Search - John Gorka :: Old Futures Gone

I Didn't Know If I Needed This One

John Terry | Kansas City, Mo | 02/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I wondered if I had moved on from John Gorka's music. It ocurred to me that perhaps I just didn't listen to "that type of music" anymore. Then I saw him play at a local pub. I marveled at his guitar playing. I was envious of his deep, rich baritone vocals. I was moved at his ability to write songs that were so easy for me to relate to. I plunked down the money for this album. By the time I drove home, I was singing along to "Dogs & Thunder" and "Always". It's true that there's not much different here. There is a bit more of a pop sheen to most of the songs. Kind of a melancholy James Taylor vibe going on. I would submit to you that it's okay that John is John and we need to know he's there from time to time. A lot of us feel a little less alone that way."

Old Voice Still There ...

S. L. Smith | Durham, NH United States | 12/18/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, look, we don't buy Gorka to dance to, right? (Well, except for a few cuts on "Temporary Road".) Buy this collection if you remember Gorka's original boomy deep voice and you want it updated with his continually maturing lyrics and without the pessimism. If you're a first time Gorka, get the "Temporary Road" CD first. This is overall a bit slow and contemplative, except for 'Make Them Crazy' (my fave), maybe 'Shapes', and 'War Makes War'. This CD is a showcase for his fabulously dark deep vocals and is backed up by a variety of singers including the always lovely Lucy Kaplansky. At times a bit repetitive and silly (his trademarks after all), this is all very nice music."

One of the Best

J. McAndrew | USA | 08/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Have you ever listened to a CD, and then you had to listen to it again and again, pulling out the lyrics and examining them, then realizing this is one of the best collections of music you have heard in your life. This is what John Gorka does for me. If you have seen him play live you are more hooked!



The music is wonderful and so are the lyrics, stirring emotions deep in the heart.



Lyrics like, "There are doors that you walk through, that only swing one way. Once you cross the threshold, there's nothing words can say." Then his characteristic MMM...MMM...



or lyrics from "Always"..."I will always be lonely, it's what I'm going on about. Love is hope without doubt, hate is fear turned out."



or lyrics from "Shapes"..."Words are just the shapes that the heart moves through. On the way to finding out if whatever there is true."



and undoubtedly the best lyrics:





"We can learn from everyone

How to or not to be

But we can learn the most from those

Who think differently

Who think differently.



War makes war. It won't bring peace."





"The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." Martin Luther King Junior



I'm also impressed because this CD is dedicated to the late Senator Paul Wellstone and wife Sheila.



One not only gets a sense that Gorka is a great and sensitive musician, he is also intensely politically aware. He has a message through his music that more should be tuned into in this day and age.



FIVE STARS!!



Jeffrey McAndrew

author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"

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