Essential Acoustic Love - Miscellaneous Performers Album Review
Album Review
Despite the slightly misleading title (acoustic being used for all manner of releases) this is still a brilliant compilation. Released in advance of Valentine’s Day, it has many great songs from the recent past and way back. With a whopping 53 song tracklist, there’s something for everyone, even if you’re not romantically inclined.
On CD1, personal favourites include American sensation Ray LaMontagne’s Three More Days from his 2007 masterpiece Till The Sun Turns Black followed by another remarkable gem, Dogs by Irishman Damien Rice from 2006’s superb ‘9’.
Showing a fine pair of lungs, there’s an excellent live cut by young gun Jack Penate, Loving You. Two of the most outstanding tracks are a simple, yes a genuine acoustic inclusion, jazz chanteuse Madeline Peyroux’s 1996s Always A Use (album Dreamland) is a revelation, with Beth Neilsen Chapman’s stunning Sand And Water (title track from 1997 album) consolidating she’s Texas’ country-pop queen. Essential listening is the stripped back sound of Scunthorpe’s very own Stephen Fretwell on the divine Emily, his second single lifted from 2004s Magpie. A modern day classic is Findlay Brown’s nifty beats on Losing The Will To Survive from June 2007. Hard Fi’s acoustic rendition of hit single Hard To Beat is wonderful.
CD2 opens with the song that gave Eva Cassidy a posthumous hit, Songbird reminding us of what a great loss she is to the music world. It still sends shivers down the spine. Californian sunshine is provided by one of America’s hottest bands – Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley. Oasis are never far away from this kind of release, and up pops 1998s Half The World Away, though it’s hardly a love song. Of the past couple of years Sheffield’s answer to Roy Orbison – Richard Hawley has proved to be a profound song smith, and Born Under A Bad Sign, although a great song, it, again, isn’t a love song. The preferred choice for covering Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah is by Jeff Buckley, but there are better versions by - KD Lang and Rufus Wainwright. Extreme’s stunning power ballad More Than Words still sounds superb 18 years on, especially the intricate guitar work and close harmonies. The killer romantic song of the entire collection is KD Lang’s mind-blowing Constant Craving, her debut UK single from 1992. Hall and Oates’s She’s Gone is pretty special too.
CD3 starts with a 1970 classic (UK no.5) by Bread, featuring David Gates’ unmistakable falsetto, followed by another classic Vincent; Don McLean’s first UK number one, a tribute to troubled Dutch master Vincent Van Gogh. The next two are classics as well : S&G’s Mrs. Robinson from the Graduate and Van the Man’s most celebrated song Brown Eyed Girl. American folk singer Tom Paxton gets a surprising, but welcome, inclusion with his 1964 recording of The Last Thing On My Mind. For me, the two best tracks on CD3 are – Love’s 1967s Alone Again Or from their seminal album Forever Changes. Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side, speaks for itself.
File under: Really great compilation.
