Enter a zip code
CD
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | |
Not content to wait 30 more years to record an album, Flatlanders Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Butch Hancock deliver another gem less than two years after the release of their exhilarating comeback, Now Again. Hancock, who penned 5 of the 14 songs here and collaborated on another, sets the album's tone with his skewed sensibility. The gentle, rolling rhythm of "Wheels of Fortune" provides a "John Wesley Harding"like ambiance for a cautionary tract about loving sincerely or not at all, sung with fragile beauty by Jimmie Dale. Hancock suffuses "Wishin' for You" with a chunky, languorous Tex-Mex feel, given added spice by Gilmore's soulful voice, as it rolls out the tale of a fellow who knows the danger of loving but can't contain his affection for a special gal. And the shuffling, acoustic-fired "Eggs of Your Chickens" has Hancock's own weathered vocal to recommend it as he explains, with assistance from the eerie moans of a musical saw, why it's time for him to move on from a stagnant love affair. Ely provides the hard, West Texas edge with his gritty, tense vocal on Gilmore's roiling "Midnight Train" and offers up one of his finest sketches of a lovable ne'er-do-well in the bopping tale titled "I'm Gonna Strangle You Shorty." Written by Gilmore and Hancock, "See the Way" is classic, first-album-era Flatlanders: ethereal, acoustic-based music of varied influences cradling three voices advising a belief in love as salvation, against all odds. Romantic realists to the hilt, the Flatlanders fearlessly explore their hearts, and their hearts always bless them with priceless gifts of insight. Their blessing is our gain. David McGee, Barnes & Noble