Search - Paul Kelly :: Nothing But Dream (Bonus CD)

Possibly the world's best songwriter

harvey mckinnon | Vacouver, canada | 05/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A few years ago I read a review from a great rock critic. He called Paul Kelly "The world's best songwriter". I picked up my first Kelly album and have gone on to buy every Kelly CD or record I can get my hands on. There is absolutely no one I can listen to as much as Paul Kelly. The variety of styles, the brilliant storytelling and the often hilarious and at times tear-inducing lyrics are a dream - nothing but, in fact. You're So Fine and Roll on Summer are killer songs. But pretty much every song on this CD is wonderful. I just saw him on tour and he's also great live. Every single Australian I meet likes his music. Last summer I met an Australian woman who, when I asked her if she knew his music, said "we love Paul kelly!" and she clasped her hands over her heart as she was enthusing about his music. This CD is a true gem and your life will be richer when you start listening to Paul Kelly's music."

... nothing but a great album

Nadyne Mielke | Mountain View, CA USA | 04/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Kelly tells us that he is a legend, not a star. This album goes a long way towards proving that he is a legend, but leaves me wondering why he isn't a star. He is a star in his native Australia. "Songs from the South", his greatest hits compilation, is a multi-platinum album there. But in the States, he barely registers. Americans are missing one of the best living singer-songwriters."...nothing but a dream" is Paul Kelly's most recent album. It may also be his most personal album, although he is very quick to direct attention away from his personal life. For example, when he recently performed 'Midnight Rain' on NPR, the interviewer asked him if he could tell her anything about the song. His response? 'The song in the car is real, the rest of it is made up.' This artful dodge of a question is indicative of his worldview: his songs should stand on their own, they tell a universal story that does not apply to just him. Other singer-songwriters strive for this and miss; Paul Kelly delivers on each track.It is fair to break this album up into quarters, each quarter boasting its own theme. The first three songs discuss love lost. 'Midnight Rain' is an effective evocation of how the memory of a long-time lover sneaks up on you at the most unexpected times, and the strange little memories you keep of that love. The next four songs shift tempo. Although they are not necessarily about love lost, but rather about the transience of love. 'Somewhere in the City', with its driving rhythm, gives us a glimpse of frustration and desire. The next four are about the insistent march of time. The sardonic wit of 'I Wasted Time' helps confront this reality. The final four songs on the American release of "...nothing but a dream" are not technically a part of the album. They are from the earlier Australia-only EP for "Roll on Summer". Although these tracks break the flow of the album, this is forgiveable for the sardonic wit of 'I Was Hoping You'd Say That' and the dry humour of 'Every F***ing City'. The latter, a laundry list of European cities visited with and without (mostly without) a girl, makes most listeners give a knowing nod at the lyric 'I was hoping that the break would make things go a little better for us / and for a little while it almost did'.In all, this is a solid album. For an American audience that has not yet heard of Paul Kelly, this is an excellent introduction to his music. For the already established fan, this album continues to show his evolution as a singer-songwriter."

A truly great album of beauty and maturity

S. D. Fourmy | London, United Kingdom | 03/06/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kelly's new album is not as immediately accessible as 1998's acclaimed Words And Music, but listen closely and it will reveal itself as the understated masterpiece that it is. While its predecessor was a sprawling epic, rendered on a large canvas, ...nothing but a dream, by contrast, is a tight, focused, intimate, personal work. Here we find a wiser but sadder Kelly; the tracks all concern themselves with love and loss, age and death. But the album still contains wonderful moments of trademark humour and, ultimately, a sense of hope. And all the while it careers assuredly through a range of musical styles and still remains a thematically focused and coherent whole. The set opens with a triptych of semi-acoustic pieces on the end of relationships. The sweet sorrow of If I Could Start Today Again and the desperate longing of the creeping Change Your Mind are crowned by a vivid evocation of loss in the glorious Midnight Rain. This is surely one of Kelly's greatest ever songs. Lyrically it is full of painful insight and beautiful honesty. It explores the time after the end of a long, long relationship - the way that other person suddenly comes into your mind for no reason at all, and the strange fragments the retreat of intimacy leaves behind (captured in a wonderful final refrain). The semi-spoken delivery deepens the personal feel of this song, and is a style that Kelly has been trying to perfect for years. The focus in the middle of the album shifts toward an investigation of the idea of love, with the soft sadness of the opening tracks replaced by more up-tempo music and bittersweet humour in the lyrics. But there is a constant awareness of love's transience; never is it allowed to exist in the suspended animation of fairytale romance that is the usual territory of the pop song. The sweet melody of I Close My Eyes And Think Of You hides loneliness and loss, meanwhile the insistent rock of Somewhere In The City underscores it's theme of frustrated desire. Just About To Break is all pent up love and harsh electronic beats in an unexpected sonic departure that works surprisingly well, while the good old fashioned pop of Love Is The Law speaks of love's beauty while hinting at it's failure.The final part of the album deals with age and mortality, and the musical arrangements again become more sparse. There is still room for comedy amid the fiddle-fuelled country of I Wasted Time (despite the subject matter), but by the final track the music is stripped bare amid a bleak story of homelessness. This song, reminiscent of Dylan, is sung quite beautifully (possibly Kelly's best ever vocal performance). Sad and moving, it nevertheless manages to end the album on a note of hope. The happiness and companionship sought after by the romantics of earlier songs is here found in simple things - "A friendly fire, some company under the bridge". This album may take more listening to than some of Kelly's others, but persevere and it will reward you. It is full of lyrical and musical depth, with each listen revealing more of the artistry that has created it. It has a progression and completeness that is rare in the world of pop/rock; it is truly an album of beauty and maturity. It is the sort of work that will probably only get better with age, like a good wine..."