I know several of you have copies of the new album, or have heard the new album.

Why is everyone remaining so mum?

REVIEWS! Or post links to reviews!


Argh!

There are several links to some reviews in some of the other threads in the DP album forum.

I saw a couple under the Drunkard's Prayer thread, I think there are some in the Pre-Order thread....

every day, I prove how retarded I can be.

Thanks!

its ok. we still love you

<from just another idiot ....

Well, I tell ya what. Waking up early on St Pattys day to go out before work has it's advantages. One of them is hearing new OTR on WOXY (the best station out there). They played Spark and I love it.

WOXY playlist from 6am hour today

The next hour they apparently played Little Did I Know but I was off and running by that point.

OK, here's my review:

I received Drunkard's Prayer via post yesterday, and today I'm going out to buy a new home stereo because I don't feel I'm getting the full effect (as compared to my car, which thumps). So, an album good enough to drop a grand or so, impromptu. Review enough for ya?

Troy


P.S.: if that's not decent review, then let me clarify: it's a lovely album. Very lyric-intensive, very strong voice (vis a vis vocal and music), and with this... just... quiet confidence.

It will, I'm sure, be a favorite of mine.

T



------

My copy sounds like bellydancing skirt coins clinging around. I like OTR's new direction.

~fff

oh, that's not actually the album...that's libby.

nah, it's me wife.

(Upon further review, I may have to go for a home entertainment system vs. a stereo thingy... someone please send plasma, STAT. thanks.)

(( upon further, further review.... I'm broke ))

Yep. You nailed it. My review will seem like verbiage after your review...but here goes.

The Effects of Drunkard’s Prayer

I am going to try to write this without too much hyperbole or over use of superlatives, but will probably fail. I am a fan, after all, and am aware of my prejudice. The thing is, I really think this album is artistic genius manifest all the way through. Keith said this is their best work since Good Dog, Bad Dog, and I agree completely. I’ll even go one step further—I think it’s better than GDBD. Drunkard’s Prayer is their obra maestro (masterpiece).

I’ve had the opportunity to listen to this album somewhere between 50 and 75 times. It has been played during just about everything I’ve done for days. For a little while after I listened to it a few time I only played my favorites—Born, DP, Hush Now, Who Will Guard the Door. That was just for one night. Since then I’ve been playing the whole thing an embarrassing amount of the time and I feel about it like Walt Whitman felt about air: It is in my mouth forever, I am in love with it. ~Song of Myself

This really is a “relationship” album, which might be why the experience of listening to it for me is a little sad and a little hopeful at once. I don’t know how not to hope for a good relationship, but that same hope wears on my heart sometimes, sort of like a drug dealer pushing loneliness instead of narcotics. For me this album contains so much of what I hope for and fear about opening up that way to another person. Just listening to DP is hard work, ya know? (Like it must have been hard work for them…). It requires that I listen with an open connection between intellect and emotion and allow myself to teeter back and forth between the two.

Because I have no musical training I will tend to focus more on lyrics, but do want to say that what comes through on a lot of these songs is the absolute precision and tenderness of the musicians at the instruments, how you can tell they knew they were in a living room and had to strike just the perfect balance between skill and art. There is such care in the playing…

Some commentary on the songs:

I Want You to be My Love: I didn’t actually love this song at first. I didn’t really like the lyrics much, but then I’m not head over heels in love nor am I rediscovering tenderness in a long-established relationship. My initial reaction was sort of like, “Well, you just aren’t there, in that space, but that’s cool, ‘cause it’s a pretty song anyway.” But the lyrics have grown on me and I’ve come to think that this song is also appealing for its trance-inducing effect. It was the best choice to begin this album, I think, because it introduces the main theme of the album, which is relational renewal and love.

Born: My mother and my daughter both love this song. What better critique could you ask for? I downloaded this ages ago and have listened to it (as well as Drunkard’s Prayer) for weeks now. Someone mentioned in one of the forums that this song sounded familiar to them when they first heard it. I have played this song for half a dozen people and most of them said the same thing. Every one of them loved the song immediately. I have no idea what the familiar thing is all about, but I like to think they’ve struck some universal chord with this song, maybe even something primitive, certainly something deeply emotional.

Drunkard’s Prayer: I have loved this song from the moment I heard it and I gotta tell you, it’s a mind-blowing experience for me. Now, a lot of people might think this is a love song and I admit it may very well be, and claim no special knowledge about its true meaning. But what I like to think is that this is a gospel song. I haven’t read a lot about this album, so maybe they’ve commented on what it’s about. Anyway, the mind-blowing thing for me is that this song gives me the feeling of someone absolutely in love with Jesus, more like a lover than a brother. I just can’t articulate what that does to me, but it is all good.

Bluer: I wasn’t pulled immediately to this song either, but it has also grown on me. On Sunday it began to take on some significance for me because I was a little blue that day. Also, I caught myself singing it in the shower and it ran through my head all through work. I needed that song. The duet is astounding. I know, I know, I should have known…. Love is never far from danger. Man, you can get buried under lyrics like that.

Spark: Another song that I wasn’t immediately drawn to but it has finally become my second favorite song on the album. I got hooked yesterday. One of the reasons I am a big fan of OtR is because of the fantastic lyrical writing, which could usually easily double for poetry. The writing here is amazing and the way she sings it it’s almost like a round the way the verses keep coming back to themselves. I can’t get enough of her yeahs and ya-e-yas, but I’ve always been a sucker for her ability to do that so beautifully.

Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella): I first heard this live at one of the CST shows last year and it has been something I’ve really looked forward to with this album. It is such a fun song, but also sweet. More great lyrics. For me the song is both lyrically and musically visual. The music sets the stage and the lyrics carry it through. It is easy to imagine Linford spinning Karin around their kitchen exactly like a carnival troubadour. It’s easy to imagine that happening to anyone, including myself. Some AMAZING piano playing on this song.

Looking Forward, Looking Back: Um, yeah, story of my life recently. It takes so much hindsight/ telling me what I already know.

Little Did I Know: This song starts out sooooooo Crystal Gayle (only better)! I love that about it. I couldn’t listen to it for a while because it was just too painful. Again, I am just not in the space they are in, but I would give anything in the world to be. This is the point where I lose it entirely and sometimes cry. The piano and the sax are just beautiful and end up making this jazzier than the country style of Crystal Gayle. That’s why it’s better.

Who Will Guard the Door: I was waiting for this one too because I love it in concert. I’ve sometimes listened to it several times in a row. It’s my favorite song on the album right now. I love it because it’s captivating and hypnotic, and because the lyrics are awesome and seem charged with something really personal, which could apply in many ways to many people. I keep listening to it and just thinking, “It’s over,” by which I mean I surrender completely to the power of this song. I surrender to my own longings.

Firefly: This song is gorgeous. The cello is perfect and I love the dark feel of the piano. Her oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-ooooohs here are overwhelming. I have more to say about this song, but quite frankly I’m exhausted from writing this much (which I did while listening). Also, I can’t really decide how to articulate about this song yet.

My Funny Valentine: At first I wondered why they chose this particular jazz song to cover because it has been done so many times. But, like many other songs it has also grown on me, and last night I was thinking it is one of the best versions I have heard. And it is the perfect song to end the album on, because it speaks to the delight that can be found even in our flaws when we truly love each other, and that each day should be treated with reverence wherever love is present. Everyday is Valentine’s Day…

Oh you said that about Ohio too! Go take a cold shower.

Seriously, thanks for a great review Anna. I'm not inclined to say so much because it's impossible for me to do the experience of these songs justice with words. The reason I still favor GDBD (slightly) myself is because I still don't think they've surpassed some of those songs in terms of lyrical imagery, plus I think it included Karin's most natural vocal performances until this album. I really can't say enough about her singing on Drunkard's Prayer, it's truly awe-inspiring.

I didn't say it in Spanish though, did I? Look, I know, I know...(heh)...I tell the truth only in the moment...

I dunno...I can't really objectively evaluate DP in the catalogue just yet, which is why I just wrote about the effects. 'Course I'm crazy as a loon so what do I know?

¡Es una lástima que yo no escriba tan bien como Karin y Linford!

Here is an interesting review from Walter Tunis in the Lexington Herald Leader:



folk

Over the Rhine

Drunkard's Prayer | HH1/2

This newest outing of folk reflection by the husband-and-wife team of Karin Bergquist and Linford-Detweiler was designed, quite literally, as parlor music. It was recorded in the Ohio couple's living room with minimal accompaniment. There's an accent of cello here, a stray saxophone there. Such guests are like ghosts dancing around Bergquist's assertive but forlorn voice. Even Bluer, which musters a modestly sunny stride, succumbs to a feeling that's "bluer than the blue devils." Wow. For such a happy couple, these two sure sound miserable. While the melodies make for an undeniably pretty listen, the stories of Drunkard's Prayer could have you reaching for the bottle.

Reprinted from here.