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Ian Tyson
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Songs From The Gravel Road
Vanguard Records
Release: 4/12/2005
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Rated:
Review by:
Meagan Rockne
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There must have been a cruel joke going on at the NowOnTour offices, and I did not get the memo. I was in shock when I put in Ian Tyson's Songs From The Gravel Road. I gathered from the album cover featuring horses that the album was of the country music persuasion rather than the Ian Brown/Damien Rice music my unresearched mind was expecting. It would have been fine if it was a country album - I'm a closeted country fan. Songs From The Gravel Road is a country album, but it's a cowboy storytelling country album. Now you are all with me on my level of shock and horror.
Ian Tyson is apparently a raving success in his home country of Canada and among country music enthusiasts. I have no doubts of his brilliance as a recording artist, but I was taken aback by the album. This is an album that will be appreciated by those who love John Wayne movies, read Louis L'Amour novels and like sculptures by Remington. It will not be appreciated by me.
But I will do my best to give the good and bad of the album. For the cowboy-centric genre, the album is good. Tyson has a nice voice (and according to several friends, who I made listen to the album while I sat in the corner and giggled maliciously because they had no idea what they were getting into, he sounds like a Muppet version of Johnny Cash). The melodies are really nice and mellow and country. The album is very well produced. This wasn't a half-assed recording. Every instrument is really clear and Tyson's voice isn't drowned out. The lyrics are cheesy, but it's what can be expected when you are singing about life on the range and doggies and campfires and saddles and Wranglers.
Is this an album that I would recommend to my peers? No. Not a chance in hell. Is this an album that I would give to my dad? You bet. My dad already likes it and if anyone else's parents are like the targeted demographic, I give it a very enthusiastic thumbs up recommendation. |
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