Big Swing Face

Bruce Hornsby | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 25, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000066E7Y
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,420 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Confessions of a Convert, July 2, 2002

By 

Stephen Silberman "writer, Wired Magazine" (SF, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Swing Face (Audio CD)

Confession: The first time I played this album, I couldn't wait to sell it back to the record store. It sounded like an almost perverse subversion of the things you expect from Bruce Hornsby's music: crystalline piano, achingly poignant lyrics, and a timeless mood of classic Americana that harkens back to The Band. My first thought upon hearing this album, with its overamped keyboards, drum machines, distorted vocals, and crowded, electronica-flavored arrangements was, "I'm glad Bruce got this album out of his system. I'm just sorry I had to buy it."

But then something funny happened. I woke up with the title track looping in my head, as it had all night. I realized that this album is not a loss of poise, control, or social relevance by Hornsby, but more like a searingly angry musical statement of "This is how things are. It might not sound pretty, but things aren't pretty." This is Bruce's post-Bush, post-9/11, post-HORNSBY album -- a jagged mirror held up to the era we're living in.

Back in the mid-'70s, Neil Young recorded a huge hit album called "Harvest," with gorgeous, folksy tunes on it like "Old Man." Everyone loved it. Then Neil released "Tonight's the Night," which was recorded in the spooky hours before dawn, and sounded like it, with its spiky tales of junkies dying in the streets, and hip drag queens, with the smoking wreckage of garage rock and roll replacing the banjos and nostalgia of "Harvest." Everyone hated it at the time. Listening back, it was prophecy.

Here, Hornsby surrenders the sepia-toned poetry about valiant fishermen and Appalachian waifs for lyrics that border on nonsense, as if the very fabric of language was being torn and shredded by a profound disquiet in the soul of America. The eerie cries at the beginning of "Sticks & Stones" are as apt a representation of What It Sounds Like to Be Alive at This Moment in History as I've ever heard. And the title track is so jazzy in its sense of swing that it doesn't even have to reference jazz on its surface.

You may not like this album, but it's a brave and true statement, and an admirable risk by an artist whose music is becoming more personal with each release. This is "The Way It Is" now, boyeee.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bruce's "What the hell?" album, June 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Swing Face (Audio CD)

Released today (June 25, 2002), Bruce Hornsby's new album is a sometimes terrific, sometimes confusing, and sometimes downright frustrating piece of work. For starters, it sounds NOTHING like Hornsby's previous albums - there is very little piano, the lyrics are disjointed and often incomprehensible, and there's a lot more 'funk' on this album than on any other Hornsby release. This album definitely showcases Bruce's wild side, which gives some of the songs - like "Sticks & Stones", "Big Swing Face" and "A Place Under the Sun" - a memorable cheeriness. Furthermore, Bruce actually rocks pretty hard on "So Out", making the song an interesting listen despite its dull chorus.

Unfortunately, Bruce's melancholy side, which yielded so many of his classic songs (think "Fortunate Son", "Mandolin Rain" and the lachrymose "Lost Soul" from "A Night on the Town") is not at all represented on this album. In fact, the closest he comes to this type of song here may be "This Too Shall Pass", a soulful tune that is somehow built around a driving dance beat(!). Finally, we have what is perhaps the album's most rewarding song, "The Good Life". Musically, this song is in the vein of "Shadow Hand" from 1998's "Spirit Trail" album; it's got an upbeat, catchy melody that belies the theme, conveyed by the lyrics, of the narrator's desperate escapism.

All in all, I consider this to be a good album, but I fear that in the long run it will turn out to be my least favorite Bruce Hornsby recording. Hopefully, I'll prove myself wrong.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wild Frontier, July 8, 2002

By 

Jason Stein (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big Swing Face (Audio CD)

This is Hornsby's "Achtung Baby". This is the recording that separates a true musician from imitations. Hornsby has experimented with songwriting, sound and instrumentation on "Big Swing Face". Fans and critics will debate whether the music is good, and, in my opinion, that's a matter of taste. On first listen, I wasn't sure where Hornsby was going, but with repeated listenings I heard humor, inventiveness, and an attempt to try something new. Unlike Chicago, Hornsby isn't resting on his past successes here, and like Chicago, he isn't catering to what everyone wants to hear. As usual, Hornsby writes about the human condition like prejudice in "Sticks & Stones", fame in "Big Swing Face", depression in "This Too Shall Pass", objectivity in "Try Anything Once", insecurity in "Take Out The Trash", materialism in "The Good Life", ignorance in "No Home Training" and soul searching in "Place Under The Sun". So, in a songwriting sense, Hornsby continues to sing about what he's been singing about all along, yet he adds some interesting diversions like "Cartoons & Candy", "The Chill" and "So Out". As always, Hornsby adds a good dose of humor to his songwriting, so the criticism would fall on the music. Hornsby chooses to avoid his traditional instruments like acoustic piano, accordian, banjo, in favor of using some type of electric piano/organ hybrid, drum loops, and yes, even a sample! I have followed Hornsby since "The Way It Is" and time and again he has proven himself to be one of a few musicians who can really play, write and reinvent themselves. As that is such a rare commodity in pop music, Hornsby is a buried treasure--seldom making the top 40 and yet continuing to mature and produce creative music.