Gillian Welch - Soul Journey (2003)

Artist...............: Gillian Welch
Album................: Soul Journey
Genre................: Folk
Source...............: Cd
Year.................: 2003
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy
Codec................: Flac
Information..........: TntVillage
Covers...............: Front
Total Size...........: 231 Mb


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Rewiev
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Gillian Welch and David Rawlings may, in fact, shock and appall folk purists with their fourth album, Soul

Journey. "Are those drums?" "Is that an organ?" "Wait a minute, is that an electric bass?!?" The album uses

these musical elements to drive home a living-room, lazy-summertime jam-session feel that hasn't really

shown itself on Welch's previous releases. The album's opener, "Look at Miss Ohio," evolves into her

toughest rocker since "Pass You By" on her debut, Revival, and the whole album culminates in the relative

cacophony of "Wrecking Ball," a drunked-up barroom stumble highlighted by Ketcham Secor's loping fiddle

lines and Rawlings' fuzzed-out guitar solo. Between these bookends is a mixed bag of traditional folk songs

("Make Me a Pallet on Your Floor," "I Had a Real Good Mother and Father"), loose blues phrasing

("Lowlands," "No One Knows My Name"), and a number of trademark Welch/Rawlings near-whispered murder

ballads and orphan love songs. The thing that shines through most clearly is that the group had a lot of

fun making Soul Journey, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a terrific album. Aside from a handful

of real solid honest-to-gosh gems, the whole album feels a little too casual and off-the-cuff to stand on

equal footing with her other recordings. The choruses often become just repeated phrases over and over

again ("Lowlands," "No One Knows My Name," "I Made a Lovers Prayer," and the unfortunate "One Monkey"), and

the songwriting seems less developed, as if the initial construction of the song has taken a back seat to

the sheer enjoyment of performing it. That being said, it is a wonderful, dusty summertime front-porch

album, full of whiskey drawls and sly smiles, floorboard stomps and screen-door creeks. While it does not

exactly meet the impeccable standards that her previous three releases set, it is still a fine addition to

her discography and well worth listening to all summer long.



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Tracklist
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01. Look At Miss Ohio
02. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
03. Wayside/Back In Time
04. I Had A Real Good Mother And Father
05. One Monkey
06. No One Knows My Name
07. Lowlands
08. One Little Song
09. I Made A Lovers Prayer
10. Wrecking Ball