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

(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.

A succession of plaudit-harvesting folk albums and subsequent international renown means that Yorkshire's Kate Rusby no longer needs to be nurtured with kind words of condescension along the lines of lass, babe and starlet, and yet there remains something irredeemably youthful about The Girl Who Couldn't Fly. It's not just the butterfly flutter of Rusby's voice--which allows the nudge and wink of a smutty traditional favourite like "Game Of All Fours" to retain its charade and the magic of innocent years to linger. Sometimes the songs are bare--guitar and vocals--but they're never spartan, pink as nature intended, a curiously roseate melancholia where even an ill-fated adieu such as "No Names"--one of three songs sang, improbably, with Roddy Woomble of Idlewild--mollifies as fluently as a lullaby. The jolly virtues of the traditional "Mary Blaize" and Rusby's very own faux-traditional epic "Elfin Knight" are fleshier, finding Rusby accompanied by such folk scene luminati as Michael McGoldrick, Andy Cutting and John McCusker to ebullient effect. Proof, indeed, that folk music need not be studiously dour or touristically picturesque. If the current British folk scene is to produce a genuine household name, it's likely to be Kate Rusby.--Kevin Maidment

(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.


























Roddy Woomble is the cherry on top!, 08 Oct 2007
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

Wistful love songs by young chanteuse, 07 Feb 2007
As many of the other reviewers have stated Kate Rusby has a beautiful plaintiff voice and this can be both a blessing and a hindrance as she will never have the vocal range and power of say June Tabor however when she sticks to what she is good at as in this album she is a fine singer songwriter and arranger of traditional words and music. This is a very good album and the fact that most of the songs are originals is a pleasant surprise as too many folk singers still labour under the impression that folkies like only proper folk tunes as collected by Percy Grainger.

Brilliant at times, 06 Nov 2006
Ninety per cent of this is her usual high standard. There are however a few songs that sound a bit tired and I don't think her voice is at its youthful, wistful best. That said, this is an album well worth having if you like Kate Rusby.

terribly twee, 20 Aug 2006
This has a newly written track called 'fare thee well' and one on a knight on yon hill. No-one says 'fare thee well' or 'yon' these days. Cutting edge this ain't. Sounds nice but the lyrics are therefore clear as day and are very lightweight. Anyone writing about a Moon Shadow risks comparison with Cat Stevens and Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield. Kate'e effort here emphasises the weakness of the song writing on this album.

Magical discovery, 19 Apr 2006
Over many years living abroad I've kind of lost touch with UK folk music (the great RT excepted, of course). So when I saw this recommended on Amazon.uk, I thought: 'Why not?' And no regrets - this is a gorgeous recording by an outstanding performer. I can only back up all the other reviewers who gave this 5 stars. ('No Names' and 'Fare thee well' are particular stand-out tracks.) I will be ordering more by Kate Rusby immediately. Try this one and you are very unlikely to be disappointed.

(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.


























Roddy Woomble is the cherry on top!, 08 Oct 2007
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

Wistful love songs by young chanteuse, 07 Feb 2007
As many of the other reviewers have stated Kate Rusby has a beautiful plaintiff voice and this can be both a blessing and a hindrance as she will never have the vocal range and power of say June Tabor however when she sticks to what she is good at as in this album she is a fine singer songwriter and arranger of traditional words and music. This is a very good album and the fact that most of the songs are originals is a pleasant surprise as too many folk singers still labour under the impression that folkies like only proper folk tunes as collected by Percy Grainger.

Brilliant at times, 06 Nov 2006
Ninety per cent of this is her usual high standard. There are however a few songs that sound a bit tired and I don't think her voice is at its youthful, wistful best. That said, this is an album well worth having if you like Kate Rusby.

terribly twee, 20 Aug 2006
This has a newly written track called 'fare thee well' and one on a knight on yon hill. No-one says 'fare thee well' or 'yon' these days. Cutting edge this ain't. Sounds nice but the lyrics are therefore clear as day and are very lightweight. Anyone writing about a Moon Shadow risks comparison with Cat Stevens and Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield. Kate'e effort here emphasises the weakness of the song writing on this album.

Magical discovery, 19 Apr 2006
Over many years living abroad I've kind of lost touch with UK folk music (the great RT excepted, of course). So when I saw this recommended on Amazon.uk, I thought: 'Why not?' And no regrets - this is a gorgeous recording by an outstanding performer. I can only back up all the other reviewers who gave this 5 stars. ('No Names' and 'Fare thee well' are particular stand-out tracks.) I will be ordering more by Kate Rusby immediately. Try this one and you are very unlikely to be disappointed.

One of the best......, 21 Apr 2006
Having bought the single way back in the 70's when it was first released and heard what seemed the fashionable comment at the time that "some records were too good for the charts" I wanted to buy the album when funds permitted. No disappointments - this is a classic that doesn't waste a track. Different in style to other albums that Joan Baez has done but more than worth hearing and at a fantastic price. Buy, play, enjoy, you will not regret.

Was this review helpful to you....


DIAMONDS AND RUST DELIVERS..., 19 Feb 2003
This is an excellent CD from a more mature Joan Baez. Her own musical composition, "Diamonds and Rust", which is the signature song on the CD, is simply outstanding, both lyrically and melodically. Couple it with her own glorious set of pipes, and what one has is a winner! It is simply a beautiful song, sung beautifully.

This CD clearly shows a transition from the more folk based earlier CDs to one which is a little more contemporary in feel, with lusher and, yes, more commercial musical arrangements. There, I said it. Which is not to imply that it is bad. It is simply a change and a different direction than that which had been previously taken by Ms. Baez. Best of all, it works!

Clearly, she can make the transition to a wider audience in this fashion, and she deserves to be heard by as many people as is possible, such is her talent. This CD holds many pleasant surprises in store for the listener.

Masterpiece of moving love songs, 30 Nov 2002
Masterpiece of moving love songs
This elegant album is a seamless blend of her own and others' literate but moving love songs and just a nod to her folk roots in the medley of I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy. She covers songs by Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, Dylan, John Prine and others, while contributing her beautiful own compositions like the title track, Children And All That Jazz, Winds Of The Old Days (reminiscent of Gulf Winds) and Dida. Her interpretation of Browne's Fountain Of Sorrow is particularly poignant, and so is Jesse, the Janis Ian song. Another classic is the reflective Winds Of The Old Days. Unlike some of her ventures into the art song in the 1980's, this album really works, as she sings with warmth and conviction and make the songs her own. Diamonds and Rust is a successful move away from her pure folk roots.

Joan Baez writes a really great song about her and Dylan, 16 Nov 2002
I have been mulling over the idea that "Diamonds & Rust" is the best folk album of the Seventies, and it has made me realize that I am always going to think of Bob Dylan as being a folksinger even when his guitar is electric. So I would still give the nod to "Blood on the Tracks," especially since that is where Joan Baez's cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" comes from. But I have no problem with the idea that this is the best Joan Baez album and no doubt whatsoever that "Diamonds & Rust" is her greatest accomplishment as a songwriter...
Of course the song is about Dylan "the unwashed phenomenon"; what else would make more perfect sense? More importantly, the elegance of the dichotomy offered by those two words is simple genius, which inspires instant recognition on the part of the listener. My biggest compliment that would be "Diamonds & Rust" is the best Dylan songs not written by Dylan. Baez has never sounded any better than she does on this album. In addition to the title song my other favorites are "Hello In There" and "Jesse." The argument can certainly be made by armchair psychologists that the title song was an important catharsis for Baez, which could explain the dramatic improvement in both her songwriting and singing. The latter is probably less obvious simply because Baez and Judy Collins were the standards by which all female folk singers were judged in the Sixties and Seventies. But I think it is obvious that her rich soprano voice with its distinctive vibrato never sounded better. Still, that title song is just so impressive. I would have to say it is one of the ten best songs of the Seventies.

Yes, "Tangled Up in Blue" would also be on that list on diamonds.

(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.


























Roddy Woomble is the cherry on top!, 08 Oct 2007
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

Wistful love songs by young chanteuse, 07 Feb 2007
As many of the other reviewers have stated Kate Rusby has a beautiful plaintiff voice and this can be both a blessing and a hindrance as she will never have the vocal range and power of say June Tabor however when she sticks to what she is good at as in this album she is a fine singer songwriter and arranger of traditional words and music. This is a very good album and the fact that most of the songs are originals is a pleasant surprise as too many folk singers still labour under the impression that folkies like only proper folk tunes as collected by Percy Grainger.

Brilliant at times, 06 Nov 2006
Ninety per cent of this is her usual high standard. There are however a few songs that sound a bit tired and I don't think her voice is at its youthful, wistful best. That said, this is an album well worth having if you like Kate Rusby.

terribly twee, 20 Aug 2006
This has a newly written track called 'fare thee well' and one on a knight on yon hill. No-one says 'fare thee well' or 'yon' these days. Cutting edge this ain't. Sounds nice but the lyrics are therefore clear as day and are very lightweight. Anyone writing about a Moon Shadow risks comparison with Cat Stevens and Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield. Kate'e effort here emphasises the weakness of the song writing on this album.

Magical discovery, 19 Apr 2006
Over many years living abroad I've kind of lost touch with UK folk music (the great RT excepted, of course). So when I saw this recommended on Amazon.uk, I thought: 'Why not?' And no regrets - this is a gorgeous recording by an outstanding performer. I can only back up all the other reviewers who gave this 5 stars. ('No Names' and 'Fare thee well' are particular stand-out tracks.) I will be ordering more by Kate Rusby immediately. Try this one and you are very unlikely to be disappointed.

One of the best......, 21 Apr 2006
Having bought the single way back in the 70's when it was first released and heard what seemed the fashionable comment at the time that "some records were too good for the charts" I wanted to buy the album when funds permitted. No disappointments - this is a classic that doesn't waste a track. Different in style to other albums that Joan Baez has done but more than worth hearing and at a fantastic price. Buy, play, enjoy, you will not regret.

Was this review helpful to you....


DIAMONDS AND RUST DELIVERS..., 19 Feb 2003
This is an excellent CD from a more mature Joan Baez. Her own musical composition, "Diamonds and Rust", which is the signature song on the CD, is simply outstanding, both lyrically and melodically. Couple it with her own glorious set of pipes, and what one has is a winner! It is simply a beautiful song, sung beautifully.

This CD clearly shows a transition from the more folk based earlier CDs to one which is a little more contemporary in feel, with lusher and, yes, more commercial musical arrangements. There, I said it. Which is not to imply that it is bad. It is simply a change and a different direction than that which had been previously taken by Ms. Baez. Best of all, it works!

Clearly, she can make the transition to a wider audience in this fashion, and she deserves to be heard by as many people as is possible, such is her talent. This CD holds many pleasant surprises in store for the listener.

Masterpiece of moving love songs, 30 Nov 2002
Masterpiece of moving love songs
This elegant album is a seamless blend of her own and others' literate but moving love songs and just a nod to her folk roots in the medley of I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy. She covers songs by Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, Dylan, John Prine and others, while contributing her beautiful own compositions like the title track, Children And All That Jazz, Winds Of The Old Days (reminiscent of Gulf Winds) and Dida. Her interpretation of Browne's Fountain Of Sorrow is particularly poignant, and so is Jesse, the Janis Ian song. Another classic is the reflective Winds Of The Old Days. Unlike some of her ventures into the art song in the 1980's, this album really works, as she sings with warmth and conviction and make the songs her own. Diamonds and Rust is a successful move away from her pure folk roots.

Joan Baez writes a really great song about her and Dylan, 16 Nov 2002
I have been mulling over the idea that "Diamonds & Rust" is the best folk album of the Seventies, and it has made me realize that I am always going to think of Bob Dylan as being a folksinger even when his guitar is electric. So I would still give the nod to "Blood on the Tracks," especially since that is where Joan Baez's cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" comes from. But I have no problem with the idea that this is the best Joan Baez album and no doubt whatsoever that "Diamonds & Rust" is her greatest accomplishment as a songwriter...
Of course the song is about Dylan "the unwashed phenomenon"; what else would make more perfect sense? More importantly, the elegance of the dichotomy offered by those two words is simple genius, which inspires instant recognition on the part of the listener. My biggest compliment that would be "Diamonds & Rust" is the best Dylan songs not written by Dylan. Baez has never sounded any better than she does on this album. In addition to the title song my other favorites are "Hello In There" and "Jesse." The argument can certainly be made by armchair psychologists that the title song was an important catharsis for Baez, which could explain the dramatic improvement in both her songwriting and singing. The latter is probably less obvious simply because Baez and Judy Collins were the standards by which all female folk singers were judged in the Sixties and Seventies. But I think it is obvious that her rich soprano voice with its distinctive vibrato never sounded better. Still, that title song is just so impressive. I would have to say it is one of the ten best songs of the Seventies.

Yes, "Tangled Up in Blue" would also be on that list on diamonds.

Prominent songs from the Vanguard years, 19 Oct 2005
By no means all the greatest early songs, this compilation does include her hits and well-known album tracks from the 1960s and early 1970s. It focuses on the later Vanguard years when she moved into pop and rock. Four Dylan tracks are included plus her greatest commercial success, The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, a lilting melodious song about the civil war, her big hit from 1971.

Farewell Angelina from the album of the same name is another gem, and then there's the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome. Other highlights include The Dangling Conversation (penned by Paul Simon), the bitter Love Is Just A Four Letter Word and the stirring There But For Fortune. Help Me Make It Through The Night and Let It Be must be two of the most covered compositions of all time and Baez renders them well.

The album concludes with the evocative Brand New Tennessee Waltz, one of the most memorable songs from her repertoire. The Vanguard years encompassed many other great classics not represented here, such as Ate Amanha, Kumbaya, Long Black Veil, Gospel Ship, Satisfied Mind, and the awesome Lady Mary. That aside, this is a valuable collection and ideal for those wishing to investigate the 1960s/70s work of this folk legend.

Carmina Crystallina, 31 May 2005
A brilliant collection of the best of her music from the twelve years that she recorded with Vanguard, the early era of her recording career. Here we have the pristine and crystal clear voice of Joan Baez eloquently and melodiously flowing over the golden pebbles of Bob Dylan's four tracks, namely It's all over now, Baby Blue (with immortal "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun"), Farewell Angelina, (a gem with the music and image-laden lyrics in perfect harmony), Love is just a four letter word, and the beautiful simplicity of I Pity the Poor Immigrant ( here the first couple lines lingers for long in one's auditory memory after the song is played). Other uplifting tracks include the evergreen The Night they drove Old Dixie down, Paul Simon's The Dangling Conversation, with its perceptive lyrics. Also I must mention her lovely rendition of the Kris Kristofferson classic Help me make it though the night and the Lennon-McCarthney Let it be. The determination of the under-dog comes though so clearly in We shall overcome, as does the grateful resignation of the gentle There but for Fortune. In fact every track in this collection is top class Baez, and it ends on a high with track fourteen the The Brand new Tennessee Waltz. It must get five stars if not a few more, especially considering its nice price at Amazon.

Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski hatched the idea for Rogue's Gallery while filming "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"--that idea being to cast genteel rock superstars like Bono, Lou Reed, Bryan Ferry, Andre Corr, and Sting to reinterpret gritty seafaring standards for an exhaustive 43-track double-disc set produced by Hal Wilner. Throw in a bunch of credible folk stars (Loudon Wainwright III, Richard Thompson), their offspring (Rufus, Teddy) and a string of other curious characters (Jarvis Cocker, Antony) and what results is one of the strangest compilations in recent memory, if not exactly the most historically authentic or, well, digestible. Nick Cave embraces the role just a little too hard on "Fire Down Below," while Ferry can't help but sound like he's singing for the cast of "The Love Boat," but cut through the chaff and there is some real bootie here: Bono's "Dying Sailor to His Shipmates," Jolie Holland's "The Grey Funnel Line" and "Boney" by a mysterious tramp called Jack Sh**, which must be some kind of anagram for Johnny Depp. --Aidin Vaziri

(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.


























Roddy Woomble is the cherry on top!, 08 Oct 2007
Kate Rusby is a treat and possibly the most unsung performer in the UK. I own hundreds of CDs and very few of them continue to move me like "The Girl Who Couldn't Fly". From the teasing, light-hearted rhyme of `Mary Blaize' to the haunting simplicity of `Fare Thee Well', this album is a treat for the ears and a journey for the emotions. 'No Names' is the ultimate highlight for me, specifically because of Roddy Woomble's fantastic contribution. The vast space between Kate and Roddy's tones serves only to add to the bittersweet parting message that the song contains. This is a wonderful album that deserves much wider critical aclaim than it has received so far.

Wistful love songs by young chanteuse, 07 Feb 2007
As many of the other reviewers have stated Kate Rusby has a beautiful plaintiff voice and this can be both a blessing and a hindrance as she will never have the vocal range and power of say June Tabor however when she sticks to what she is good at as in this album she is a fine singer songwriter and arranger of traditional words and music. This is a very good album and the fact that most of the songs are originals is a pleasant surprise as too many folk singers still labour under the impression that folkies like only proper folk tunes as collected by Percy Grainger.

Brilliant at times, 06 Nov 2006
Ninety per cent of this is her usual high standard. There are however a few songs that sound a bit tired and I don't think her voice is at its youthful, wistful best. That said, this is an album well worth having if you like Kate Rusby.

terribly twee, 20 Aug 2006
This has a newly written track called 'fare thee well' and one on a knight on yon hill. No-one says 'fare thee well' or 'yon' these days. Cutting edge this ain't. Sounds nice but the lyrics are therefore clear as day and are very lightweight. Anyone writing about a Moon Shadow risks comparison with Cat Stevens and Maggie Reilly/Mike Oldfield. Kate'e effort here emphasises the weakness of the song writing on this album.

Magical discovery, 19 Apr 2006
Over many years living abroad I've kind of lost touch with UK folk music (the great RT excepted, of course). So when I saw this recommended on Amazon.uk, I thought: 'Why not?' And no regrets - this is a gorgeous recording by an outstanding performer. I can only back up all the other reviewers who gave this 5 stars. ('No Names' and 'Fare thee well' are particular stand-out tracks.) I will be ordering more by Kate Rusby immediately. Try this one and you are very unlikely to be disappointed.

One of the best......, 21 Apr 2006
Having bought the single way back in the 70's when it was first released and heard what seemed the fashionable comment at the time that "some records were too good for the charts" I wanted to buy the album when funds permitted. No disappointments - this is a classic that doesn't waste a track. Different in style to other albums that Joan Baez has done but more than worth hearing and at a fantastic price. Buy, play, enjoy, you will not regret.

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DIAMONDS AND RUST DELIVERS..., 19 Feb 2003
This is an excellent CD from a more mature Joan Baez. Her own musical composition, "Diamonds and Rust", which is the signature song on the CD, is simply outstanding, both lyrically and melodically. Couple it with her own glorious set of pipes, and what one has is a winner! It is simply a beautiful song, sung beautifully.

This CD clearly shows a transition from the more folk based earlier CDs to one which is a little more contemporary in feel, with lusher and, yes, more commercial musical arrangements. There, I said it. Which is not to imply that it is bad. It is simply a change and a different direction than that which had been previously taken by Ms. Baez. Best of all, it works!

Clearly, she can make the transition to a wider audience in this fashion, and she deserves to be heard by as many people as is possible, such is her talent. This CD holds many pleasant surprises in store for the listener.

Masterpiece of moving love songs, 30 Nov 2002
Masterpiece of moving love songs
This elegant album is a seamless blend of her own and others' literate but moving love songs and just a nod to her folk roots in the medley of I Dream Of Jeannie/Danny Boy. She covers songs by Jackson Browne, Stevie Wonder, Dylan, John Prine and others, while contributing her beautiful own compositions like the title track, Children And All That Jazz, Winds Of The Old Days (reminiscent of Gulf Winds) and Dida. Her interpretation of Browne's Fountain Of Sorrow is particularly poignant, and so is Jesse, the Janis Ian song. Another classic is the reflective Winds Of The Old Days. Unlike some of her ventures into the art song in the 1980's, this album really works, as she sings with warmth and conviction and make the songs her own. Diamonds and Rust is a successful move away from her pure folk roots.

Joan Baez writes a really great song about her and Dylan, 16 Nov 2002
I have been mulling over the idea that "Diamonds & Rust" is the best folk album of the Seventies, and it has made me realize that I am always going to think of Bob Dylan as being a folksinger even when his guitar is electric. So I would still give the nod to "Blood on the Tracks," especially since that is where Joan Baez's cover of "Simple Twist Of Fate" comes from. But I have no problem with the idea that this is the best Joan Baez album and no doubt whatsoever that "Diamonds & Rust" is her greatest accomplishment as a songwriter...
Of course the song is about Dylan "the unwashed phenomenon"; what else would make more perfect sense? More importantly, the elegance of the dichotomy offered by those two words is simple genius, which inspires instant recognition on the part of the listener. My biggest compliment that would be "Diamonds & Rust" is the best Dylan songs not written by Dylan. Baez has never sounded any better than she does on this album. In addition to the title song my other favorites are "Hello In There" and "Jesse." The argument can certainly be made by armchair psychologists that the title song was an important catharsis for Baez, which could explain the dramatic improvement in both her songwriting and singing. The latter is probably less obvious simply because Baez and Judy Collins were the standards by which all female folk singers were judged in the Sixties and Seventies. But I think it is obvious that her rich soprano voice with its distinctive vibrato never sounded better. Still, that title song is just so impressive. I would have to say it is one of the ten best songs of the Seventies.

Yes, "Tangled Up in Blue" would also be on that list on diamonds.

Prominent songs from the Vanguard years, 19 Oct 2005
By no means all the greatest early songs, this compilation does include her hits and well-known album tracks from the 1960s and early 1970s. It focuses on the later Vanguard years when she moved into pop and rock. Four Dylan tracks are included plus her greatest commercial success, The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, a lilting melodious song about the civil war, her big hit from 1971.

Farewell Angelina from the album of the same name is another gem, and then there's the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome. Other highlights include The Dangling Conversation (penned by Paul Simon), the bitter Love Is Just A Four Letter Word and the stirring There But For Fortune. Help Me Make It Through The Night and Let It Be must be two of the most covered compositions of all time and Baez renders them well.

The album concludes with the evocative Brand New Tennessee Waltz, one of the most memorable songs from her repertoire. The Vanguard years encompassed many other great classics not represented here, such as Ate Amanha, Kumbaya, Long Black Veil, Gospel Ship, Satisfied Mind, and the awesome Lady Mary. That aside, this is a valuable collection and ideal for those wishing to investigate the 1960s/70s work of this folk legend.

Carmina Crystallina, 31 May 2005
A brilliant collection of the best of her music from the twelve years that she recorded with Vanguard, the early era of her recording career. Here we have the pristine and crystal clear voice of Joan Baez eloquently and melodiously flowing over the golden pebbles of Bob Dylan's four tracks, namely It's all over now, Baby Blue (with immortal "Yonder stands your orphan with his gun"), Farewell Angelina, (a gem with the music and image-laden lyrics in perfect harmony), Love is just a four letter word, and the beautiful simplicity of I Pity the Poor Immigrant ( here the first couple lines lingers for long in one's auditory memory after the song is played). Other uplifting tracks include the evergreen The Night they drove Old Dixie down, Paul Simon's The Dangling Conversation, with its perceptive lyrics. Also I must mention her lovely rendition of the Kris Kristofferson classic Help me make it though the night and the Lennon-McCarthney Let it be. The determination of the under-dog comes though so clearly in We shall overcome, as does the grateful resignation of the gentle There but for Fortune. In fact every track in this collection is top class Baez, and it ends on a high with track fourteen the The Brand new Tennessee Waltz. It must get five stars if not a few more, especially considering its nice price at Amazon.

Not too shabby, 01 Nov 2007
I can understand some folk purists wanting to hate this before they've even heard it, and it could have ended up as a complete dogs breakfast. Yes if they'd given the whole undertaking to Bellowhead it might have been a classic, but on the whole it's not turned out too bad, and there's something to be said for the eclectic nature of the thing.

I'll have nothing said against Baby Gramps, he's a fine guitarist and that's no affectation, he really does sound like Popeye's drunken brother. Surprisingly of the "Big Names" Sting makes the best fist of his effort. I say surprising because he strikes me as the most unlikeable of people. Unsurprisingly Bono misses the point completely, and confirms that he is now completely and utterly up himself.

The most authentic voice however comes from the incomparable Richard Thompson, but there are quite a few enjoyable tracks on here, CD1 needing a lot less skipping than CD2.

A Hearrrrrrrrty Thumbs up for this Beauty, 01 Oct 2007
Nick Cave, Bryan Ferry, Lou Reed, Jarvis Cocker, Antony Hegarty and Loudon Wainwright - all on two fantastic discs - what could be better (even Sting and Bono are bearable) - add to the mix some of the most lurid, dirty, pox-ridden, scum-sucking, keelhauling, timber-shivering songs of the last two hundred years and top off with John C Reilly and Ralph Steadman to have the perfect barrel of salty seadog entertainment this side of the Sargasso. Johnny Depp can now be forgiven for Pirates of the Caribbean 2.

Put it in a sack and throw it over the side..., 07 Sep 2007
How typical of 'The Big Names' to ruin some great and traditional songs. With the exception of a very few tracks this compilation is awful. Nick Cave croaks along in 'Fire Down Below', Baby Gramps does not seem to understand the concept of 'tune' when singing 'Cape Cod Girls', And Sting is trying too hard to be a seventeenth century pirate! What a shame... These songs are sung a great deal better by artists from the folk scene... Start with Kate Rusby and some Bellowhead for modern folk including shanteys, not this utter rubbish! If you're already a folkie then don't bother with this... you ears will curl up and drop off!

Don't let the cover and title fool ya', 23 Aug 2007
The first two tunes give you an idea of the musical gamet being covered here, Baby Gramps ("I gargled with battery acid before I sang this song") followed by Richard Thompson's appealing and ever reliable folk charm. Most of the time, the performances track the former of these paths, with music evocative of the old "Rough Trade" record label. Barbed wire guitars and such; artists like Tom Waits, The Pogues and Tom Russell would have been welcomed in this compilation. I suppose few have ever tried to romanticize the buccaneer life, and surely this material doesn't. The most base and debauched of what one usually associates with pirating is often the focus. Rum and the lash. Not for the faint of heart, and worthy of a warning label about the lyrics which, in places (i. e. the Loudon Wainright tune), are bawdy limeriks set to music. The package is especially misleading to those looking for a "Smithsonian Institute" recording of traditional seafaring material, especially with the cover art, Howard Pyle's "Marooned," one of the most famous paintings on the subject of pirate life, which has graced a fine book or two. Some good tunes in here, to be sure, which may grow on you as an acquired taste. For example, Van Dyke Parks wry "Greenland Whale Fisheries," with the underpinning baritone sax and darkly humorous analysis of the sea captain's value system. Just know what you are getting.


Good stuff, 27 May 2007
I thought this was great. I found it extremely interesting to listen to songs I have never heard, some of which that were 400 years old and sounded as fresh as some punk songs today. There were a few I could have done without the modern versions, but still fun to hear. I think at its best are the acoustic versions, and might have benefited from a bit more angst in the songs that seemed to be the "hoisting" etc songs, but still great additions to a music collection for land lubers. I think Grey Funnel Line is one of the most beautiful songs I have heard in recent years, and Cape Cod Girls seems to capture the spirit of the entire album in the first few seconds..

(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 redol