Search - Rusted Root :: Cruel Sun

AMAZING

Kyle Brown | Columbus, OH | 07/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been listening to Rusted Root for quite a while now, and somehow had never listened to this CD. I never knew what I was missing. This CD is great. It not only has a great version of Send Me On My Way, but the Cat Turned Blue is amazing. The song Won't Be Long is one of my personal RR favorites now. I would recommend this CD to any RR fan."

Great

LaFfDeFra | paris | 06/13/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"in no way can one classify the sound of rusted root into one genre. it is unique, so much so that i'll be redundant and say it's very unique. if you haven't heard their music before, imagine taking an african, an american or englishman influenced by rock & roll, one from the land of a billion people, two women with a feminist spirit and a shaman, give them instruments with which they are highly skilled, and let them play. that will sound something like rusted root. who gives a feck about the lyrics?, albeit they aren't bad."

In some ways, their indie debut is their best CD to date

J. Polsgrove | Baja Arizona | 11/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rusted Root "broke" when "Send Me on My Way" got tons of radio airplay on their first commercially released CD. However, before that, the band had released independently "Cruel Sun," which is moodier, more ambient, and, to my ears, more enjoyable than their "commercial" debut.



Here, the interplay of Jim Donovan's drums are front and stage, and the music swirls in and out of his playing. On later CDs, the drums propelled the music, but they were secondary to vocals and guitar.



I bought this "on spec" years ago, not having heard any of it (they didn't "music previews" in CD stores back then). I immediately loved it and it has remained my favorite Rusted Root CD.



I don't know what happened and why this band didn't maintain a higher profile. I loved them so much I drove from Tucson to Las Cruces, NM, to see them at the H.O.R.D.E. Festival in, what, 1993 or 1994? The one with Lenny Kravitz, Blues Traveler, etc. They came on early (Blues Traveler was THE band-o'-the-moment), and my wife and son were burning up in the heat, so after their set, we just left. At the gate, we were told if we left we couldn't come back in. I said, "That's OK. I saw Rusted Root and that's who I really wanted to see." I still have a picture of me in tie-dye with my then 1-2 year-old son also in tie-dye sitting on my shoulders with the band in the background. It was his second concert (or show, to we Deadheads) -- his first had been the pre-Supernatural comeback Santana at the Pima County Fairgrounds a few months earlier.



But I digress. This is a nice CD and if you like Rusted Root's slickly produced commercial releases, check this out. It's great "zoning out in bed with the iPod on as I fall asleep" music.

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