Search - Eliza Gilkyson :: Paradise Hotel

Gilkyson delivers the goods again

Jerome Clark | Canby, Minnesota | 08/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Not nearly as famous as she deserves to be, Eliza Gilkyson just gets better and better. With each album she proves that she's the equal of any of her folk-rocking, singing-and-songwriting contemporaries. Always a formidable singer, a vocalist of the smoke-and-tears school, she just plain sounds great throughout as she delivers one compelling performance and composition after another.



Paradise Hotel opens with the hook-laden "Borderline," with Mike Hardwick's electric guitar affording the bleak lyrics an oddly warm country ambience, though this is not, strictly or even broadly speaking, a country tune. Written in a style reminiscent an old folk ballad, "Jedidiah 1777" movingly relates the true story of a Gilkyson ancestor who fought in the Revolutionary War.



Perhaps the stand-out cut, though, is the hard-driving, blues-drenched, impassioned "Man of God," whose target is not hard to discern. The song opens: "The cowboy came out of the west/with his snakeskin boots and his big war chest." It goes on from there. Lovers of the current regime in the White House will not be pleased, but the rest of us will see that if American leadership in the early 21st Century has done nothing else, it has done wonders for the old-fashioned folk-protest song."

An artist at the top of her game: silk, velvet, truth & groo

oregano55 | Austin, TX United States | 08/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw Eliza Gilkyson at a SXSW showcase in Austin in the late 90s. She blew me away then -- it was right before "Hard Times in Babyon" came out -- and every CD she's released since then has exceeded the one before. "Paradise Hotel" continues her winning streak, and works on so many levels: highly listenable right away and very satisfying on a melodic/groove level, but the song lyrics yield deeper riches every time I tune in and pay closer attention. Searching for words to describe how much I love this CD, I googled for reviews and found this one from the Austin Chronicle. I couldn't agree more....



"Neither life nor love has spared Eliza Gilkyson its sharp edges, even if the muses have blessed her bountifully. She bore her wounds with style and grace on 2000's Hard Times in Babylon...and the acclaimed Lost and Found (2002). Last year's Grammy-nominated Land of Milk and Honey was filled with blood tears for losses redeemed and the dead remembered. It's with great relief and comfort, then, to hear Paradise Hotel and feel the new, soft skin as old scars heal. This new offering in her contemporarily flawless oeuvre is tender and cathartic to the point of jubilation, brimming with radio-polished tunes ("Is It Like Today," "Bellarosa") and exquisite traditional folk ("Jedidiah 1777"). Paradise Hotel is rife with nuances that distinguish its author's pen; on "Borderline," she hums "Whiter Shade of Pale" to her own melody. Gilkyson hasn't backed down from her hard-line political stance either. The album's showstopper is the third track, "Man of God," booming with authority and righteous rejection of the party line. With longtime producer/compadre Mark Hallman providing his intuitive and expert touch, the question then is not which of her albums is the best; it's how do you choose between silk and velvet?" 08/12/2005, Austin Chronicle, Margaret Moser"

Insightful and Intelligent

Karen Camloh | Beautiful Buffalo, NY USA | 01/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over the past 5 years or so, I have heard some Eliza Gilkyson tracks on compilation albums. I enjoyed one of her tracks enough to go to the library and sign out her CD, "Lost and Found" (2002). I received it with a resounding "eh."



Then I got "Paradise Hotel," an incredible, superb album. It blew me away. I hear a critique about what we're going through today. Sort of a study in current events. Discussing GW and his contradictory self-description as a Man of God. "That ain't the teachin's of a man of God...", discussing the evolution of man from Babylon to today, spreading slowly across the continents and globe and now the moon. To the moon. I wouldn't call it all that positive, with some resignation in the tales, but bright rays of hopefulness do shine through.



Her sound is accessible to grown-ups. She doesn't have a superior range, but her voice is smoky and pleasant, coming from a low register. Lots of acoustic guitar along with hard-driven electric riffs, some twangy-country-ish rock and some Celtic sounding mixes, with a bit of east and west religious education. If a comparison must be made, while she doesn't necessarily sound like Lucinda Williams, she is similar in style: serious, honest, insightful, and rockin'. A little bit of Joan Osborne shows through, as well, with loud, energetic harmonies in the background on a couple of tunes.



Check it out.

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