At the same time, in the interests of full disclosure, I am pretty damned stocked that in less than an hour my Boston Bruins will commence the final leg of their Stanley Cup journey. So on to the review - but first - Go Go Black and Gold!
Disc 281 is...Bringing Down The Horse
Artist: The Wallflowers
Year of Release: 1996
What’s Up With The Cover?: Not much. It kind of reminds me of that expensive wrapping paper you can get at places like Chapters when you are going to a hoity toity party, and that crap-wrap from London Drugs won't cut the mustard. Who am I kidding? That crap-wrap is good for any party I'll ever get invited to. Onward!
How I Came To Know It: I believe Sheila heard a couple of the songs of this record, that did quite well back in 1996, and bought it - so this is a Sheila purchase.
How It Stacks Up: The Wallflowers have five studio albums, but this is the only one we own. We briefly owned their self-titled debut as well, but it was pretty sad stuff, and we sold it many years ago. Of the two, "Bringing Down The Horse" is far superior.
Rating: 3 stars
The Wallflowers are the vehicle of Bob Dylan's far less famous son, Jakob. Like other sons of famous singer/songwriters (think Adam Cohen, Julian Lennon), Jakob worked hard to achieve success on his own terms rather than simply as a son of his famous father. Like both Adam and Julian, he never has, and never will, come close to the level of his father.
That said, I admire their efforts. Who could compete with Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan - two of the most incredible songwriters and poets of this or any other time. And as for Julian - he never had a chance without the contributing yips from Yoko Ono. I mean - where would John have been without Yoko? Likeley still being held back with that band of his.
But I digress. Back to the Wallflowers album, which I held very low hope for when I rolled it, but that turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
The music itself isn't particularly innovative - it is typical of that mostly rock/slightly folk innocuous mid-nineties sound that was pretty common on the radio at the time. Think Paul Westerberg's "Dyslexic Heart" from the Singles Soundtrack. It would be easy to condemn Dylan's effort for its easy-listening popularity, that wouldn't be a fair assessment of what he has accomplished here.
The truth is "Bringing Down The Horse" is a solid album. Dylan's raspy voice may not have the ironic curl at the edges that his father's does, but it sounds good, and the songs are written for his wheelhouse. The other musicians play tightly together as well, although there are spots where drummer Mario Calire has that 'eighties drum machine' sound which I could live without. C'mon Mario - hit those things like you mean it!
The sound is excellent, and I wasn't surprised to read in the liner notes that it was produced by the legendary T-Bone Burnett. Other famous musicians helping out included Counting Crows' Adam Duritz, and Jon Brion (who I know from Aimee Mann's records).
The feel of the record is one of urban alienation, but for all that Dylan brings a real heart to the music in many places, with strong lyrics and a soulful delivery.
The album had a couple sizeable hits ("One Headlight", and "Three Marlenas") which are among the stronger songs. In fact, I heard "One Headlight" today while shopping at Home Depot, although I'm not sure if that is an endorsement or indictment. In any event, my favourite song on the record is is the tragic character study of "Three Marlenas".
Perfectly paced, this song makes all the right production choices and keeps out some of the excess sound in some of the lesser tracks, where everyone seems to be banging away to the point where the ear struggles to pick out just where to direct itself.
There are also some hidden gems. My favourite of these is "Invisible City", a sombre and beautiful song about losing connection, and how cold the city can be when you're already feeling alone. Although the song is slightly marred by the mechanical drumming sound, both Dylan's vocals and the the guitar work are excellent.
That said, there are as many forgettable songs as there are memorable ones, and so the album must ultimately be labelled with the dreaded moniker, 'uneven'. There are worse monikers to be labelled with, however; 'dreadful', 'painful', and 'unlistenable' to name but three of them.
"Bringing Down The Horse" is none of these. While I wouldn't advise anyone to rush out and buy it, it is a solid and commendable record from a guy who may be forced to live his life in his father's long shadow, but is determined to forge his own path in the dark.
Best tracks: One Headlight, Three Marlenas, Invisible City
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