Tracks
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This album gets a lot of grief for being a bit of a departure for Bruce Hornsby. He plays little of his famous piano on the album, choosing to instead rely more heavily on synthesizers and other electronic instrumentation. Perhaps some of it isn't as piano heavy, or maybe as jazzy as his previous albums, but I will never fault Hornsby for trying something different. That is a hallmark of his career, he's done pop/rock, jazz, bluegrass, country, musical theater... He's never been afraid to try anything once, and should be celebrated for it.
Two tracks stick out in my mind when I think of this album. The first is "The Good Life", a sort of tongue-in-cheek celebration of materialism. It starts off sort of subdued, then builds to the full band joining in for the chorus before returning to the verses, excepting a bit of a synth solo on the bridge. The music is extremely catchy, and it has that classic Hornsby sense of humor to it.
The other one is "The Chill". This is a creepy, eerie song about a sort of presence that the singer can't quite place; is it real, or is it imagined? Hornsby uses music to create a wonderfully eerie backdrop for the subject matter.
Other standout tracks include "Sticks & Stones", a kind of homage to Radiohead, and "Cartoons & Candy", more of a jazzy song, with a bit of his jam band tendencies in place. This was the first studio album with his touring band, The Noisemakers, in place, so much of it has a fuller sound as a result. Band members include Doug Derryberry on guitar, J. V. Collier on bass, Bobby Read on bass clarinet, J. T. Thomas on organ and Michael Baker on drums, amongst several others musicians who made appearances.
I don't want to oversell this album, as I don't think it's one of his best, but I also don't think it deserves the hate it sometimes gets. This hate kept me away from it for some tune before I finally decided to take a chance, since I loved everything else he did so much. If you are a fan, you will certainly find things to like on this album. And you will recognize that many of these songs have been played live with more piano incorporated, seamlessly so. Newcomers may want to try something else first, maybe Halcyon Days or Spirit Trail, then work your way back here. Bruce is always changing his musical style, if you are willing to change with him, it will be an incredibly fun ride.
Two tracks stick out in my mind when I think of this album. The first is "The Good Life", a sort of tongue-in-cheek celebration of materialism. It starts off sort of subdued, then builds to the full band joining in for the chorus before returning to the verses, excepting a bit of a synth solo on the bridge. The music is extremely catchy, and it has that classic Hornsby sense of humor to it.
The other one is "The Chill". This is a creepy, eerie song about a sort of presence that the singer can't quite place; is it real, or is it imagined? Hornsby uses music to create a wonderfully eerie backdrop for the subject matter.
Other standout tracks include "Sticks & Stones", a kind of homage to Radiohead, and "Cartoons & Candy", more of a jazzy song, with a bit of his jam band tendencies in place. This was the first studio album with his touring band, The Noisemakers, in place, so much of it has a fuller sound as a result. Band members include Doug Derryberry on guitar, J. V. Collier on bass, Bobby Read on bass clarinet, J. T. Thomas on organ and Michael Baker on drums, amongst several others musicians who made appearances.
I don't want to oversell this album, as I don't think it's one of his best, but I also don't think it deserves the hate it sometimes gets. This hate kept me away from it for some tune before I finally decided to take a chance, since I loved everything else he did so much. If you are a fan, you will certainly find things to like on this album. And you will recognize that many of these songs have been played live with more piano incorporated, seamlessly so. Newcomers may want to try something else first, maybe Halcyon Days or Spirit Trail, then work your way back here. Bruce is always changing his musical style, if you are willing to change with him, it will be an incredibly fun ride.