Divide”, a big number featuring violin, brings the first disc to a close.
Final Thoughts
You may notice that my review of the album’s songs stops about halfway through: this is because I’m giving the listeners a choice.
This has come about because the UK version of Spirit Trail that I have on CD mixes up the order and loses some of the songs from the double-CD US release. To be fair, most of the good songs are on the single disk and appear in the first 10 tracks of the full album on Spotify. There are some gems on the “second disk”: “Line in the Dust” and “Sunflower Cat”, the latter a reworking of a Grateful Dead song, are worth a listen.
But if you feel that the full album is too much, I’m happy for you to judge it on the first 10 tracks, which is around the 45-minute mark.
If you are listening to the 2023 remaster, the album ends at the 90-minute mark with “Variations On Swan Song & Song D”.
BlueHammer85
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- 13 Oct 2010
- Messages
- 36,007
Nice write up Roberto.
Know of course 'Way It Is' but nothing more. Cool pick.
Know of course 'Way It Is' but nothing more. Cool pick.
BimboBob
Well-Known Member
Love a bit of piano, John and Joel are favourites of mine, so looking forward to listening to this. I have The Way It Is and a Night On The Town on vinyl and enjoy both.
Let's see what he does on his own...
Let's see what he does on his own...
Mancitydoogle
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- 1,499
I was at the 86 gig but didn’t get to sing with him, fortunately for the audience!
I also have this album,but it’s been years since I played it , so looking forward to reacquainting myself with it.
I also have this album,but it’s been years since I played it , so looking forward to reacquainting myself with it.
Like many I think it is only "The Way It Is" that i have heard so going to be interesting. once again this thread is forcing me to get myself out of my musical rut.
Away for a first listen before I suffer what i suspect will be a stressful night watching the match
Away for a first listen before I suffer what i suspect will be a stressful night watching the match