 |  | A mediocre sophomore effort |  |
In 1987,Bruce Hornsby & The Range took home one or two Grammys for their 1986 debut THE WAY IT IS. I know they won the Best New Artist Grammy. This 1988 mediocre release didn't garner any Grammys but was probably a nominee. Hits from this album include THE VALLEY ROAD and JACOB'S LADDER. The latter track,written or co-written by Hornsby,was first a hit for Huey Lewis & The News from their '86 Grammy-winning FORE! album. The other songs are good. Puerta wound up leaving the Range to reform his first band Ambrosia. So Hornsby wound up seeking a new bassist.
July 10, 2007| | | Bruce Hornsby brings out melody magic and certainly has the touch | |
Bruce Hornsby has the touch on this classic Cd from the 80 ths. With his band The range, this certainly shows a whole lot of range when it comes to eargasmic pop/rock music.
It begins with Track 1 Look out any window, and it drives you into the Hornsby world. The pianoplaying is the key element on many of this tracks, so on the opener too. He treat the tangents with the right feel and joy, and the vocal and other instruments just fits in. Track 2 The Valley Road is more in the "synth land", and is a fine mix between different keyboards variations. This one too has that open soundpicture, with a very clear piano soundmix , and the vocal and the other instruments just fill it out in a way. Track 3 I will walk with you has much of the same elements input, but this one also have a more potent vocal with the right tearjerkin` voice to build up the right mood alltrough.
Track 4 The road not taken, has a very open soundlandscape, where Hornsby just drizzel out pianomagic in this very catchy and tuneful song. Track 5 The Show begins as a ballad. Soft but clear pianoplay with some synth strings along with it. Then suddenly it changes into more uptempo beat, and give`s you minor freezez down your backbone, so to speak. It opens up.He realy makes the show goes on, on this one. Track 6 The old playground is the first minor letdown, which is to compact . The vocal and the instruments figths for theire places. There is anyway a good piano solo there, all though. Track 7 Defenders of the flag, is a blues song, which doesn`t fit`s in a away. The harmonica is ok, but it has much of the same problems has the song before. Track 8 Jacobs Ladder sound`s like a copy of the original Huey Lewis hit, but Hornsby bring`s some new magic to it. Not at all bad. Track 9 Till the dreaming`s done, is an ok ballad. Anyway Bruce Hornsby brings out melody magic, and certainly has the touch with a big T.
March 16, 2006| | | Great musical artist, among the few out there. | |
Little did I realize many of the songs that I heard on some of my favorite movies were the works of Bruce Hornsby and the Range. That's when I started purchasing his CDs. If it's any musician who deserves the royalities when a person buys their merchandise, it's Bruce Hornsby.
February 25, 2006 | | Some darn fine music that always plays well | |
Bruce Hornsby's music is always worth a listen, but this record is one that I think some of his fans and others may have overlooked. It's a rare gem in the fact that you can play this cd from beginning to end without having to skip songs. The lyrics are great, the music is introspective and goes beyond mere bubble gum pop. As a long time owner of this cd, I would highly reccomend it to anyone unless you have some kind of personal vendetta against Bruce Hornsby music. If you aren't sure if you like Bruce give this one a chance..it might just make you a fan! This is vintage Hornsby....one of his finer efforts and on a personal note my favorite album of his from the 80's and perhaps of his long and distinguished career.
November 5, 2005| | | Bruce Hornsby's Second Great Album In A Row | |
SCENES FROM THE SOUTHSIDE is Bruce Hornsby's second great album in a row. As on the first one, the songs are a mix of social commentary, personal observations about life, and love songs from an adult point of view. The opener, "Look Out Any Window", is about how the agricultural industry, which provided the goods to help young guys like myself look good for their favorite actresses, is being destroyed by rising land prices, corporate greed, suburbanization, and even the cruelties of nature, a theme which is also told from the viewpoint of a story of love between a hired hand and the boss's daughter in "The Valley Road", a love story in first-person in "The Road Not Taken", and a direct attack on the politicians who are destroying the farmers' careers and lives in "Defenders Of The Flag." "Jacob's Ladder" is an indictment of not only religious fundamentalists, but also of "spiritualist" cults such as Scientology. Hornsby's belief that the young Australian tourist jailed in Indonesia since 2005 for drug-smuggling was unjustly convicted, as well as his advocacy of increased funding for community policing, makes this CD an essential purchase for both your ears AND your conscience.
July 28, 2005More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(26 reviews)