Search - Bruce Cockburn :: Speechless

Nice. Like Leo Kottke with more melody and feeling.

Eric J. Anderson | Ankeny, Iowa | 07/07/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bruce Cockburn is a wonderful guitarist. He plays electric guitar, but he shines on the six string acoustic. I never much cared for his improvised electric guitar solos, but I don't recall any of those on this disc.



Bruce recorded a jazzy electric instrumental, Radio Days, for the Inner City Front album, but this does not appear on Speechless -- probably for the best. Also missing is a sentimental favorite of mine, Deer Dancing Around A Broken Mirror from his live Circles In The Stream record. Strangely, the short but sweet instrumentals from his Christmas CD are also missing.



Bruce recorded three new tunes for this album. I've heard them, and if you have Bruce's back catalog, these new songs are not sufficient to justify the CD purchase.



If you are new to Cockburn, I would still recommend going back to the beginning, and picking up his 1970s and 1980s albums, starting with Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws, which has no instrumental pieces, but does have some ravishingly beautiful acoustic guitar playing nevertheless. Then you'll have most if not all of the older songs that appear on this CD.



I love Bruce Cockburn, but I think his guitar playing is best appreciated in the context it originally appeared -- as a backing instrument for his vocals, and occasionally as a solo voice on instrumental pieces. Bruce's instrumentals are better in small doses, sandwiched in between his other fine songs.



Still, this is fine work, and if you only want "speechless" Cockburn, this album is just the ticket for you."