Acadie

Daniel Lanois | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 20, 1989)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002LIE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,133 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Still Water

2. The Maker

3. O Marie

4. Jolie Louise

5. Fisherman's Daughter

6. White Mustang II

7. Under A Stormy Sky

8. Where The Hawkwind Kills

9. Silium's Hill

10. Ice

11. St. Ann's Gold

12. Amazing Grace

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

After producing groundbreaking albums for, and often with, Peter Gabriel, U2, Robbie Robertson, and the Neville Brothers, Daniel Lanois's self-produced debut album proved at once familiar in its thick, swampy sonics and startling in its pared-down, intimate scale. Lanois's song cycle is steeped in the francophone cultures both of his Québécois heritage and of his adopted New Orleans home, mixing English and French as easily as Lanois himself alternates from soulful croon to plainer folkiness. Populated with rural characters, his detailed stories evoke a lost time through two-step acoustic love songs, narrative ballads, and a hushed, propulsive prayer; "The Maker" features a ghostly, restrained harmony vocal by Aaron Neville. The underlying historical link between old Acadian culture in his title and its descendant Cajun culture surviving in Louisiana's bayous and backwoods gives the songs and these performances a haunting, and haunted poignancy. --Sam Sutherland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ethereal sonic magic, January 15, 2006

By 

Christopher J. Benz "CJB" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acadie (Audio CD)

This album is one of the best kept secrets of the last 20 years. It's my favourite album of all time, and I know how loosely these accolades can be thrown around. Acadie has folk roots and a crystaline, unique honesty - it is by turns melodic, bluesy, perfectly produced and yet somehow human and imperfect. You're always chasing it, tantalised by something you can't quite put your finger on. At the same time it is experimental and addictive - two elements that rarely meet. The album has a selflessness that gives it a warm spiritual quality. Quite simply, it's one of music's finest minds letting us in with powerful, spirtual, haunted songs. Everyone will have their favourites on this CD - for me, I cannot look past The Maker or St Anne's Gold. All of Lanois' work is worth a look but he is yet to top this. A masterpiece.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A heartfelt, sonic masterpiece, March 12, 2005

By 

Christopher J. Benz "CJB" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acadie (Audio CD)

What can I add that hasn't already been said here? This is my favourite album of all time, and I know how loosely these accolades can be thrown around. Acadie has folk roots and a crystaline, unique honesty - it is melodic, bluesy, perfectly produced and yet somehow human and imperfect. You're always chasing it, tantalised by something you can't quite put your finger on. At the same time it is experimental and addictive. The album has a selflessness that gives it a warm spiritual quality. Quite simply, it's one of music's finest minds letting us in with powerful, spirtual, haunted songs. Everyone will have their favourites on this CD - for me, I cannot look past The Maker or St Anne's Gold. All of Lanois' work is worth a look but he is yet to top this. A masterpiece.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes me back to Nawlins, September 13, 2000

By 

montysano (Huntsville, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acadie (Audio CD)

I first heard Acadie while living in New Orleans, in fact I saw Daniel play/preview the album at Tipitina's. He was living in New Orleans at the time. To this day, listening to Acadie provokes an intense emotional reaction. So atmospheric, so wistful, so very Acadian. Nothing makes me miss New Orleans like Acadie does.

For an even greater treat, check out the Neville Brother's "Yellow Moon", produced like Lanois during his residency in New Orleans. While other producers saw the Nevilles as some cheesy Mardi Gras novelty act, Lanois saw them for what they really are: a living connection to the past, with threads of all the amazing stages of development in New Orleans music, from Congo Square straight back to Africa. A stunning work, and possibly my favorite album of all time.

Millions of people visit New Orleans, but I'm not sure how many people truly "get" New Orleans. New Orleans is more than just Bourbon St. It's a place of magic and mystery, of ghosts and history, and it got under my skin like no place ever has. What an amazing accomplishment to capture this on record as Lanois has on Acadie and Yellow Moon. Essential listening.