Bruce Hornsby - Halcyon Days , feat. Sting, Elton John, Eric Clapton - 2004

Bruce Hornsby / Halcyon Days
Жанр: Pop Rock, Soft Rock
Страна-производитель диска: USA
Год издания: 2004
Издатель (лейбл): Columbia
Номер по каталогу: CK 92652
Страна: USA
Аудиокодек: FLAC (*.flac)
Тип рипа: tracks+.cue
Битрейт аудио: (lossy + lossless)
Продолжительность: 00:55:52
: авакс (Virginia Plain)
: да
Треклист:

1. Gonna Be Some Changes Made (5:18)
2. Candy Mountain Run (5:15)
3. Dreamland (5:05)
4. Circus On The Moon (6:32)
5. Halcyon Days (5:57)
6. What The Hell Happened (4:22)
7. Hooray For Tom (3:56)
8. Heir Gordon (4:24)
9. Mirror On The Wall (5:41)
10. Song F (4:13)
11. Lost In The Snow (5:08)

Состав

- Bruce Hornsby / piano, keyboards, vocals
- J. V. Collier / bass
- Sonny Emory / drums
- Bobby Read / clarinet
- Doug Derryberry / guitar
- John J. T. Thomas / organ
- Sting / vocals (on Gonna Be Some Changes Made and Halcyon Days)
- Elton John / vocals (on Dreamland)
- Eric Clapton / guitar (on Gonna Be Some Changes Made, Candy Mountain Run and Halcyon Days), vocals (on Candy Mountain Run)
- R. S. Hornsby / guitar
- Lloyd Johns / vocals
- Wayne Pooley / guitar
- Bonny Bonaparte / percussion
- Woody Green / background vocals
- Ralph Payne / background vocals
- Donnie Struckey / background vocals

Об исполнителе

Bruce Hornsby struck RIAA gold--and triple platinum!--with his debut album, The Way It Is, recorded with his band, the Range. His debut generated three Top 20 hits, including its #1 title track, and earned Bruce Hornsby the Range the Best New Artist Grammy for 1986. Hornsby took home his second Grammy in 1989 for Best Bluegrass Recording for Valley Road (from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume II) and his third Grammy in 1993 for Best Pop Instrumental for Barcelona Mona (created with Branford Marsalis for the Barcelona Olympics).
His eight previous albums--The Way It Is (1986), Scenes From The Southside (1988), A Night On The Town (1990), Harbor Lights (1993), Hot House (1995), 1998's double CD Spirit Trail, his double live collection Here Come The Noisemakers (2000), and Big Swing Face (2002)--have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
One of pop music's most in-demand side men, Bruce Hornsby has played on more than 100 records with artists ranging from Bob Dylan, Don Henley, and the Grateful Dead to Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt, Bela Fleck, and Willie Nelson, among many others.
His songs have been performed and/or recorded by a variety of artists including Willie Nelson, Don Henley, Tupac Shakur, Bob Dylan, Chaka Khan, Robbie Robertson, Huey Lewis, Sara Evans, and Leon Russell.
Bruce Hornsby became a part-time member of the Grateful Dead and, from September 1990 to March 1992, performed with the group on more than 100 concerts in America and Europe.
I've always liked the group of fans that we've drawn from the Grateful Dead time, because those fans are often adventurous music listeners, Hornsby admits. To be creative, spontaneous in the moment and make music in the present tense, that's what we're all about live. I write the songs, we make the records and then the records become a departure point, the basic blueprint, the basic arrangement. I'm fairly restless creatively. I was never a very good Top 40 band guy because I never liked to play the same thing every time. Too often songwriters approach their songs like museum pieces. I don't subscribe to that. I think of my songs as living beings that evolve and change and grow through the years. /MusicRemedy/

Об альбоме

This would be Hornsby's second studio album with his current band, Bruce Hornsby the Noise Makers, although the album is technically a solo-credit. This album marks Hornsby's first release with Columbia Records. Track 6, What The Hell Happened, is also a rare example of the use of bitonality in a pop piece.
CONTRA:
review by Skyler Miller
Big Swing Face announced a new and improved Bruce Hornsby, one who wasn't afraid to Try Anything Once. The lead track of Halcyon Days, Gonna Be Some Changes Made -- subtly echoing The Way It Is in its piano work -- continues this affirmation of progress. Too bad then that the rest of the album slowly works to erase this growth. Still, the first half of Halcyon Days, while much less ambitious than Big Swing Face, starts off promisingly enough. From the poppy Changes to the soothing title track, Hornsby delivers an agreeable, if overlong, set of songs. But the latter half quickly loses focus, stumbling with tracks like the attempted Randy Newman pastiche What the Hell Happened?, the goofy Heir Gordon -- which both succumb to Hornsby's latter-day proclivity for piano noodling -- and Song F, a seeming leftover from Spirit Trail. At his best, Hornsby is both an accomplished musician and a great storyteller, able to slip into the shoes of his characters, whether it's the lonely worker of Every Little Kiss, the interracial couple in Talk of the Town, or the strip-club doorman of Walk in the Sun. But in many of Halcyon Days' songs, he often seems more interested in weird wordplay. What's missing is the sense of time and place, and the in-the-moment clarity that defines his classic songs. In its place is an off-putting cleverness. After the pleasant shock of Big Swing Face, Hornsby's follow-up is a strangely middling effort that won't win new fans or satiate the devoted. In its own restrained way, it's a bid for commercial airplay, with guest stars Elton John, Sting, and Eric Clapton all doing their part for the cause. But instead of the polished work it should be, Halcyon Days has the haphazard feel of a collection of outtakes and B-sides.
PRO:
Jason Stein, wrote:
Hornsby's latest, Halcyon Days (translated: peaceful or tranquil days, golden years) showcases his many talents and strengths. Unfortunately, he will probably get as much attention for this as a circus on the moon.
He has to be one of the most overlooked and underappreciated musicians of our time, certainly the equal to Elton John, Eric Clapton and Sting (all appear on Halcyon Days) but strangely without the popularity of those three.
The sticker on the front of the cd features Gonna Be Some Changes Made and the only true change is Hornsby has moved from his former record label (RCA) to a new one (Columbia), and with excellent results. The lead off track is pure Hornsby perfection, and instant classic even thought the subject matter is a bit quirky--but that's what Hornsby does best. He weaves tales of human imperfection and longing into a seamless melody and virtuoso style. Elsewhere you find him dueting with Elton John on the misty and gospel Dreamland, the high energy and self-effacing humor of Circus On The Moon, then three Randy Newman-esque tunes: What The Hell Happened again, replete with self-effacing humor about being the ugly-looking one in the family, Hooray For Tom with it's hopelessly spelling-impaired protagonist waiting for his day in the sun and Heir Gordon with a moronic, wealthy, bumbling fool of a protagonist that other wish to be like. Hornsby closes the set with a look at an uncertain, but hopeful future on Mirror On The Wall, and pleasant, gentle intrumental Song F followed by an unusual tale about getting lost while looking for the perfect Christmas tree and the hope someone will come along in Lost In The Snow.
This is a near perfect cd from Hornsby, but then he always puts out quality material, and perhaps that's due to his musical training. Why this simple fact doesn't set him apart from other flash in the pan, but talentless top 40 artists of today, remains a mystery. So, for fans, this is both pleasing and frustrating as Hornbys remains underground and underexposed--a private pleasure, and certainly one of the best cds of 2004. ”
D. Sean Brickell, wrote:
This is the strongest release by Mr. Hornsby in many a year, and that's really saying quite a lot. Yes, it's loaded with one-name superstar backing talent: Clapton, Elton and Sting. Nonetheless, the formidable keyboard playing, composition, lyrical brilliance and vocals of Mr. Hornsby are center-stage throughout.
Gonna Be Some Changes Made is a return to Mr. Hornsby's original and purely unique characteristic