A bit of everything
S. D Fassbinder | Claremont, CA United States | 04/12/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is possibly Bruce Cockburn's best album -- folks who really love _The Charity of Night_ might enjoy hunting down this one. There are a lot of different moods here, within a mellow acoustic folk-jazz medium. Everything flows into one attitude. "Lord of the starfields," "I'm gonna fly some day," and "festival of friends" are Christian mysticism, "vagabondage" is sung in French, "in the falling dark" and "gavin's woodpile" are brooding tunes with great poetic lyrics. "Little seahorse" is a quaint love song. All of the instrumentals are innocuous. "Giftbearer" has a waterfall sound to it. The best song on this album is a sung travel poem, "silver wheels". A classic."
Spiritual and worldly music ahead of it's time
cowboylizard | Oakville, Ontario Canada | 01/22/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)
"When I listen to this album, it strikes me that Bruce was certainly ahead of his time in bringing a more worldy and earthy sound to us in his work. This shows up in the albums best songs, in particular, Giftbearer. But, also in Lord of the Starfields, a fantastic spiritual song, and Silver Wheels. The lyrics in Silver Wheels are superb pure poetry. Vagabondage is a song with a lot of character, and I'm Gonna Fly Someday is a song you'll want to listen to over and over again. These songs form the heart of the album. Others, such as Gavin's Woodpile, In The Falling Dark and Water Into Wine are just ok. They seem more like fillers to me. Little Seahorse is a fun little song, but seems out of place. And Festival of Friends is just a pure lame song - I wonder if it was written about Hamilton's Festival of Friends ?On the strength of the good songs that make up the heart of this album, it is a great purchase. It's time this album and other solid Bruce albums were digitally remastered !"
Here is your oportunity
Gerardo Martinez Casas | San Miguel de Cozumel, Quintana Roo, México | 01/07/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"to acquire a masterpiece for the right price. The beginning of a fantastic artist. Just like Neil, cosmic and down to earth in a Canadian way. I just got a rare copy and let me tell you is worth the trip. I mean is 2010 and i just heard it for the first time yesterday and is already a favorite. Very well crafted and performed. Acustic pieces just for the mood, Miles tones just for kicks, great stories just to light your life...
A good way to end the decade. After all, the decade starts Jan 2011. Dig?. Enjoy..."