Search - Xavier Rudd :: Dark Shades of Blue

Not what I had hoped for

A. Bolos | Denver, CO | 04/04/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is hard for me to write. I have been a huge Rudd fan for as long as he has been around. As another reviewer mentioned, it's hard to say what exactly is wrong with Dark Shades of Blue. The overall sound was hard to listen too and not the smooth, easy music that I am accustomed to with him. The instruments seemed to clash and the aggressive style seemed to drown out the message. Overall, not his best work. If you are just getting to know his music, buy "Food in the Belly" first, and save this one for last."

Dark shades don't quite suit Xavier

M. C. Tolen | Tulsa, OK | 06/18/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a big Rudd fan and have seen him live several times. I thought his last album "White Moth" was his best yet and came closest to capturing his spirit, message and sound you experience at one of his live shows (although still not completely). I was really excited for this album and liked the idea of a darker, harder rocking Rudd. Especially since I thought "White Moth's" only flaw was that it could use a couple more rockin' tunes (and Xavier's shows DO ROCK!). The album IS darker and generally harder rocking, but still left me disappointed. I would actually describe this album as the Anti-White Moth since it is very much like White Moth but turned inside out. There's a similar vibe in the Rock, reggae, world and folk songs, but the sunny optimistic beauty of White Moth which had some shades of darkness like all of Rudd's work, is now turned on its head with more focus on the darkness with only some light shining through.

There's alot to like here, Rudd's got some hot Weissenborn licks (Black Water/Dark Shades of Blue, Up in Flames), "Guku" is a good (but sad) world beat song, "Edge of the Moon" has a great reggae vibe with a cool backup chorus and a great message that would have fit right in on "White Moth", and "Hope that you'll stay" has a serious but laid back camp-fire feel to it. There's really not a "bad" song on here, just a lot of songs that are not very accessible and really demand a lot of listens to connect with. I definitely don't believe that this album best captures Xavier live. Xavier in concert exudes lots of good energy filled with hope and optimism, not the mostly meloncholy feel here. Sonically, Xavier's show's rock with a deep relentless pulse but by no means is it the distorted, muddled sound present here. Also, if you're hoping for more digeradoo's, you better look elsewhere. The didj is definitely downplayed and used more for mood and ambience instead of being at the forefront in previous releases. Which is too bad, considering that I think the song "This world as we know it" works best with its didj and guitar simultaneous workout and harder rocking sound. It's songs like these that truly show Xavier's talent and uniqueness.

My biggest gripe is in the production. I thought the production on White Moth was right on. I think many of these songs simply suffer from over use of distortion and come off sounding too muddled. I especially notice this on songs like "Up in Flames" which is a great Rudd song, but sounds like sludge, particularly when taken out of context when it pops up randomly on my iPod mixes.

It's an intriguing and ambitious move for Rudd but has some misteps and lacks alot of the spark, sound and vibe that made earlier albums so great and unique. It's an interesting detour, and there are some great aspects that I hope he will carry on and improve upon. However I hope it remains only a detour and simply a dark shade in a great body of work."