 |  | This is what music should be! |  |
All my life I've sought out music, across all genres, that I find exciting, moving, deep and compelling. I recently stumbled into this already aging album from an artist I had found only mildly interesting back in his late-80s heyday, and I knew I had found such music. "Hot House", and its companion from two years earlier "Harbor Lights" rank together as Bruce's masterworks, and establish him securely as both an artist and a pianist of significance. What kind of music is it? Well, I guess you'd have to call it rock 'n roll - but at its best, rock has always drawn from musical sources all over the map, be it jazz, gospel, country, or western swing, and it takes a musician as grounded and immensely talented as Bruce to pull it off with such seeming ease, so richly, and so satisfyingly. And his piano chops? Hands down, the best in rock history. A historical footnote: the last ever recorded guitar solo of Jerry Garcia, on "Cruise Control", makes an exuberant coda to that other brilliant artist's remarkable career.
July 6, 2008Super good music--all in Bruce style--a style all of its own. Get this CD, you can't go wrong. "Spider Fingers" and "Country Doctor" are among the many hot songs in this album. I think White Wheeled Limousine is unique and really superb sounding in this CD, and I had a REALLY hard time deciding whether I liked it better in Intersections or in this album--although the version in Intersections is really SUPERB with Long Black Veil. My final decision may be that when White Wheeled Limousine is infused with Long Black Veil the two become a supermasterpiece--just listen to it! Big Rumble is over the top good in ALL WAYS--from voice to sound. The other songs are all superb. Lyrics are to be found in the insert.
I bought another brand new stereo for all Bruce's CD's. One stereo was not enough any more. I can't seem to go back to other artists once I am getting used to the best.
June 21, 2008 | | Hot and lively in hot house. | |
Bruce Hornsby. Mmmmmusic with a big M. It`s jazzy ,funky, and full of life. Sometimes is messy, with different instrument`s "fighting" for it`s place in the whole "musical picture", but fore the most is soulfull music. Let`s move on. Track 1 Spider Fingers is messy, and has not a clear "structure". It`s overkilled from the beginning to the end. Track 2 White weeled limousine is much better. Here it kick`s off immeidiately, and the melody has that "moody" feel and you can feel a certain "freeze" down your back. Track 3 Walk in the sun, is an ok "sunny" song with happiness and joy spread all over from the beginning to the end. Track 4 The Changes is more in the "cool" style of jazzy feel, with quality "sting" all over. Track 5 The Tango King, is not much of a tango. Overkilled this one too. Too much, too soon. Track 6 Big Rumble is more "rock and roll" and has a certain guts all trough, but in some places it stand`s still from further creative development. Track 7 Country Doctor, has much of the same problem`s. Bruce Hornsby are best when he makes the song simple and more down to earth. Track 8 The longest night show`s quality in every department. It has a very good refrain which goes frictionfree into your`e ears and down to your`e soul.
Track 9 Hot house ball, well, it`s hot enough, but doesn`t swing you into the right mood. Too much and messy sometimes. Track 10 Swing street swing`s ok, and has a good "tune line" all trough. Track 11 Cruise Controll is an uptempo great song, especially in the beginning, but the refrain is a weak point and a let down. Anyway Bruce Hornsby is hot and lively on this CD.
February 7, 2006Bruce Hornsby has now had a long and varied career as a musician somewhere in between pop, Dead/jamband, and jazz with little detours into bluegrass and rock along the way. All his albums have something to recommend them, but I find this one to be the most consistant and enjoyable. The sound, especially from the rhythm section, is huge and doesn't suffer from the separation in the mix that is evident in Harbor Lights or Spirit Trail. The songs are all engaging, and while the melodies might not be as immediate as on his first three albums, the band jamming factor more than makes up for it. When the group gets really revved up, such as in Spider Fingers or in the intense swinging section of Hot House Ball, it's a sort of musical ecstacy. Fans of Hornsby as a balladeer will probably prefer other records, but this one is really energetic and seems to be the one I come back to the most. Guest appearances by Pat Metheny and Bela Fleck are great while fitting seamlessly with the regular band. I wish Bruce would work with this drummer again.
January 13, 2006I got this album because I really like the song "Walk in the sun" and I love his piano playing in it, he always has a story to go with each song which makes me picture what he sings about. The backround keyboards and backup singers put an addition to the songs. The songs I like most on here are "walk in the sun" "the tango king" "Big Rumble" "the longest night" and "Swing Street" I think those were the only hits that made this album so popular. The other songs needed work and I was sad to find out that this is the last album that Jerry Garcia was on before he died, he was a great guitarist and will definitely be missed. Over all this is a great album but it needed more work. His last good album was " A night on the town" I wish his future albums could've been just as good as that one.
October 23, 2003More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(27 reviews)