Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and bluegrass crooner Alison Krauss may not be the likeliest of musical combinations. But on this welcome collaboration album, they work beautifully together, wringing a kind of magic from other people's songs. The key to the album is its versatility. Between them, Krauss and Plant can handle a vast repertoire on their own, and here they take on the lot, from folk laments and country soul to searing blues and upbeat rock & roll. Overseen by Elvis Costello producer T Bone Burnett and backed by high caliber musicians like guitarist Marc Ribot and multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, Raising Sand sees the duo create stellar covers of songs by Tom Waits, Townes Van Zandt, Mel Tillis and The Everly Brothers, among others. Highlights include a killer version of Roly Salley's "Killing the Blues", and a cover of the Plant-Page collaboration "Please Read the Letter," though in truth, it's difficult to find a weak spot on the whole album. --Danny McKenna

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

Over the years this Irish folk band has recorded with James Galway, Roger Daltrey, Nanci Griffith, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, and many more. For The Long Black Veil, they made their biggest haul yet: the Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, Marianne Faithfull, Mark Knopfler, Sinead O'Connor, Tom Jones, Sting, and Ry Cooder. Knopfler, Faithfull, and O'Connor wander off-key in their vocals. Sting, Jones, and Mick Jagger stay on key in theirs, but never quite connect with their chosen songs nor with the ancient folk tradition the Chieftains tap into each time they play. A powerful musical connection is forged three times on the album, however. Morrison patiently builds his own "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?" to a grand climax over flute and pipes; Ry Cooder adds a mysterious Mideastern guitar part to an instrumental version of "Dunmore Lasses;" and on "The Rocky Road to Dublin," Charlie Watts's ceili-swing drumming holds together a loose adventurous jam session which features Kevin Coneff's lead vocal and wild exchanges of the Chieftains' twin fiddles and the Rolling Stones' guitars. Three epiphanies may not be enough to justify the Long Black Veil project, but you can find a whole album of such moments on Van Morrison & the Chieftains' 1988 Irish Heartbeat, one of the greatest Irish recordings ever made. --Geoffrey Himes

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

WOW...SIMPLY AMAZING!, 10 Nov 2002
This is a terrific CD, with its wild meld of celtic, pop, folk, and country strains. The Chieftains, accompanied by such music greats as Sting, Mick Jagger, Sinead O'Connor, The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, among others...who would have thought such an assemblage would result in such a cohesive recording of such wildly divergent music? Of particular note are Sting's mournful rendition of "Mo Ghile Mear" and Sinead O'Connor's stylization of "The Foggy Dew" and "He Moved Through The Fair". Mick Jagger also does justice to "A Long Black Veil". This CD is simply a great recording overall!

Fiddles, whistles and rock stars!, 27 Apr 2001
This CD certainly proves that The Chieftains have friends in high places! This album is packed full of rock stars (Mick Jagger, Sting, Sinead O' Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Tom Jones and Marianne Faithfull) singing traditional Irish songs. This is an interesting album and the songs do work better than I expected them too. This is a lively collection of songs and none of the artists sound out of place, but I think I would still prefer hearing these songs sung by folk singers. Nonetheless this is a good introduction to The Chieftain's style of music and an essential buy if you are a fan of the artists involved.

How do you follow a debut record that achieved out-of-the-blue grandeur on its way to selling a quarter of a million copies? For Maine's Ray LaMontagne, it's all about shaking up the formula, evading repetition and delivering the unexpected. Till the Sun Turns Black finds the introspective singer/songwriter complementing his folk-country ways with traces of strings and horns and spooky soulful background voices. Songs like "You Can Bring Me Flowers" and "Three More Days" are the most R&B-influenced, the latter shuffling about ala The Band or Tony Joe White. Despite its brooding lyrics, "Empty" has a rollicking, almost breezy delivery, a perfect balance to either the hushed title track, the unnerving "Be Here Now" or the horn-fortified waltz, "Gone Away From Me." Throughout the 11-song sequence, and especially on the final song "Within You," LaMontagne's voice remains the record's most crucial element, as vibrant as it is tattered and as harsh as it is flawless. --Scott Holter

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

WOW...SIMPLY AMAZING!, 10 Nov 2002
This is a terrific CD, with its wild meld of celtic, pop, folk, and country strains. The Chieftains, accompanied by such music greats as Sting, Mick Jagger, Sinead O'Connor, The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, among others...who would have thought such an assemblage would result in such a cohesive recording of such wildly divergent music? Of particular note are Sting's mournful rendition of "Mo Ghile Mear" and Sinead O'Connor's stylization of "The Foggy Dew" and "He Moved Through The Fair". Mick Jagger also does justice to "A Long Black Veil". This CD is simply a great recording overall!

Fiddles, whistles and rock stars!, 27 Apr 2001
This CD certainly proves that The Chieftains have friends in high places! This album is packed full of rock stars (Mick Jagger, Sting, Sinead O' Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Tom Jones and Marianne Faithfull) singing traditional Irish songs. This is an interesting album and the songs do work better than I expected them too. This is a lively collection of songs and none of the artists sound out of place, but I think I would still prefer hearing these songs sung by folk singers. Nonetheless this is a good introduction to The Chieftain's style of music and an essential buy if you are a fan of the artists involved.

Incredible, 10 Nov 2008
I have only had this album for two days and it is already one of my favourites! Although I had heard of Ray Lamontagne, I had not heard any of his music and ordered this album from Amazon on a whim. Just pure beautiful music, very Damian Rice-esque, execpt more upbeat!!

Really really good., 26 Sep 2008
My brother pointed me to Ray lamontagne, I have not listened to the Trouble album But I love this... The lyrics and the singing are very emotional and do touch the listener.

Only 4 stars because 5 is reserved for those albums that are just amazing... which for me doesn't happen very often!

Ground-breaking and captivating music, 20 Apr 2008
'Till the Sun...' is so much more better than 'Trouble' in so many ways, I think I'd have to be a quadruped with 60 toes to count them all! (But one reason it's better is that it's offensibly, criminally dirt-cheap compared to trouble!) 'Be Here Now' almost reaches out of the darkness with its overdone horn and string arrangements, giving it a somewhat dream-like quality. The next track, 'Empty', is by far the best song on the album, with deep, emotional, bleak lyrics and a good mixture of piano, gentle percussion, strings and Ray on the guitar. 'Lay with Me' is also quite a sweet tune about breaking inhibitions, and 'Three More Days' is a funky, soulful little number. At first you'll be of mixed opinion, but I think Ray's done himself proud with this one. 'Within You' is also a great song, which really carries itself, based on a Beatlesy anti-war theme. Trouble was an album for soul-searching; this album is all about finding your soul and really wrestling with it.

Just give it time, it grows and grows and grows, 29 Feb 2008
Initially I wasn't that impressed with Ray's second album, perhaps it was the mood I was in at the time but I am so glad I perservered. This album is now clamouring to be in favourite 10 ten albums. Better than his first album.

ray lamontagne, 07 Feb 2008
get this album its so mellow so full of soul chilled me right out , he has an awesome voice like melted chocolate !!!!! excellent use of strings on the first track sent shivers down my spine i love it !!!!

Icelandic-Italian singer Emiliana Torrini has achieved much, but gained comparatively little, off the back of a career that has blossomed in a nook out of the mainstream's line-of-sight for over a decade. She's been a voice for hire for dance acts aplenty (Paul Oakenfold, Thievery Corporation), was the lungs behind the sky-reaching "Gollum's Song" in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and co-wrote Kylie's weightless, post-minimalist gloss-pop classic "Slow"--endeavours that really should have made her a household name by now. Heading in a different direction her last solo album, 2005's Fisherman's Woman, was a pristine master-class in hushed exchanges, but bewilderingly also fell under the radar. With Me & Armini though you get the feeling that Emiliana Torrini might be a name that begins to stick from hereon in. Easily her most cohesive and pressing work yet, she evokes the delicious and warm-hearted certainty of Feist, sealed with the glistening inflections of her Icelandic home-tongue, like a homespun and less-eccentric Bjork. Her impressive range is showcased here like never before, from the guttural PJ-Harvey-isms of "Gun" to the Winehouse jazz of "Heard It All Before", bold Gwen Steffani-esque colours of title track "Me & Armini", right down to the Beth Orton wispiness of "Beggars Prayer". --James Berry

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

WOW...SIMPLY AMAZING!, 10 Nov 2002
This is a terrific CD, with its wild meld of celtic, pop, folk, and country strains. The Chieftains, accompanied by such music greats as Sting, Mick Jagger, Sinead O'Connor, The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, among others...who would have thought such an assemblage would result in such a cohesive recording of such wildly divergent music? Of particular note are Sting's mournful rendition of "Mo Ghile Mear" and Sinead O'Connor's stylization of "The Foggy Dew" and "He Moved Through The Fair". Mick Jagger also does justice to "A Long Black Veil". This CD is simply a great recording overall!

Fiddles, whistles and rock stars!, 27 Apr 2001
This CD certainly proves that The Chieftains have friends in high places! This album is packed full of rock stars (Mick Jagger, Sting, Sinead O' Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Tom Jones and Marianne Faithfull) singing traditional Irish songs. This is an interesting album and the songs do work better than I expected them too. This is a lively collection of songs and none of the artists sound out of place, but I think I would still prefer hearing these songs sung by folk singers. Nonetheless this is a good introduction to The Chieftain's style of music and an essential buy if you are a fan of the artists involved.

Incredible, 10 Nov 2008
I have only had this album for two days and it is already one of my favourites! Although I had heard of Ray Lamontagne, I had not heard any of his music and ordered this album from Amazon on a whim. Just pure beautiful music, very Damian Rice-esque, execpt more upbeat!!

Really really good., 26 Sep 2008
My brother pointed me to Ray lamontagne, I have not listened to the Trouble album But I love this... The lyrics and the singing are very emotional and do touch the listener.

Only 4 stars because 5 is reserved for those albums that are just amazing... which for me doesn't happen very often!

Ground-breaking and captivating music, 20 Apr 2008
'Till the Sun...' is so much more better than 'Trouble' in so many ways, I think I'd have to be a quadruped with 60 toes to count them all! (But one reason it's better is that it's offensibly, criminally dirt-cheap compared to trouble!) 'Be Here Now' almost reaches out of the darkness with its overdone horn and string arrangements, giving it a somewhat dream-like quality. The next track, 'Empty', is by far the best song on the album, with deep, emotional, bleak lyrics and a good mixture of piano, gentle percussion, strings and Ray on the guitar. 'Lay with Me' is also quite a sweet tune about breaking inhibitions, and 'Three More Days' is a funky, soulful little number. At first you'll be of mixed opinion, but I think Ray's done himself proud with this one. 'Within You' is also a great song, which really carries itself, based on a Beatlesy anti-war theme. Trouble was an album for soul-searching; this album is all about finding your soul and really wrestling with it.

Just give it time, it grows and grows and grows, 29 Feb 2008
Initially I wasn't that impressed with Ray's second album, perhaps it was the mood I was in at the time but I am so glad I perservered. This album is now clamouring to be in favourite 10 ten albums. Better than his first album.

ray lamontagne, 07 Feb 2008
get this album its so mellow so full of soul chilled me right out , he has an awesome voice like melted chocolate !!!!! excellent use of strings on the first track sent shivers down my spine i love it !!!!

No no no, 06 Nov 2008
Emiliana hang your head in shame. I loved 'Love in the time..' for it's lovely ambient beats together with that beautiful voice. Wasn't expecting the folky turn of 'Fisherman's' but still great (especially live).

This latest offering is an example of someone with absolutely no idea as to what direction to take musically. I have no problem with taking different directions, but probably best not to take them all at the same time. This is a complete mess and a waste of - did I say already? a beautiful voice.

D- must try much much harder.

Simply splendid!, 28 Oct 2008
This is a top quality pop album - far superior to the bland homogenised pop mush that usually gets into the charts. Quirky, fun, memorable with good tunes and well written lyrics. I loved her last cd which was more folky than this but I like this more somehow - it's far more upbeat. A recommended purchase.

Like nothing you've heard before, 11 Oct 2008
What a little gem this is. One wonders if anyone who isn't already a fan of Emiliana Torrini will even look at this album, but if they do, they'll be in for a new experience.

It's not too short. It's not too long. In 12 songs, Emiliana goes from catchy pop (Big Jumps) to outrageously fun rock (Jungle Drum), with dips into dark, moody moments (Gun) and several delightful ballads. There's a little bit of everything here. Even existing fans will be surprised, because it's not really like either of her previous (internationally released) albums. Love In The Time of Science was her trip hop album, while Fisherman's Woman was so laid back, it was horizontal.

Me and Armini is another fabulous release from a sadly underrated and little heard-of songstress, who has lived too long in the shadow of Bjork. Her day deserves to come.

Without you I would never rise, 10 Oct 2008
Emiliana Torrini's last album was all wistful folk. Before that, it was all equally wistful electronic pop and the creepily pretty closing song to "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

But before all that, she dabbled happily in everything from jazz to J-pop, raw-throated indie-rock to the blues -- and she did a pretty good job at all of them. And while her fifth album "Me and Armini" doesn't quite explore EVERYTHING she's done before, Torrini slips back comfortably into some of the musical niches she has already carved. Her delicate pop is flavoured by tinges of other styles and genres, and sometimes those other sounds (as in "Gun") overwhelm it completely.

"Somebody's got a long way to go/You're not sitting by the phone no more... Mmm, are we going crazy?/It's not fair to say we wasted time/In my view we just used it all up..." Torrini sings wistfully over a mellow folk-guitar. But she tries a totally different approach to a no-letting-go-love in the titular track -- it's an upbeat jazzy song with a vaguely stalkerish sound ("Some people think that/I'm heading for a meltdown... This I know/she doesn't love you like I do/yes it's clear/she'll never love you like me...").

A number of these songs stem musically from the bittersweet folk of her last album "Fisherman's Woman" -- the haunting seaside sound of "Birds," the prettily malicious "Ha Ha," and a string of low-key, folky melodies that rely mostly on Torrini's vocals and a guitar. But she mixes up the sound a little -- some of these melodies end with a thin mat of woobly synth, and the acoustic pop number "Big Jumps" is anything but wistful and low-key. It's all sunny joyousness and fun ("Go on, make some BIG JUMPS, BIG JUMPS/you afraid to break some bones?").

And then there are some songs that, stylistically speaking, belong to "Me and Armini" alone. These tend to be a bit darker -- there's the rhythmic organ-keyboard of "Heard It All Before," and the squiggling, fast-paced rocker "Jungle Drum" ("Hey, read my lips/cause all they say is kiss kiss kiss kiss!/No one ever stops/my hands are in the air/yes I'm in love!"). And "Gun" is a masterpiece of quietly distorted guitar, with Torrini murmuring a tale of despair, infidelity and gleeful murder of a wife's lover.

Musically, Emiliana Torrini doesn't really try anything new in "Me and Armini," because she's dabbled in almost every kind of pop except symphonic metal (and for all I know she's tried that too). But she does polish up the whole electro/jazz/pop sound to near-perfection while still blending it with folky acoustics, and takes a few musical risks as well. Not that I'm complaining, because pretty much all of those risks pay off and leave you awaiting more.

Acoustic guitar takes center stage in this album, strumming gently like a forest creek under Torrini's vocals, with a few exceptions like the electric riffs in "Jungle Drum" and "Gun." And Torrini drapes those deceptively simple-sounding guitar melodies in expansive extras -- jazzy drums, patches of heavy distortion, swathes of shimmering synth, piano and soundclips of tinkly windchimes. One of the most memorable: "Heard It All Before's" thumping organ-keyboard melody getting swallowed by clashing drums and ghostly riffs.

Torrini's girlish, chilly elfin vocals are often compared to Bjork, but she frankly sounds a lot more innocent and emotional. And her songs are nice as well, tending to focus on the mysteries and pain of romantic love, and even when she sings "ha... ha... ha.... hear me laughin'" at a former lover's trouble, she sounds mournful. But she can turn on the joy just as quickly with happy bouncy calls of, "Hey there sunshine lift my heart/I know life is long but it goes so fast/I love you never feeling old/You never bought the rubbish that they sold!"

With, I might add, the occasional foray into creepyville -- that gleeful front-row seat to manslaughter and the weird obsession with Armini are chilling at times, no matter how pretty her voice is ("Stop your shaking, sweating, whining and regretting/You're making a scene that is going to get you caught...").

"Me and Armini" allows Emiliana Torrini to expand her folk sound and polish it to a jewel-like hue, with some darker facets and delightfully sweet love songs. Definitely a good listen.

Excellent Genre Striding Album, 18 Sep 2008
This is Emiliana Torrini's 6th album although only two were released outside Iceland. Me and Armini really bridges the gap between them with some great pop numbers and some low key acoustic tracks too. Newer to the mix is the more rockier edge in places though and it suits her voice and style.

"Big Jumps" was a great choice as a single and reminds me of summer time fun (it also reminds me of "Unemployed in Summertime" however there's absolutely genius in "Jungle Drum" which sounds like a 1960's rock anthem and will be the next single. Its very catchy.

Acoustic lovers will enjoy "Bleeder", "Hold Heart" and personal favourite "Beggar's Prayer" which has a beautiful vocal section in the middle with just humming which effects you in a brilliant way.

"Gun" shows off a more edgy side to Emiliana we've not seen for a long time as its full of atmosphere and "Ha Ha" is a darker shade of Torrini too. "Dead Duck" is a fantastic piece of studio trickery as it basically goes through all the album sounds in one song.

I would recommend this to any Torrini fan no matter which album of hers you preferred and also to anyone who likes their pop a little more involved than the usual chart toppers.

Joan Baez, whose career spans five super-impressive decades, proves she is still a force to be reckoned with on this 24th studio album. Focusing on major topics like wartime, religion and death, Baez has teamed up with Steve Earle, who has not only produced the album but contributed three songs (two new compositions, and an a cappella version of his "Jericho Road"). As on previous collections, what makes this particular record a resounding success is the choice of songs. Baez covers tunes by Eliza Gilkyson, Diana Jones, Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett, as well as British songwriter Thea Gilmore. Though the compositions are generally upbeat, the mood is reflective as Baez's famed soprano--shorn of some of its top notes by now--weaves its spell over these largely acoustic numbers. The standout song is perhaps the title track, an affecting Iraq War ballad originally penned by Tom Waits. Where Waits typically performs it in his inimitably grizzled manner, Baez plays it gently, accompanied by insouciant acoustic guitar, subsequently transforming it into an even more human and fragile moment. A dazzling collection. --Danny McKenna

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

WOW...SIMPLY AMAZING!, 10 Nov 2002
This is a terrific CD, with its wild meld of celtic, pop, folk, and country strains. The Chieftains, accompanied by such music greats as Sting, Mick Jagger, Sinead O'Connor, The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, among others...who would have thought such an assemblage would result in such a cohesive recording of such wildly divergent music? Of particular note are Sting's mournful rendition of "Mo Ghile Mear" and Sinead O'Connor's stylization of "The Foggy Dew" and "He Moved Through The Fair". Mick Jagger also does justice to "A Long Black Veil". This CD is simply a great recording overall!

Fiddles, whistles and rock stars!, 27 Apr 2001
This CD certainly proves that The Chieftains have friends in high places! This album is packed full of rock stars (Mick Jagger, Sting, Sinead O' Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Tom Jones and Marianne Faithfull) singing traditional Irish songs. This is an interesting album and the songs do work better than I expected them too. This is a lively collection of songs and none of the artists sound out of place, but I think I would still prefer hearing these songs sung by folk singers. Nonetheless this is a good introduction to The Chieftain's style of music and an essential buy if you are a fan of the artists involved.

Incredible, 10 Nov 2008
I have only had this album for two days and it is already one of my favourites! Although I had heard of Ray Lamontagne, I had not heard any of his music and ordered this album from Amazon on a whim. Just pure beautiful music, very Damian Rice-esque, execpt more upbeat!!

Really really good., 26 Sep 2008
My brother pointed me to Ray lamontagne, I have not listened to the Trouble album But I love this... The lyrics and the singing are very emotional and do touch the listener.

Only 4 stars because 5 is reserved for those albums that are just amazing... which for me doesn't happen very often!

Ground-breaking and captivating music, 20 Apr 2008
'Till the Sun...' is so much more better than 'Trouble' in so many ways, I think I'd have to be a quadruped with 60 toes to count them all! (But one reason it's better is that it's offensibly, criminally dirt-cheap compared to trouble!) 'Be Here Now' almost reaches out of the darkness with its overdone horn and string arrangements, giving it a somewhat dream-like quality. The next track, 'Empty', is by far the best song on the album, with deep, emotional, bleak lyrics and a good mixture of piano, gentle percussion, strings and Ray on the guitar. 'Lay with Me' is also quite a sweet tune about breaking inhibitions, and 'Three More Days' is a funky, soulful little number. At first you'll be of mixed opinion, but I think Ray's done himself proud with this one. 'Within You' is also a great song, which really carries itself, based on a Beatlesy anti-war theme. Trouble was an album for soul-searching; this album is all about finding your soul and really wrestling with it.

Just give it time, it grows and grows and grows, 29 Feb 2008
Initially I wasn't that impressed with Ray's second album, perhaps it was the mood I was in at the time but I am so glad I perservered. This album is now clamouring to be in favourite 10 ten albums. Better than his first album.

ray lamontagne, 07 Feb 2008
get this album its so mellow so full of soul chilled me right out , he has an awesome voice like melted chocolate !!!!! excellent use of strings on the first track sent shivers down my spine i love it !!!!

No no no, 06 Nov 2008
Emiliana hang your head in shame. I loved 'Love in the time..' for it's lovely ambient beats together with that beautiful voice. Wasn't expecting the folky turn of 'Fisherman's' but still great (especially live).

This latest offering is an example of someone with absolutely no idea as to what direction to take musically. I have no problem with taking different directions, but probably best not to take them all at the same time. This is a complete mess and a waste of - did I say already? a beautiful voice.

D- must try much much harder.

Simply splendid!, 28 Oct 2008
This is a top quality pop album - far superior to the bland homogenised pop mush that usually gets into the charts. Quirky, fun, memorable with good tunes and well written lyrics. I loved her last cd which was more folky than this but I like this more somehow - it's far more upbeat. A recommended purchase.

Like nothing you've heard before, 11 Oct 2008
What a little gem this is. One wonders if anyone who isn't already a fan of Emiliana Torrini will even look at this album, but if they do, they'll be in for a new experience.

It's not too short. It's not too long. In 12 songs, Emiliana goes from catchy pop (Big Jumps) to outrageously fun rock (Jungle Drum), with dips into dark, moody moments (Gun) and several delightful ballads. There's a little bit of everything here. Even existing fans will be surprised, because it's not really like either of her previous (internationally released) albums. Love In The Time of Science was her trip hop album, while Fisherman's Woman was so laid back, it was horizontal.

Me and Armini is another fabulous release from a sadly underrated and little heard-of songstress, who has lived too long in the shadow of Bjork. Her day deserves to come.

Without you I would never rise, 10 Oct 2008
Emiliana Torrini's last album was all wistful folk. Before that, it was all equally wistful electronic pop and the creepily pretty closing song to "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

But before all that, she dabbled happily in everything from jazz to J-pop, raw-throated indie-rock to the blues -- and she did a pretty good job at all of them. And while her fifth album "Me and Armini" doesn't quite explore EVERYTHING she's done before, Torrini slips back comfortably into some of the musical niches she has already carved. Her delicate pop is flavoured by tinges of other styles and genres, and sometimes those other sounds (as in "Gun") overwhelm it completely.

"Somebody's got a long way to go/You're not sitting by the phone no more... Mmm, are we going crazy?/It's not fair to say we wasted time/In my view we just used it all up..." Torrini sings wistfully over a mellow folk-guitar. But she tries a totally different approach to a no-letting-go-love in the titular track -- it's an upbeat jazzy song with a vaguely stalkerish sound ("Some people think that/I'm heading for a meltdown... This I know/she doesn't love you like I do/yes it's clear/she'll never love you like me...").

A number of these songs stem musically from the bittersweet folk of her last album "Fisherman's Woman" -- the haunting seaside sound of "Birds," the prettily malicious "Ha Ha," and a string of low-key, folky melodies that rely mostly on Torrini's vocals and a guitar. But she mixes up the sound a little -- some of these melodies end with a thin mat of woobly synth, and the acoustic pop number "Big Jumps" is anything but wistful and low-key. It's all sunny joyousness and fun ("Go on, make some BIG JUMPS, BIG JUMPS/you afraid to break some bones?").

And then there are some songs that, stylistically speaking, belong to "Me and Armini" alone. These tend to be a bit darker -- there's the rhythmic organ-keyboard of "Heard It All Before," and the squiggling, fast-paced rocker "Jungle Drum" ("Hey, read my lips/cause all they say is kiss kiss kiss kiss!/No one ever stops/my hands are in the air/yes I'm in love!"). And "Gun" is a masterpiece of quietly distorted guitar, with Torrini murmuring a tale of despair, infidelity and gleeful murder of a wife's lover.

Musically, Emiliana Torrini doesn't really try anything new in "Me and Armini," because she's dabbled in almost every kind of pop except symphonic metal (and for all I know she's tried that too). But she does polish up the whole electro/jazz/pop sound to near-perfection while still blending it with folky acoustics, and takes a few musical risks as well. Not that I'm complaining, because pretty much all of those risks pay off and leave you awaiting more.

Acoustic guitar takes center stage in this album, strumming gently like a forest creek under Torrini's vocals, with a few exceptions like the electric riffs in "Jungle Drum" and "Gun." And Torrini drapes those deceptively simple-sounding guitar melodies in expansive extras -- jazzy drums, patches of heavy distortion, swathes of shimmering synth, piano and soundclips of tinkly windchimes. One of the most memorable: "Heard It All Before's" thumping organ-keyboard melody getting swallowed by clashing drums and ghostly riffs.

Torrini's girlish, chilly elfin vocals are often compared to Bjork, but she frankly sounds a lot more innocent and emotional. And her songs are nice as well, tending to focus on the mysteries and pain of romantic love, and even when she sings "ha... ha... ha.... hear me laughin'" at a former lover's trouble, she sounds mournful. But she can turn on the joy just as quickly with happy bouncy calls of, "Hey there sunshine lift my heart/I know life is long but it goes so fast/I love you never feeling old/You never bought the rubbish that they sold!"

With, I might add, the occasional foray into creepyville -- that gleeful front-row seat to manslaughter and the weird obsession with Armini are chilling at times, no matter how pretty her voice is ("Stop your shaking, sweating, whining and regretting/You're making a scene that is going to get you caught...").

"Me and Armini" allows Emiliana Torrini to expand her folk sound and polish it to a jewel-like hue, with some darker facets and delightfully sweet love songs. Definitely a good listen.

Excellent Genre Striding Album, 18 Sep 2008
This is Emiliana Torrini's 6th album although only two were released outside Iceland. Me and Armini really bridges the gap between them with some great pop numbers and some low key acoustic tracks too. Newer to the mix is the more rockier edge in places though and it suits her voice and style.

"Big Jumps" was a great choice as a single and reminds me of summer time fun (it also reminds me of "Unemployed in Summertime" however there's absolutely genius in "Jungle Drum" which sounds like a 1960's rock anthem and will be the next single. Its very catchy.

Acoustic lovers will enjoy "Bleeder", "Hold Heart" and personal favourite "Beggar's Prayer" which has a beautiful vocal section in the middle with just humming which effects you in a brilliant way.

"Gun" shows off a more edgy side to Emiliana we've not seen for a long time as its full of atmosphere and "Ha Ha" is a darker shade of Torrini too. "Dead Duck" is a fantastic piece of studio trickery as it basically goes through all the album sounds in one song.

I would recommend this to any Torrini fan no matter which album of hers you preferred and also to anyone who likes their pop a little more involved than the usual chart toppers.

(a word in edgeways), 23 Sep 2008
That cover pic: the radiance in those eyes, and that smile! Wow, Joan: so glad to have you back, dear friend.
The flowers on the cd, the warm heart of a kindred spirit, that never-aging how-could-one-forget soprano. The deep humanity and universality, too.
By the time the first spin of this cd was through, a 6 or 7 lyric file had been compiled.

Here, amidst all the useless political squabble over our handkerchief-sized Belgium, we've never ceased to find truth in your words ever since the sixties, driving 'the Old Dixie down', strumming along to your Dylan tunes or 'putting the load right on me myself and I'.
An ode to that fragile planet and that precious inner peace that our kind has been craving for for so long, a wistful homecoming, keeping the dream alive that perhaps, the day after tomorrow we might have learnt and found the dignity and divinity at the core of all creation.
At the end of the day, what Joan's cd adds up to is the value of that gentle fight to cherish what is best about ourselves. Home, where the heart is.
Yes, MS Baez, this is hats off to you, GRANDE DAME of any music. Along with you we hope we SHALL overcome and , people willing, rise up and beyond that scarlet tide of bloodshed, of pain and war. Let us search that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and sing, if not pray, your wistful tunes. Let us hit the Jericho Road and embark again on Dr Martin L. King's pilgrimage.
Who could, cross his heart, say he does not believe in that God, who, ain't, though your cd proves that very statement wrong, me or us. Period.
Goodness in a grain of sand, as William Blake or Patti Smith had it, and tuned to the humble perfection Tim Hardin's 'simple song of freedom'.
And what a line-up, too!

Dear Joan, our beloved late mom's last sister just turned 101 last June. What your songs achieve amounts to the very thing that she succeeded in doing. Having lived a self-effacing life of braving the hardships that flesh is heir to without giving in, going thus from strength to inner strength.
Ans that soprano of yours remains as crystal clear as it ever was. Your message excels in that same humility, not claiming to right the wrongs of this world (in our college days way back then we set out to improve the world, but walked up behind the banners of Chairman Mao's Red Booklet, which, come to think of it, was but a bunch of lies). Then came Vietnam and Woodstock and Altamont and Palestine and all the rest, and the world basically remained unchanged. Like any passer-by you are looking to find the path towards the innermost of truths and the perennial belief in a better world. I cherish these thoughts as much as I do your personality and vision.
You know what? Over here, "WOW" used to stand for "Waardig Ouder Worden" a tiny political party claiming respect and dignity for the aging.
How very much you embody that conservative, or rather, conservationist idea.

Sometimes one comes across the odd occasion on which a poetry volume or a piece of music finds one's way as if it had been meant to be found before it was made. This is one such occasion. Life 'ain't heavy' when we are brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Joan. You are not just 'any' tunesmith. You're one of the purest water.

The Original versions are much better, 19 Sep 2008
It wrankles with me that Ms Baez is put on a pedestal as one of folks great artist yet to my knowledge she has never written a song of her own but gets all the credit for these wonderful songs! I urge listeners to check out the original tracks by the artists who penned them, they are much better versions, esp' Thea Gilmore, Eliza Gilkyson & Patty Griffin.

Stupendous, 07 Sep 2008
I put this on my iPod as soon as I was able to lay my hands on a review copy a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have listened to it almost every day, and never felt inclined to skip a single track. I've been a fan of Joan Baez's ever since, as a teenager, I discovered some of her early Vanguard recordings. But I haven't felt this way about a Baez album for at least three decades. The review below was written for The Australian newspaper:

It has been quite a while since the ethereal soprano that thrilled Joan Baez's early audiences made way for an earthier alto, and her voice has mellowed further over the decades. It remains a captivating instrument, but on studio recordings during the past couple of decades it has invariably been mixed too low and, as a result, overwhelmed by the orchestration. Day After Tomorrow demonstrates the folly of that technique: here the vocals are accorded the primacy they deserve and complemented by exquisitely balanced acoustic accompaniment. Add to that the most sublime bunch of songs to have graced a Baez disc since the mid-1970s, and the result is an outstanding addition to her oeuvre. The achievement can be credited in part to Steve Earle, who not only produced the album but contributed 30 per cent of the songs, including the opening and closing tracks, God is God and Jericho Road. They are both formidable songs in the vein of Christmas in Washington, but neither of them is quite as poignant as the gently anti-war title track, penned by Tom Waits, and Baez's take on Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett's Scarlet Tide is equally arresting. She has consistently been supportive of younger songwriters (including B. Dylan in the days when he was a complete unknown and she had already graced the cover of Time magazine), and in this instance has included a couple of songs by Eliza Gilkyson (Rose of Sharon and Requiem) that are redolent of the Child ballads that once constituted the core of Baez's repertoire, as well as one by Thea Gilmore (The Lower Road). The Bush administration's outrages have rekindled Baez's activism, and this may be her most socially conscious disc since the `80s, but it takes the path of subtle lamentation rather than strident sloganeering. At barely 37 minutes, the album is arguably too fleeting a pleasure, but its contents unquestionably fall in the category of diamonds, not rust.

Joan Baez heads home on the "DAY AFTER TOMORROW"., 31 Aug 2008
Joan appears to be very much at home in a musical, spiritual, and political sense on this album, the 24th studio recording of her now 50 year long career. This collection of 10 songs provides much for the head & heart to think and feel.

With the use of only acoustic instruments, the album provides an echo of Joan's early folk records. The difference in this record is how diverse the ensemble of instruments is: guitar, mandolin, Hawaiian guitar, resonator guitar, bouzouki, harmonium, tamboura, bass, drums, tambourine, fiddle, Dobro, banjolin, and percussion. The musical accompaniment provided by Steve Earle (also producer, & harmony vocals), Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, Viktor Krauss, and Kenny Malone, is one of the many highlights of this album.

The songs' timeless lyrics place it among Joan's most folk / Americana oriented albums. The album contains a strong spiritual thread, a topic Joan has touched upon from her earliest recordings. The songs have been chosen from several different brilliant writers, including Patty Griffin, Tom Waits / Kathleen Brennan, Thea Gilmore, Eliza Gilkyson, Elvis Costello / T-Bone Burnett, Diana Jones, and Steve Earle himself. It is amazing how Joan & company pull the work of such a diverse group together so beautifully.

There are political themes touched upon in this record, including anti-war sentiment. The topic is explored quite movingly, less directly you might say than on Joan's earlier albums, through the timeless (and timely) masterpiece compositions "Scarlet Tide", and the album's title song "Day After Tomorrow". [Joan sings this alone, with just herself on guitar, making the lyrics even more heart-wrenching;]

Throughout the songs, Joan becomes a cast of personas in search of hope, happiness, and home. [Joan appears to be quite happy herself in the stunning CD booklet photos.]

"God is God" has the listener contemplating what it really means to be a believer.

In "Rose of Sharon" the narrator finds happiness in the arms of a lover.

In "Scarlet Tide" there is still a hopeful determination that we will rise above the devastation of war. The young soldier writing home in "Day After Tomorrow" (who very well may be a female soldier in this non-gender specific song) yearns for home and the small pleasures of "shoveling snow and raking leaves", and dreams each night of holding the loved one being written to. It is a very moving and empathetic rendition of this song.

A miner facing sure death in "Henry Russell's Last Words" ultimately finds happiness and peace through love for his spouse & family, and a saved soul.

In "I am a Wanderer" there is still hope among various characters facing great obstacles in their lives. But, perhaps they are really us, and us them, and realizing that may be the genesis of that hope, and ultimately the action that will actually change their life circumstances. This song was written the night before one of the recording sessions. One cannot help but wonder how much of Joan and Steve's lives are reflected in its caring concern for those less fortunate.

"Mary" is perhaps the most fascinating song lyric-wise on the album. I imagine the narrator walking through a museum viewing the various paintings and sculptures in an exhibit about the biblical "Mary", leading to a contemplation on her spiritual as well as worldlier powers.

In "Requiem", a prayerful song, Mary is again addressed, being asked to bring hope and happiness to those who have lost their homes and loved ones. It is quite a moving song, originally written about the Tsunami survivors, taking on new meaning with the Katrina tragedy. But, it is also quite universal in that many of us, to one degree or another, have had to face a "dark night of the soul". We may have found ourselves as those "shattered dreamers", with broken hearts that needed to be made whole. Joan's voice is especially effective on this mournful plea of a song.

In "Lower Road" the "peaceful released" protagonist keeps "rolling on", having had their "part to play" (in life), and now "going home" (an afterlife perhaps).The song says that "we keep rolling on `cause for every midnight hour there's always a rising sun".

With the closing song Joan and ensemble use only hand claps as they walk down "Jericho Road" towards the end of the album's spiritual journey. It may be describing the way our own life's journey will end someday.

This well-produced album combines the talents of many into a beautiful & moving composition. The combination of Joan's versatile & touching vocal interpretation, well-written songs, and deft musicianship, provides a soundtrack to help "illuminate the path where we are going". That place may very well be home.

One of the elements that's made the Chieftains the stellar Celtic band in the world is their love of innovative collaborations with mainstream pop stars. The Wide World Over: A 40-Year Celebration gathers into a single collection some of the Irish ensemble's most memorable moments, including predictable alliances with artists such as Van Morrison, who sings "Shenandoah", to additional backing by the Irish Film Orchestra and unlikely pairings like the Rolling Stones, who add a rock kick and the "Satisfaction" riff to "The Rocky Road To Dublin". Cross-cultural experts Linda Ronstadt and Los Lobos demonstrate their versatility on the Mexican ditties "Txalaparta" and "Guadalupe", on which pipes and pennywhistle don't seem a whisker out of place, while Ricky Skaggs points to the Irish and British roots of American country music on the rousing "Cotton-Eyed Joe". Art Garfunkel, Sting, Sinead O'Connor, Joni Mitchell and Elvis Costello are also featured in classic performances with the band, while a brand-new collaboration with Ziggy Marley yields a gorgeous Don-Was-produced rendition of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song". The cliché that there's a bit of the Irish in all of us proves true in this wide-ranging, constantly rewarding and frequently surprising collection. And the tracks on which the Chieftains go it alone are also a gas. --Bob Tarte

eclectic percy, 05 Nov 2008
Should be no surprise to find Robert Plant making great music with any musician. Being famous for making music in one genre has never stopped this singer from admiring other forms. He has, after all, appeared with Fairport at Cropredy and was an admirer of the Incredible String Band back in the day. Nice to hear these two together and with such a great band of musicians. Good also, to hear a Doc Watson song being aired. Be interesting to hear Zep cover Doc eh?

An Over-rated Wasted Opportunity, 21 Oct 2008
I'm a fan of both Plant and Krauss and bought this CD without having heard any tracks in advance. I reckoned the juxtaposition of two great but very different talents was bound to result in something new and interesting. Ouch!!! How wrong I was. I sold it on eBay the next week.

This album sounds like the pair were brought together by their marketing teams to make an unchallenging, easy-listening sure-fire hit for a bland middle of the road market. Sure, if this was the intention then the project is a great contribution to their pension funds. But it does nothing to push any musical boundaries or take any risks.

There's a good selection of songs (I've heard many of them performed to much higher standards by other artists) but Plant and Krauss don't capitalise on them at all. The performances are routine, the harmonies - which are few and far between - are predictable and uninspired, and the very respectable band sound bored. Where are the soaring vocals, the heartbreak, the anger? Where is the empathy and interaction between the singers, and with the band?

I understand this album was one of those projects where the singers never met, choosing instead to record their parts in separate studios at separate times. And presumably the band parts were recorded first so that Krauss and Plant could add the vocals later, karaoke style. If this is the case, it's no wonder it sounds so DULL, DULL, DULL.

Interestingly, all reports are that their concerts are fabulous. Maybe once they get together they really do produce magic. But there ain't none of it on the CD.

Like so much other commercial music (and films, TV programmes etc.) this is aimed at an undemanding mass market that laps up such tedious fodder and bestows it accolades and awards. Don't believe a word! Unless, that is, you are a member of the target audience in which case you might find it more stretching that boy bands, girl bands and other manufactured dross.

Let's hope that after all their touring and actually singing together RP and AK make a follow-up album that shows what they can really do. One lame duck isn't gonna put me off them for good...

Disappointed, 25 Sep 2008
Heard great things about this album over some period of time before I bought it, heard Gone, gone, gone and thought Hmmmmm, I'd give it a go.....

Can't say much more than I think it's just a mediocre musical outing by two accomplished performers.

It's not the electric mix of eclectic styles that people make it out to be, it's not a ground-breaking album, it's never going to be in my top ten fave albums [or any list of fave albums].

It is a raggle-taggle collection of songs, some a bit too similar to its partners on the album to make it an overall half-decent listen, it is performed reasonably well, but it lacks any dynamic or soul......all in all not my cup of tea.

If I was on Juke Box Jury I might say I'll give it foive, but as I can only mark up to 5 it gets a 1 and I'll look to pass it on as a gift to some unsuspecting member of my wife's family.

So Good!!! The Golden god did it again!!, 09 Sep 2008
Since I got my deliver this morning I can't stop playing it. Their voices work so well together, the music is absorbing and it brings you a very special energy.
And if you want a little bit more of the Golden god buy also Might Rearranger another fantastic CD of Plant.


A dreadful waste of talent - and music buyer's money!, 22 Jun 2008
Sadly someone obviously suggested to Robert Plant that this would be a good idea....recording a (mostly) countryesque album with Alison Krauss. They were wrong!! I have no problem with Plant (or anyone else for that matter) trying new things, but please..... this was a bad idea that should have stayed just that.... an idea!! Why on earth so many people feel the need to heap praise on this album is beyond me - it has no redeming qualities to my ears whatsoever - even if Robert Plant is involved.......come to think of it that old story of the Emporer's new clothes comes to mind!!

WOW...SIMPLY AMAZING!, 10 Nov 2002
This is a terrific CD, with its wild meld of celtic, pop, folk, and country strains. The Chieftains, accompanied by such music greats as Sting, Mick Jagger, Sinead O'Connor, The Rolling Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Jones, Van Morrison, among others...who would have thought such an assemblage would result in such a cohesive recording of such wildly divergent music? Of particular note are Sting's mournful rendition of "Mo Ghile Mear" and Sinead O'Connor's stylization of "The Foggy Dew" and "He Moved Through The Fair". Mick Jagger also does justice to "A Long Black Veil". This CD is simply a great recording overall!

Fiddles, whistles and rock stars!, 27 Apr 2001
This CD certainly proves that The Chieftains have friends in high places! This album is packed full of rock stars (Mick Jagger, Sting, Sinead O' Connor, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Tom Jones and Marianne Faithfull) singing traditional Irish songs. This is an interesting album and the songs do work better than I expected them too. This is a lively collection of songs and none of the artists sound out of place, but I think I would still prefer hearing these songs sung by folk singers. Nonetheless this is a good introduction to The Chieftain's style of music and an essential buy if you are a fan of the artists involved.

Incredible, 10 Nov 2008
I have only had this album for two days and it is already one of my favourites! Although I had heard of Ray Lamontagne, I had not heard any of his music and ordered this album from Amazon on a whim. Just pure beautiful music, very Damian Rice-esque, execpt more upbeat!!

Really really good., 26 Sep 2008
My brother pointed me to Ray lamontagne, I have not listened to the Trouble album But I love this... The lyrics and the singing are very emotional and do touch the listener.

Only 4 stars because 5 is reserved for those albums that are just amazing... which for me doesn't happen very often!

Ground-breaking and captivating music, 20 Apr 2008
'Till the Sun...' is so much more better than 'Trouble' in so many ways, I think I'd have to be a quadruped with 60 toes to count them all! (But one reason it's better is that it's offensibly, criminally dirt-cheap compared to trouble!) 'Be Here Now' almost reaches out of the darkness with its overdone horn and string arrangements, giving it a somewhat dream-like quality. The next track, 'Empty', is by far the best song on the album, with deep, emotional, bleak lyrics and a good mixture of piano, gentle percussion, strings and Ray on the guitar. 'Lay with Me' is also quite a sweet tune about breaking inhibitions, and 'Three More Days' is a funky, soulful little number. At first you'll be of mixed opinion, but I think Ray's done himself proud with this one. 'Within You' is also a great song, which really carries itself, based on a Beatlesy anti-war theme. Trouble was an album for soul-searching; this album is all about finding your soul and really wrestling with it.

Just give it time, it grows and grows and grows, 29 Feb 2008
Initially I wasn't that impressed with Ray's second album, perhaps it was the mood I was in at the time but I am so glad I perservered. This album is now clamouring to be in favourite 10 ten albums. Better than his first album.

ray lamontagne, 07 Feb 2008
get this album its so mellow so full of soul chilled me right out , he has an awesome voice like melted chocolate !!!!! excellent use of strings on the first track sent shivers down my spine i love it !!!!

No no no, 06 Nov 2008
Emiliana hang your head in shame. I loved 'Love in the time..' for it's lovely ambient beats together with that beautiful voice. Wasn't expecting the folky turn of 'Fisherman's' but still great (especially live).

This latest offering is an example of someone with absolutely no idea as to what direction to take musically. I have no problem with taking different directions, but probably best not to take them all at the same time. This is a complete mess and a waste of - did I say already? a beautiful voice.

D- must try much much harder.

Simply splendid!, 28 Oct 2008
This is a top quality pop album - far superior to the bland homogenised pop mush that usually gets into the charts. Quirky, fun, memorable with good tunes and well written lyrics. I loved her last cd which was more folky than this but I like this more somehow - it's far more upbeat. A recommended purchase.

Like nothing you've heard before, 11 Oct 2008
What a little gem this is. One wonders if anyone who isn't already a fan of Emiliana Torrini will even look at this album, but if they do, they'll be in for a new experience.

It's not too short. It's not too long. In 12 songs, Emiliana goes from catchy pop (Big Jumps) to outrageously fun rock (Jungle Drum), with dips into dark, moody moments (Gun) and several delightful ballads. There's a little bit of everything here. Even existing fans will be surprised, because it's not really like either of her previous (internationally released) albums. Love In The Time of Science was her trip hop album, while Fisherman's Woman was so laid back, it was horizontal.

Me and Armini is another fabulous release from a sadly underrated and little heard-of songstress, who has lived too long in the shadow of Bjork. Her day deserves to come.

Without you I would never rise, 10 Oct 2008
Emiliana Torrini's last album was all wistful folk. Before that, it was all equally wistful electronic pop and the creepily pretty closing song to "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers."

But before all that, she dabbled happily in everything from jazz to J-pop, raw-throated indie-rock to the blues -- and she did a pretty good job at all of them. And while her fifth album "Me and Armini" doesn't quite explore EVERYTHING she's done before, Torrini slips back comfortably into some of the musical niches she has already carved. Her delicate pop is flavoured by tinges of other styles and genres, and sometimes those other sounds (as in "Gun") overwhelm it completely.

"Somebody's got a long way to go/You're not sitting by the phone no more... Mmm, are we going crazy?/It's not fair to say we wasted time/In my view we just used it all up..." Torrini sings wistfully over a mellow folk-guitar. But she tries a totally different approach to a no-letting-go-love in the titular track -- it's an upbeat jazzy song with a vaguely stalkerish sound ("Some people think that/I'm heading for a meltdown... This I know/she doesn't love you like I do/yes it's clear/she'll never love you like me...").

A number of these songs stem musically from the bittersweet folk of her last album "Fisherman's Woman" -- the haunting seaside sound of "Birds," the prettily malicious "Ha Ha," and a string of low-key, folky melodies that rely mostly on Torrini's vocals and a guitar. But she mixes up the sound a little -- some of these melodies end with a thin mat of woobly synth, and the acoustic pop number "Big Jumps" is anything but wistful and low-key. It's all sunny joyousness and fun ("Go on, make some BIG JUMPS, BIG JUMPS/you afraid to break some bones?").

And then there are some songs that, stylistically speaking, belong to "Me and Armini" alone. These tend to be a bit darker -- there's the rhythmic organ-keyboard of "Heard It All Before," and the squiggling, fast-paced rocker "Jungle Drum" ("Hey, read my lips/cause all they say is kiss kiss kiss kiss!/No one ever stops/my hands are in the air/yes I'm in love!"). And "Gun" is a masterpiece of quietly distorted guitar, with Torrini murmuring a tale of despair, infidelity and gleeful murder of a wife's lover.

Musically, Emiliana Torrini doesn't really try anything new in "Me and Armini," because she's dabbled in almost every kind of pop except symphonic metal (and for all I know she's tried that too). But she does polish up the whole electro/jazz/pop sound to near-perfection while still blending it with folky acoustics, and takes a few musical risks as well. Not that I'm complaining, because pretty much all of those risks pay off and leave you awaiting more.

Acoustic guitar takes center stage in this album, strumming gently like a forest creek under Torrini's vocals, with a few exceptions like the electric riffs in "Jungle Drum" and "Gun." And Torrini drapes those deceptively simple-sounding guitar melodies in expansive extras -- jazzy drums, patches of heavy distortion, swathes of shimmering synth, piano and soundclips of tinkly windchimes. One of the most memorable: "Heard It All Before's" thumping organ-keyboard melody getting swallowed by clashing drums and ghostly riffs.

Torrini's girlish, chilly elfin vocals are often compared to Bjork, but she frankly sounds a lot more innocent and emotional. And her songs are nice as well, tending to focus on the mysteries and pain of romantic love, and even when she sings "ha... ha... ha.... hear me laughin'" at a former lover's trouble, she sounds mournful. But she can turn on the joy just as quickly with happy bouncy calls of, "Hey there sunshine lift my heart/I know life is long but it goes so fast/I love you never feeling old/You never bought the rubbish that they sold!"

With, I might add, the occasional foray into creepyville -- that gleeful front-row seat to manslaughter and the weird obsession with Armini are chilling at times, no matter how pretty her voice is ("Stop your shaking, sweating, whining and regretting/You're making a scene that is going to get you caught...").

"Me and Armini" allows Emiliana Torrini to expand her folk sound and polish it to a jewel-like hue, with some darker facets and delightfully sweet love songs. Definitely a good listen.

Excellent Genre Striding Album, 18 Sep 2008
This is Emiliana Torrini's 6th album although only two were released outside Iceland. Me and Armini really bridges the gap between them with some great pop numbers and some low key acoustic tracks too. Newer to the mix is the more rockier edge in places though and it suits her voice and style.

"Big Jumps" was a great choice as a single and reminds me of summer time fun (it also reminds me of "Unemployed in Summertime" however there's absolutely genius in "Jungle Drum" which sounds like a 1960's rock anthem and will be the next single. Its very catchy.

Acoustic lovers will enjoy "Bleeder", "Hold Heart" and personal favourite "Beggar's Prayer" which has a beautiful vocal section in the middle with just humming which effects you in a brilliant way.

"Gun" shows off a more edgy side to Emiliana we've not seen for a long time as its full of atmosphere and "Ha Ha" is a darker shade of Torrini too. "Dead Duck" is a fantastic piece of studio trickery as it basically goes through all the album sounds in one song.

I would recommend this to any Torrini fan no matter which album of hers you preferred and also to anyone who likes their pop a little more involved than the usual chart toppers.

(a word in edgeways), 23 Sep 2008
That cover pic: the radiance in those eyes, and that smile! Wow, Joan: so glad to have you back, dear friend.
The flowers on the cd, the warm heart of a kindred spirit, that never-aging how-could-one-forget soprano. The deep humanity and universality, too.
By the time the first spin of this cd was through, a 6 or 7 lyric file had been compiled.

Here, amidst all the useless political squabble over our handkerchief-sized Belgium, we've never ceased to find truth in your words ever since the sixties, driving 'the Old Dixie down', strumming along to your Dylan tunes or 'putting the load right on me myself and I'.
An ode to that fragile planet and that precious inner peace that our kind has been craving for for so long, a wistful homecoming, keeping the dream alive that perhaps, the day after tomorrow we might have learnt and found the dignity and divinity at the core of all creation.
At the end of the day, what Joan's cd adds up to is the value of that gentle fight to cherish what is best about ourselves. Home, where the heart is.
Yes, MS Baez, this is hats off to you, GRANDE DAME of any music. Along with you we hope we SHALL overcome and , people willing, rise up and beyond that scarlet tide of bloodshed, of pain and war. Let us search that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and sing, if not pray, your wistful tunes. Let us hit the Jericho Road and embark again on Dr Martin L. King's pilgrimage.
Who could, cross his heart, say he does not believe in that God, who, ain't, though your cd proves that very statement wrong, me or us. Period.
Goodness in a grain of sand, as William Blake or Patti Smith had it, and tuned to the humble perfection Tim Hardin's 'simple song of freedom'.
And what a line-up, too!

Dear Joan, our beloved late mom's last sister just turned 101 last June. What your songs achieve amounts to the very thing that she succeeded in doing. Having lived a self-effacing life of braving the hardships that flesh is heir to without giving in, going thus from strength to inner strength.
Ans that soprano of yours remains as crystal clear as it ever was. Your message excels in that same humility, not claiming to right the wrongs of this world (in our college days way back then we set out to improve the world, but walked up behind the banners of Chairman Mao's Red Booklet, which, come to think of it, was but a bunch of lies). Then came Vietnam and Woodstock and Altamont and Palestine and all the rest, and the world basically remained unchanged. Like any passer-by you are looking to find the path towards the innermost of truths and the perennial belief in a better world. I cherish these thoughts as much as I do your personality and vision.
You know what? Over here, "WOW" used to stand for "Waardig Ouder Worden" a tiny political party claiming respect and dignity for the aging.
How very much you embody that conservative, or rather, conservationist idea.

Sometimes one comes across the odd occasion on which a poetry volume or a piece of music finds one's way as if it had been meant to be found before it was made. This is one such occasion. Life 'ain't heavy' when we are brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Joan. You are not just 'any' tunesmith. You're one of the purest water.

The Original versions are much better, 19 Sep 2008
It wrankles with me that Ms Baez is put on a pedestal as one of folks great artist yet to my knowledge she has never written a song of her own but gets all the credit for these wonderful songs! I urge listeners to check out the original tracks by the artists who penned them, they are much better versions, esp' Thea Gilmore, Eliza Gilkyson & Patty Griffin.

Stupendous, 07 Sep 2008
I put this on my iPod as soon as I was able to lay my hands on a review copy a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I have listened to it almost every day, and never felt inclined to skip a single track. I've been a fan of Joan Baez's ever since, as a teenager, I discovered some of her early Vanguard recordings. But I haven't felt this way about a Baez album for at least three decades. The review below was written for The Australian newspaper:

It has been quite a while since the ethereal soprano that thrilled Joan Baez's early audiences made way for an earthier alto, and her voice has mellowed further over the decades. It remains a captivating instrument, but on studio recordings during the past couple of decades it has invariably been mixed too low and, as a result, overwhelmed by the orchestration. Day After Tomorrow demonstrates the folly of that technique: here the vocals are accorded the primacy they deserve and complemented by exquisitely balanced acoustic accompaniment. Add to that the most sublime bunch of songs to have graced a Baez disc since the mid-1970s, and the result is an outstanding addition to her oeuvre. The achievement can be credited in part to Steve Earle, who not only produced the album but contributed 30 per cent of the songs, including the opening and closing tracks, God is God and Jericho Road. They are both formidable songs in the vein of Christmas in Washington, but neither of them is quite as poignant as the gently anti-war title track, penned by Tom Waits, and Baez's take on Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett's Scarlet Tide is equally arresting. She has consistently been supportive of younger songwriters (including B. Dylan in the days when he was a complete unknown and she had already graced the cover of Time magazine), and in this instance has included a couple of songs by Eliza Gilkyson (Rose of Sharon and Requiem) that are redolent of the Child ballads that once constituted the core of Baez's repertoire, as well as one by Thea Gilmore (The Lower Road). The Bush administration's outrages have rekindled Baez's activism, and this may be her most socially conscious disc since the `80s, but it takes the path of subtle lamentation rather than strident sloganeering. At barely 37 minutes, the album is arguably too fleeting a pleasure, but its contents unquestionably fall in the category of diamonds, not rust.

Joan Baez heads home on the "DAY AFTER TOMORROW"., 31 Aug 2008
Joan appears to be very much at home in a musical, spiritual, and political sense on this album, the 24th studio recording of her now 50 year long career. This collection of 10 songs provides much for the head & heart to think and feel.

With the use of only acoustic instruments, the album provides an echo of Joan's early folk records. The difference in this record is how diverse the ensemble of instruments is: guitar, mandolin, Hawaiian guitar, resonator guitar, bouzouki, harmonium, tamboura, bass, drums, tambourine, fiddle, Dobro, banjolin, and percussion. The musical accompaniment provided by Steve Earle (also producer, & harmony vocals), Tim O'Brien, Darrell Scott, Viktor Krauss, and Kenny Malone, is one of the many highlights of this album.

The songs' timeless lyrics place it among Joan's most folk / Americana oriented albums. The album contains a strong spiritual thread, a topic Joan has touched upon from her earliest recordings. The songs have been chosen from several different brilliant writers, including Patty Griffin, Tom Waits / Kathleen Brennan, Thea Gilmore, Eliza Gilkyson, Elvis Costello / T-Bone Burnett, Diana Jones, and Steve Earle himself. It is amazing how Joan & company pull the work of such a diverse group together so beautifully.

There are political themes touched upon in this record, including anti-war sentiment. The topic is explored quite movingly, less directly you might say than on Joan's earlier albums, through the timeless (and timely) masterpiece compositions "Scarlet Tide", and the album's title song "Day After Tomorrow". [Joan sings this alone, with just herself on guitar, making the lyrics even more heart-wrenching;]

Throughout the songs, Joan becomes a cast of personas in search of hope, happiness, and home. [Joan appears to be quite happy herself in the stunning CD booklet photos.]

"God is God" has the listener contemplating what it really means to be a believer.

In "Rose of Sharon" the narrator finds happiness in the arms of a lover.

In "Scarlet Tide" there is still a hopeful determination that we will rise above the devastation of war. The young soldier writing home in "Day After Tomorrow" (who very well may be a female soldier in this non-gender specific song) yearns for home and the small pleasures of "shoveling snow and raking leaves", and dreams each night of holding the loved one being written to. It is a very moving and empathetic rendition of this song.

A miner facing sure death in "Henry Russell's Last Words" ultimately finds happiness and peace through love for his spouse & family, and a saved soul.

In "I am a Wanderer" there is still hope among various characters facing great obstacles in their lives. But, perhaps they are really us, and us them, and realizing that may be the genesis of that hope, and ultimately the action that will actually change their life circumstances. This song was written the night before one of the recording sessions. One cannot help but wonder how much of Joan and Steve's lives are reflected in its caring concern for those less fortunate.

"Mary" is perhaps the most fascinating song lyric-wise on the album. I imagine the narrator walking through a museum viewing the various paintings and sculptures in an exhibit about the biblical "Mary", leading to a contemplation on her spiritual as well as worldlier powers.

In "Requiem", a prayerful song, Mary is again addressed, being asked to bring hope and happiness to those who have lost their homes and loved ones. It is quite a moving song, originally written about the Tsunami survivors, taking on new meaning with the Katrina tragedy. But, it is also quite universal in that many of us, to one degree or another, have had to face a "dark night of the soul". We may have found ourselves as those "shattered dreamers", with broken hearts that needed to be made whole. Joan's voice is especially effective on this mournful plea of a song.

In "Lower Road" the "peaceful released" protagonist keeps "rolling on", having had their "part to play" (in life), and now "going home" (an afterlife perhaps).The song says that "we keep rolling on `cause for every midnight hour there's always a rising sun".

With the closing song Joan and ensemble use only hand claps as they walk down "Jericho Road" towards the end of the album's spiritual journey. It may be describing the way our own life's journey will end someday.

This well-produced album combines the talents of many into a beautiful & moving composition. The combination of Joan's versatile & touching vocal interpretation, well-written songs, and deft musicianship, provides a soundtrack to help "illuminate the path where we are going". That place may very well be home.


























If you've ever thought of getting an Irish CD buy this, 22 Feb 2003
Not only does this give you a journey to Irish Isles through 40 years of one of the countries greatest bands but it features a wealth of International Artist with a love of music.

You'll get a real Irish flavour from the first track 'March of the King of Ladis', the pipes support Sinead O'Connor on the 2nd track and are followed by a very energetic version of 'I know my love' with the Corrs.

The thing about Irish music is that whenever it's played everybody joins in and has a great time and you will do the same listening to this. You'll be beating out the rythym especially to track 4 a right good Cotton Pickin Traditional tune.

Joini Mitchell allows you time to recover and contemplate about the Magdalene Sisters in 'The Magdalene Laundries' watch out soon for the film that features the Sisterhood. This version is typical Joini with lovely instumental backing by the boys.

One of my favorites features Art Garfunkle and Diana Krall's haunting version of Morning has Broken. This track was recorded, New Year's Day 2000 on the Ocean Explorer 1 just off Deception Island, can you imagine the scene.

The final track with Ziggy Marley just goes to show the variety of artists they have joined forces with over the years.

I've never seen them live but as they don't seem to be slowing down there's time yet. In the meantime this CD will do nicely.

Enjoyable foot and finger tapping rompt through four decades, 08 Feb 2003
If you haven't got any Irish music then get this and it'll take you through decades of collaborations. The guest list is impressive and you won't stop finger and foot tapping.

There's plenty of variety and the sleeve notes put some tracks in a nice historical context. I mean a track recorded on new year's day 2000 on Explorer 1 setting sail from Deception Island with ship mates like Diana Krall and Art Garfunkel, the imagery and sound superb. Journey with them to a typical Irish Pub in Dublin 'Live from Matt Molloy's Pub' To be sure you'll be carried off to the Emerald Isle and upto date with the Corrs.

It's pure Guiness sorry Genius, lovely.

Quite enjoyable mixture of the traditional & the eclectic, 24 Dec 2002
A collection that celebrates the Irish