Saturday, October 01, 2005 ... 10:43 AM
The falsetto sinks the ship
Listening to Jacksonville City Nights for the second time, I'm not sure I can come to any opinion without qualifying it: If he'd lose the strangled falsetto -- just give it up altogether; it's not working -- this album might be very good.
"Peaceful Valley," alight on my speakers right now like a tenement fire, is unsalvageable. Is it meant to be ironic? Impressionistic? Confrontational? Nihilistic? It amounts to unlistenable. But one crappy song sacrificed for an unpleasant impression is OK with me; coming away from it, I only want to know that Adams knows that it sounds awful. And then explain why this toxic approach contaminates many of the not-too-bad tunes here, such as "Trains."
Between Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights, there is enough material for one good -- not great, but good -- long-playing alt-country record.
Brendan
1 Comments:
You gotta hear a live peaceful valley, my friend.
By 
, at
8/03/2006 4:21 PM
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