Atlanta

David Ryan Harris (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: bmi
• ASIN: B000ERL01M
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #495,029 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

SONGS:STRONG ENOUGH,DICKIN' AROUND,BE BEAUTIFUL,TURN AROUND,WOULD BE,HAVE YOU EVER BEEN (TO ELECTRIC LADYLAND),SWEETEST THING

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Back on the funky track., July 9, 2006

By 

Kevin Rienecker "Kev" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Atlanta (Audio CD)

This is more like it.

After his fantastic work with his band Follow For Now and then his great first solo disk, David Ryan Harris' most recent album (2004's Soulstice) was really disappointing, with that Oh-my-God, What Happened? kind of disappointment; Soulstice was filled with lackluster, underworked folk-rock and a throwaway tune that sounded a lot like a bad Prince song (complete with the cheesy fake horns), from circa the Purple One's 1999 era. A song Prince would've had the sense not to record, or at least only include it on a B-side.

Maybe I'm not being entirely fair: Prince has had a bunch of stinkers mixed in with the great stuff. But the Soulstice album, coupled with Harris' side-trip band, The Brand New Immortals and their dull, aptly named effort 'Tragic Show'... well, it was almost enough to shake my faith in this singer/songwriter/jack-of-all-trades. Almost.

With Atlanta, the bridge between his first, self-named solo effort back in 1996 and Soulstice, Ryan shows his slide from funketeer to folksy singer/songwriter; but unlike the uninspired blandness of Soulstice, all the tracks here are tight, focused, well arranged and slickly produced.

Atlanta's first cut, 'Strong Enough', is a slow, melodic ballad, featuring strong writing and some great vocal work. Then Harris dishes out a blast of bootie-shakin' funk, starting with the Stevie Wonder-ish, bottom-heavy bass infused 'Dickin' Around', followed with the quick jam 'Be Beautiful', and the sweet ballad 'Turn Around'. Harris even pulls off a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland) - no mean feat.

My only gripe is that the CD is REALLY short - the disc is packed with a whole six - count 'em, six! - songs, for a quick running time of about 24 minutes of music. Not a lot of bang for your buck - but enough to restore my faith, and make me look forward to Harris' next effort, the soon-to-be released (Amazon says August 22, 2006), 12-song CD, Bittersweet. In the meantime, I'll enjoy Atlanta a little more, and I'll get back to you in a month or so...