Release Date: 12 June, 2001
Audio CD
Tracks
- Caleb Meyer
- Good Til Now
- The Devil Had a Hold of Me
- My Morphine
- One Morning
- Miner's Refrain
- Honey Now
- I'm Not Afraid to Die
- Rock of Ages
- Whiskey Girl
- Winter's Come and Gone
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Rating 4.0
instant melancholia / addictive, haunting poetry and musicWelch's voice and Rawlings' guitar sound as intense, beneficent and honest as music can get. I enjoy an extremely addictive mixture here of haunting poetry and music that comes straight from the heart, in an American country/folklike-style that reverberates and finds refuge in my soul immediately. A music of 'instant melancholia', or, if I may borrow some of Welch's own beautiful lyrics here- a music that's like 'morphine' that 'will be the death of me'. Very impressive and highly recommended!Simple, stark, and beautifulThis is my second favorite Gillian album, just behind "Time - The Revelator" and just ahead of "Soul Journey." I think in this album, more so than in "Revival," Gillian really shows her knack for writing songs that sound like you've been hearing them and singing them your whole life. I suppose tracks like "Miner's Refrain," "The Devil Had A Hold of Me," "One Morning," and "I'm not Afraid to Die" could be considered dark, but the stripped-down guitar and vocals are so beautiful and intimate, and the writing so plainspoken and direct, that I'm drawn into the songs without a second thought. To specifically praise a few songs, "Miner's Refrain" is tied with Johnny Cash's rendition of "Dark as a Dungeon" as my all-time favorite coal mining song (not that there's much competition, but still ...); "I'm Not Afraid to Die" is, to me, as soothing and spiritual a song as this athiest will ever sing along to; and "Winter's Come and Gone" is such a joyous and uplifting celebration of the seasons that every spring I drive around town listening to it over and over with a big smile on my face.Gillain's songs remind me of Alice Munro's short stories -- deceptively simple and hauntingly beautiful, once you let them in they'll be with you forever. Hauntingly BeautifulOne of the finest albums I've owned in a long time. The sheer, raw, haunting, ambiance of the recording sent chills down my spine from the first track. I first became interested in Gillian Welch's recordings after I practically wore out my CD of, "O Brother Where Art Thou?". From there, I was captivated by her and David Rawling's performance of "Katie Dear" from the Chieftains "Down the Old Plank Road". I received "Soul Journey" as a Christmas gift, and was impressed. This recording, however, is so beautiful in it's utter simplicity and desparation, that it is already in my top 20 album's I've EVER heard. Simply a masterpiece. |
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