From Amazon.com
I don't believe a word of it
Album Rating: (2 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: I purchased this disc after having read the glowing reviews and because of Slaid Cleaves' association with artists I admire. Unfortunately, I find WISHBONE utterly boring and unlistenable. Every note, word, syllable and emotion is so perfectly placed that it resembles the work of a gifted graduate student who has assimilated the works of the masters without really having anything of his own to say. The overwhelming effort to convey sincerity and passion seems processed and canned. I greatly prefer his UNSUNG disc.
Disappointed
Album Rating: (2 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: After the acclaim this album has drawn I was looking very forward to hearing it. I was disappointed in it and found it impossible to get into. I listened to it through 5 times trying to find a groove with it but never did.
A little too country
Album Rating: (2 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: As much of a fan as i am of Slaid Cleaves, i didnt enjoy Wishbones. Slaid's relocation to Texas is strating to seep further into his music. The folk sounds of Lifes Other Side and No Angel Knows have been left behind for a more "twangy" sound.
Slaid, come back to Maine!!
Aint broke don't fix it
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: No huge surprises in Wishbones, "if it ain't broke don't fix it". So expect, top notch instrumentation (big iron strings and sliding steel abound ) and equally slick production and performance, emotional weight and clever wordplay, stories of the hard road, American fables, and lovelorn vinaigrettes.In his own words from the title track "this is real life no reality show" . The gritty Cleaves is again in cahoots with Austin production mentor and buddy Gurf Morlix, but this time he is really utilising Gurfs considerable guitaring skills to maximum effect. This album is a bit rockier with more band arrangements than the award winning 2000 release Broke Down. Cleaves says, with obvious pride, of Wishbones "The instrumentation becomes more a part of the story instead of the background to the story." It certainly feels comfortable on the ears to this listener, and I can see why Cleaves is comfortable with the arrangements to the extent he indicates.
The only complaint I can imagine from his legion of fans will be "why so long"? Slaid Cleaves is at his best when he is telling "beginning middle and end" stories and Wishbones, if anything, has even more story songs than Broke Down. He has a lazy affability and a deceptively well-honed ability to introduce characters, lay settings, communicate emotions and conduct a journey through verse long adventures, with either comforting or confronting choruses, to the inevitable moral filled conclusion and all in 3 minutes. Slaid is as good as it gets at this, and what is even better, from the point of view of an ardent gig goer, the hard working Cleaves ( whos musical trail started busking in Cork in the mid 80's where he was a student ) can still be found touring 10 months of the year and will in any given year be at a venue near you.
Though if this album is as user friendly as I suspect it is, and given some breaks, it can't be long until he will only be available live, as a dot at the end of some warehouse for £30 a ticket, see him while you can!
tracks:
01 Wishbones .... a jaunty guitar driven careworn but optimistic tale
02 Road Too Long.... a standard RnB truckers tune (six day in this mode but I'm going to get a hit this time)
03 Drinkin' Days.... His drinking days are over but he's still in trouble, bad luck doesn't always come in a bottle. The sequel to Horse Shoe lounge from Broke Down
04 Sinner's Prayer.... Blues tune, in a Peter Green style, a lament for the lost life.
05 Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues.... Reforged collaboration with his pall Rod Picott, the boxers tale
06 Below.... Nostalgic piece of childhood and childhood places both lost never to be seen again.
07 Quick as Dreams... The old timer Jocky's recollection, riding the thoroughbreds, in the racing hey day
08 Horses.... Moonshine Willie's tale, in a Jimmy Rogers style
09 Hearts Break.... Shuffering Blues and home spun philosophy, my favourite track.
10 Borderline.... Heartbreaking tale of a disenfranchised migrant worker
11 New Year's Day.... A Cajun feel good farewell to a friend
Rob Ellen
Slaid has another great one
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Slaid Cleaves is a great talent. His songs are sad but somehow when he sings them they come out beautiful and moving rather than depressing. I bought my first CD of his after hearing a live performance about 3 years ago. I quickly found that it was the CD that I played the most. 3 years later, I still play that CD and all his others more than any in my collection. He is also a great live performer. I have added Wishbones to my Slaid "playlist" on my computer (after legitimately purchasing it) and can tell that it will wear as well as the previous CD's.
BTW, the reviewer above (a music fan) who gave the CD one star and wrote the scathing review, wrote almost the same words in a review of a previous CD, "Broke Down" (You can read it for yourself if you go to the "Broke Down" reviews). It seems a bit fishy that "A music fan" bought and reviewed this CD after saying that the previous CD was a waste of plastic. While everyone has the right to his/her opinion, I am guessing this person has a personal problem with Slaid (jealousy maybe????) or maybe with Rounder Records. I wouldn't put much stock in it.
Purchases
1 Wishbone
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