Release Date: 31 July, 2001
Audio CD
Tracks
- Revelator
- My First Lover
- Dear Someone
- Everything Is Free
- Elvis Presley Blues
- I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll
- April 14th, Part I
- Ruination Day, Part II
- Red Clay Halo
- I Dream A Highway
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Rating 4.5
"I was thinking that night about Elvis, then he died."Time (The Revelator) is a wonderful, mournful and honest thing. It gets better and better with every listening. Contrary to the Amazon review, I think that I Want to Sing That Rock and Roll is the weakest track, its light-hearted upbeat tone is out of place with the rest of the deadpan songs. But every other track is dead on. It's all sad. Gillian's gift is to say things in a simple way, the songs have a mean gravity. Singing about Elvis, she describes him as an ambiguous gendered creature, "he shook it like a chorus girl, he shook it like a Harlem queen." It's really vague, almost trailer trash, but it is powerfull. "I could get a tip jar, gas up the car." Honesty is a rare thing, a real treasure. Thank you Miss Welch.It's a Doggy.I was hoping to hear something like Alison Krauss or the Whites or something bluegrassy or folkish like John Prine. This is in a category all by itself. Nowhere.
I played it once about a year ago when I bought it and then again last night and I still don't like it. I can't even tap my foot to it. It's just too darn S L O W. I did not know a person could write a slong as slow as these things are. And her voice is just boring. Excuse me, but you can keep your Gillian Welsh.OK, but ...If you're looking for a Gillian Welch album to begin with, I would recommend "Revival." Revival was the first album of hers I'd got, and I was ecstatic after giving it a listen. (See my enthusiastic review on amazon.) Naturally, I couldn't wait for more, so moved on to Time.
"Time" may be the revelator, but it's also a letdown. The album is just tooooooooo sloooooooooow. So much so that at times it plods. Painfully along. Note ... by ... note.
I don't know what it is. Her voice is still there, good as ever, but it lacks heart and soul. Which can't be injected into a song just by slowing it down. Notable exceptions include "Red Clay Halo" (my favorite) and "I Want to Sing that Rock and Roll." And the title track, "Revelator," though slow, still has something special to it.
Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be a one-disc Gillian fan. I'm reluctant to try Hell Among the Yearlings or her newest one, based on my disappointment with Time. |
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