This is AA Bondy's second album, which I know is a little odd to review the newest album first and the older album second. I know, but hey, that's the way the computer has it.
I just finally listened to the album in whole tonight. It is wonderful. I actually like this one a little better than "Believer." It's not about a sense of range. He still keeps his blues/folk sound going. There is no "uptempo" tune, but at the same time there is no overly dramatic sad, sad song. It is a nicely put together, well thought out album. The songs flow one into the other with a smoothness that makes you feel like you are part of the story being told, without the album coming across with a "concept" theme.
The opening track is titled "The Mightiest of Guns." It as a small overture sound in the beginning and then you hear the strings being strummed perfectly. If this song could have no lyrics it would still be beautiful. This song reminds me of Carson McCullers's "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter." It is smooth and soothing. Whatever the intention behind the story for the song, I know not. What I do know is that this is how you start an album.
"A Slow Parade" has to follow in big footsteps and does nicely. Here I hear the blues man at his core. Plus, I love any musician who uses a piano correctly in a song. No matter how the song goes, if the piano is the right tool for the song then I love it. If used wrong for a song, the song suffers. The piano is perfect in this song. "Parade" finds no rush to play with segments of only instrumentals. This is a hard feat to pull off, but Bondy does a wonderful job. If there were a scene for a movie where the character is reflecting on a past moment, then this song fits the scene. I see a man walking a small beach town street. He looks upon the people living their lives and wonders about his own. His life is a slow parade, but he knows the time for the next adventure is right around the corner.
"When the Devil's Loose" makes me think a little bit about the old time folk sound. First Bondy tells Delilah to not go round when the Devil's loose. The old time guitar sounds beautiful. My favorite verse is the "in the living/in the dying/how easily you bruise." It's a truth that we all have to remember. We bruise in everything. Some artist don't know how to make a title track. Bondy delivers a lesson on how to do it. Well done sir.
"To the Morning" and "Oh the Vampire" find the album slowing down. Not just slowed down, but last song at a dusty floored, dim lit, little town dive bar. The kind of place where the pool table is missing two balls and there is only one cue because the others got used in a bar fight long ago. The type of song that someone plays when they have two quarters left and is too drunk to punch the right numbers. Where you slow dance with your lady as the night ends. The songs aren't romantic and moving, they are just very mellow. And that soots me just fine.
"I Can See the Pines are Dancing" helps us get a little bit of the speed we had earlier back. It's not rock-a-billy speed, but it's Bondy's speed. This guy plays a smooth guitar and delivers a wonderfully voiced song. "This is the leaving of another love/This is the howling at the moon/These are the arms you fell into/I am a fire and I must burn today." If this isn't a verse about passion, then I don't know what is. This might be my favorite song on the album. It has a smooth tempo change in the middle of the verses to had the importance to the lyrics.
Here, give it a listen.
"A False River" is a good song. When it starts, it makes me think of a Johnny Cash tune. But it doesn't deliver with the speed I thought it would. It makes me realize how much I don't know about folk music.
"On The Moon." If you start a song with a piano, then I am in love. This is the song I would use for a movie or tv show anytime. Whether it's a montage of a love lost or a love distant, it is perfect. No other instrument, just the piano and the voice. It sets up the fade to black scene before our hero begins the day anew and faces the journey of the day. Plus the songs finishes with a moment of musical interlude to help you prepare for the final two songs.
"The Coal Hits the Fire" ends the album. It is a wonderful selection to end a song. When some rock bands try to get that old-timey folk sound, the type of sound where the hurt and love are at its' soul, they sound rushed and just off. Bondy doesn't do a whole Jack Black style tune, which is rushed. He does his tune, which is slow and meditative. It is honest, with hurt and pain, love and the future. This song has a solid slow build up. There are only two stanzas. They are beautiful. This is how an album should end. "Memory, oh, memory where is it I must go?/Away from here, but do not weep/Such wonders you will know"
When I read, this is the type of music I like to listen to. When the weather is nice and the front or back porch is the place to sit and relax, then these songs are the kind to listen to. Some songs are slow, some not so much. I know slow, mellow albums are not every one's cup of tea, but sometimes we need them. That is what this album is for. For the moments in our life when we need a mellow moment. I'm happy to have reviewed this because I have a greater appreciation for Mr. Bondy's work.
