Reading about this album in advance gave the impression that it was something of a breakthrough for the "Country-Rock" scene, but it sits more naturally to the first of those two styles, to my ears. Hearts on Fire is pure classic country, and the harmonies between Parsons and Emmylou Harris, alongside a slide guitar, help it to stand out on this album. Other tracks of note include the mournful $1000 Wedding, where I still can't quite grasp the narrative, but it still lulls me along nicely, and the achingly simple Love Hurts, which is so well delivered in full stereo panning on the vocals that it is worth the entry price alone. Return of the Grevious Angel is the archetypal Country track, even down to Parsons' Guthrie-esque vocal delivery.
The interesting thing about Parsons' alleged genre hopping is that he doesn't mix them so much as straight up deliver the different styles. I Can't Dance is a slice of Rock 'n' Roll, with nary a Country element to be heard, yet sounds authentic rather than an artist messing about outside of his usual genre. Ooh Las Vegas doesn't have the same impact, with the driving percussion failing to move me.
The album is not one that I have fallen in love with, but certainly demonstrates more variety in the Country genre than I would have instinctively predicted existed. Without Emmylou Harris's support on the vocal front it would be a substantially weaker album, but the contrast between their voices, and the clarity of the instrumentation is quite refreshing to hear for someone where reverb is the default.
Chloe's album rating: 6
Chloe's favourite track: 2. Hearts on Fire
Olly's album rating: 6
Olly's favourite track: 5. $1000 Wedding
Next week we have 854. The Boatman's Call by Nick Cave.
No comments:
Post a Comment