"Loved Rickie's music up until Flying Cowboys. Ever since it just gotten darker and darker. Tryed to listening to Exposition but it was torture. I'm not looking for pop music but am fully aware of how she can produce much more upbeat Jazzy influenced material. May she find these uplifting sounds once again."
4-1/2 stars -- Preach on, Rickie
Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 11/06/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The origin of Rickie Lee Jones' latest album The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard comes from writer Lee Cantelon's interpretations of Biblical passages. And while Cantelon still shares co-writer credits for much of this album's tracks, Rickie still does a great job of turning them into her own songs.
Very few of the songs actually seem to carry a spiritual vibe, however; the only ones that really seem to are "Gethsemane", "I Was There" and "Seventh Day". But those are still great songs, and there are plenty more standouts like "Circle in the Sand", "Nobody Knows My Name" and "Falling Up". Rickie also still has a unique way with her lyrics, as illustrated by "Elvis Cadillac" (which shows remembrance of deceased musicians) and "Donkey Ride". And "Road to Emmaus" is a nice instrumental.
Rickie has always had an unconventional style (lyrics AND vocals), so if you're not a fan of hers, you'll probably say that she can't sing. Even so, "Tried to Be a Man" is hard for me to get into. But everything else on here makes this a sermon worth listening to, so in the words of track 6, having this CD in my player is where I like it best.
Anthony Rupert"
Powerful and Insightful
Van Isle Rev | Vancouver Island, British Columbia | 02/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album is a remarkable piece of work. As a minister in a mainline Protestant congregation, I am well aware of the extent to which countless thoughtful people are put off by organized religion of any stripe or description. Their antipathy is often well justified! The tragic result, alas, involves the resultant loss of the provocative and deeply challenging teachings of the master: Jesus of Nazareth. Rickie Lee Jones has measured up to the task of representing and responding to those teachings with remarkable skill, passion and freshness. I have no idea what drew her to this project, but she has managed to achieve, in the length of one Compact Disc--and with the help of a brilliant group of accompanists--what some of us preachers spend our "professional" life-times attempting (and not always succeeding!) at accomplishing. For those who find the "words" of this album obscure or self-indulgent: listen again, this is a work that does not necessarily reveal its full depth at first contact. For those who find the music edgy and jarring: it is the refusal to "prettify" these pieces that makes their cumulative impact so devastating and so right. Highly recommended!"
ETHEREAL, TRANSCENDENT - SUPERB IN EVERY WAY WITH REPEATED L
!hype 2007 | San Bernardino, CA | 09/22/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is the most welcome CD of Rickie in so many years. This CD in it's right time (WHICH IS NOW - October 2008) would be a rock staple. I've been listening it to it since early spring of 2007 - SO WAKE UP RADIO, WAKE UP!! It even contains a few pop gems; but her introspective album is one of her most daring, thematically and musically. This is a very intimate, immediate CD. You feel like you are listening to her in your bedroom one on one at times. Telling you - "you" personally a story just for "you" to hear.
It is not like her other super grand productions, but it is just as brilliant and genius, if not more so. It is a soul experience. It moves you. Rickie is at an absolute apex; a very high point, an extreme time of realism in her creativity - she is most possibly at the highest level of her craft. It's evident and history making. The producers did an amazing job as well along with the musicians. They really can't be looked over, their perfect performances along with Rickie truly show a chemistry that can't be ignored or thought of as chance. There is a connection here. On a first listen I was already seduced, but after repeated listens you become part of the journey, part of the realization.
I love every song on this CD - but there are some grand standouts but don't let that discount any of the others. You'll see in time, every song will write itself on your soul. Plant a memory with the music in your psyche.
People with excellent music systems will like the lo-fi/hi-fi realism. It is recorded in a way to capture true performance as it is. Live performances in a studio setting. In headphones the CD sounds real cool. As a musician and engineer, I appreciate the unique 2 and 3 dimensional sound, that just demonstrates this was a very well thought out recording and production as real as it is.
I have never been repeatedly awed when listening to a record like this except for a few instances (Prince, Sly & The Family Stone and Rolling Stones) where the artist becomes so intimate you "feel" the performance. The execution of this CD was superb and really is way beyond anything that has come out by any artist in terms of something quintessential in decades.
The gems I love are first and foremost "Seventh Day" (a song seemed to be dedicated to her daughter, you can tell how much Rickie loves her - what a lucky child, this song is full of so much love and respect), "I Was There", and "Nobody Knows My Name". Although every song on this CD is a gem, it will take repeated listens to see the true beauty of each work. Some CDs hit instantly, this is like the finest of wines, you acquire the flavor and then become captured by it's essence it's aroma - if I could compare. It is a work of art, merit and spirit. A recording of the most highest honor and immediacy. I highly recommend this album. It will be one of the most unique and most rewarding listening experiences in your collection that you will cherish more and more in time. It is a classic, a manifesto undiscovered by the masses, but no less powerful or relevant.
This is an album that is a mystical experience. I think this is a great CD to listen to in the dark with many candles or by a fireplace, open the windows and hope for a light breeze, sit back - and do what you do - and enjoy one of the greatest albums ever made. Repeated listens will reward the listener and seduce you back time after time. Close your eyes and LISTEN, FEEL and EXPERIENCE. As usual Rickie's lyrics are so unique, so deep, so right on.
A cool CD as well to play while driving by the ocean California Pacific Coast Highway 1 on a cloudy day with the waves cresting with whitecaps. Just a wonderful vibe and message, and the music is just so right. When driving while listening to her music becomes like a mystical ritual, a religious experience. It's a connection. A light. Rickie's performances are so heartfelt and personal. Check it out.
"
Ten stars if I could rate that high
L. Eaton | 02/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I hated this CD upon first listen - I've followed RLJ since her debut. Became a passionate fan since Pirates, have most of her records, so I am fairly well educated in RLJ - and was disappointed it didn't sound more live "Evening".
I really thought at first it was self-indulgent nonsense. I listened to it again.... not bad. I listened to it a third time - and all of the sudden I get it. Now I think it ranks among her very very best and I can't get enough. You have to really really listen and invest part of yourself in the experience.
It's not a departure as much as an evolution of her style. I hear vintage Rickie Lee Jones in very track - but an expansion at that.
I would say to those who put the CD away upon first listen. Dust it off put it back in the changer and open your mind."
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1![The Sermon On Exposition Blvd. [Fold-out Digipak with 14 page booklet]](https://nationalbookswap.com/cd//l/54/2454/942454.jpg)
