Customer Reviews

Brand New Dance

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BRAND NEW DANCE is so over-burdened with criticism that it is too often ignored. Yes, BRAND NEW DANCE is not LUXURY LINER or BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL but few albums by any artist come close. Part of the problem is the album is misunderstood, because several key phases of Emmylou Harris' career aren't represented on CD. Too many people lost touch with Emmylou Harris after her "Five Classic Country-Rock Albums Period". Warner Bros. Records deserves a generous amount of criticism for this. Only five of her eleven 1980s albums are printed on Domestic CD. ROSES IN THE SNOW, PROFILE II, ANGEL BAND, BLUEBIRD, and DUETS are all that remain from a major period in Emmylou Harris' artistic crusade. The out-of-print records are very important because with them BRAND NEW DANCE seems a lot more important than most critics make it out to be. First and foremost, her career was not on a downslide, she was experimenting with different projects, suceeding artistically, but unfortuantely, not always commercially. BRAND NEW DANCE is not her best, but she doesn't have a worst. It fits all the qualifications for an Emmylou Harris album. 1)All the songs have an impact. 2)All the songs are consistant. 3)Several songs have a major artistic statement. There are a lot more. "Wheels Of Love" is a majestic opening track, it flawlessly performed, with terrific harmonies. She presents a marvelous version of Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest", it has country flavoring, but still retains its rock feel. "In His World" to me drags the flow of the album down, but does have a bouncy dream feel. "Sweet Dreams Of You" is excellent, a very enjoyable song. "Easy For You To Say" is a gorgeous country ballad. "Rollin' And Ramblin'" is a major artistic statement, and a brilliant display of a piece of Country Music history. Emmylou Harris brings the song alive, making it an irresistible number. "Better Off Without You" is a beautiful song of heartbreak, about walking a way from a dysfunctional romance. She delievers a sensational version of the Rock 'n' Roll classic "Never Be Anyone Else But You", she makes the song her own. "Brand New Dance" is an exceptional song. "Red Red Rose" is a wonderful love song. If you're not famliar with Emmylou Harris, you're better off starting with BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL, ELITE HOTEL, WRECKING BALL, BLUEBIRD, or LUXURY LINER. Don't write BRAND NEW DANCE off, but it would sound a lot different if we had copies of the old recordings (i.e. CIMARRON, THIRTEEN, LAST DATE, etc.) to refer to.

When BRAND NEW DANCE was released in 1990, the critics didn't like it and it was given bad reviews all around. True - it is not her best album. She makes so many good albums it's hard to compare this album to newer classics like RED DIRT GIRL, or older ones like ROSES IN THE SNOW. This is still a good album. Her version of Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest", is worth the price of admission. I think this album was mostly a transition, between her past albums and what was to come. She sounds great, although the material isn't the best, there's still some gems like the title track, "Red, Red Rose" and "Better Off Without You". Not her best, but still worth a listen.

Many hail Emmylou Harris' 1990 album BRAND NEW DANCE, her worst album. I think it is an unfair comparison. To compare this album against albums like RED DIRT GIRL, WRECKING BALL or ROSES IN THE SNOW, is simply unfair. This album has its own flow and beauty, and its own appeal. It opens with the single "Wheels of Love", and is followed by Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest". "In His World" is a beautiful, almost magical song. THe title track is an album highlight, as is the album closer "Red, Red Rose". True, it is not her strongest effort, but there are some true gems to be found if you listen to this album. Other highlights include "Better Off Without You", "Never Be Anyone Else But You" and "Easy For You To Say". Don't believe all the negativity, don't believe what you read, listen and form your own opinions about BRAND NEW DANCE, you might be surprised.

While I accept that this not Emmylou's finest album (and isn't even in her top ten finest albums), I have never understood why so many people seem to despise it. By the standards of most singers, this is a wonderful album. One problem is that Emmylou had already recorded a string of outstanding albums beginning with Pieces of the sky in 1975. Although the eighties (after 1980's Roses in the snow) lacked the overall brilliance of the seventies where Emmylou's music was concerned, there were great moments, notably Cimarron (an outstanding album), Angel band (a gospel album), Bluebird (the solo album before this one) and the first Trio album (the best traditional country album ever recorded by anybody). Another problem for some may be that this is a very mellow album - there are no up-tempo rocking songs here although Emmylou is brilliant at those. Maybe a couple of them would have assuaged the critics.

The album opens with Wheels of fire, an outstanding ballad, which is followed by an excellent cover of Tougher than the rest (Bruce Springsteen). Next is another fine ballad, In this world. The fourth track, Sweet dreams of you (an original song, not a cover of the Patsy Cine classic - Emmylou did that on Elite Hotel) contains some instrumental breaks that seem out of place on an otherwise mellow track. Maybe the producers (Richard Bennett and Allen Reynolds) wanted to make sure nobody would fall asleep.

Next is an excellent mid-tempo song, Rolling and rambling, about the death of Hank Williams, followed by yet another ballad, Better of without you. A brilliant mid-tempo cover of Ricky Nelson's fifties classic, Never be anyone else but you, is about as fast as this album gets. Two ballads, the title track and Red red rose, complete what is, in many ways, an excellent album.

If you enjoy Emmylou's other music and already have the classic albums, you might enjoy this. This may be Emmylou's weakest album (actually, I don't think so) but it's all relative to the very high standards set by Emmylou's other music. If it were possible to give marks out of 100, I would give this a lower rating than most of Emmylou's albums - however, it still easily justifies five stars from me with the rating system employed.

BRAND NEW DANCE is so over-burdened with criticism that it is too often ignored. Yes, BRAND NEW DANCE is not LUXURY LINER or BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL but few albums by any artist come close. Part of the problem is the album is misunderstood, because several key phases of Emmylou Harris' career aren't represented on CD. Too many people lost touch with Emmylou Harris after her "Five Classic Country-Rock Albums Period". Warner Bros. Records deserves a generous amount of criticism for this. Only five of her eleven 1980s albums are printed on Domestic CD. ROSES IN THE SNOW, PROFILE II, ANGEL BAND, BLUEBIRD, and DUETS are all that remain from a major period in Emmylou Harris' artistic crusade. The out-of-print records are very important because with them BRAND NEW DANCE seems a lot more important than most critics make it out to be. First and foremost, her career was not on a downslide, she was experimenting with different projects, suceeding artistically, but unfortuantely, not always commercially. BRAND NEW DANCE is not her best, but she doesn't have a worst. It fits all the qualifications for an Emmylou Harris album. 1)All the songs have an impact. 2)All the songs are consistant. 3)Several songs have a major artistic statement. There are a lot more. "Wheels Of Love" is a majestic opening track, it flawlessly performed, with terrific harmonies. She presents a marvelous version of Bruce Springsteen's "Tougher Than The Rest", it has country flavoring, but still retains its rock feel. "In His World" to me drags the flow of the album down, but does have a bouncy dream feel. "Sweet Dreams Of You" is excellent, a very enjoyable song. "Easy For You To Say" is a gorgeous country ballad. "Rollin' And Ramblin'" is a major artistic statement, and a brilliant display of a piece of Country Music history. Emmylou Harris brings the song alive, making it an irresistible song. "Better Off Without You" is a beautiful song of heartbreak, about walking a way from a dysfunctional romance. She delievers a sensational version of the Rock 'n' Roll classic "Never Be Anyone Else But You", she makes the song her own. "Brand New Dance" is an exceptional song. "Red Red Rose" is a wonderful love song. If you're not famliar with Emmylou Harris, you're better off starting with BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL, ELITE HOTEL, WRECKING BALL, BLUEBIRD, or LUXURY LINER. Don't write BRAND NEW DANCE off, but it would sound a lot different if we had copies of the old recordings (i.e. CIMARRON, THIRTEEN, LAST DATE, etc.) to refer to

I really can't help but dismiss the coldness spread out by some critics when this album came out. While this isn't her best-of-all album, it's still at least a four-outta-five stars one. I really love her version of Springsteen's Tougher Than The Rest and if it wasn't for any other song, this would still earn a four. Who cares if it's a bit soundlarge every now and then! Who cares about the "formula". It's a hell of an album. One simpl<y can't judge Emmylou's albums by any formula or anything but her singing. Just listen to it!!!

BRAND NEW DANCE is a fantastic album that was largely dismissed by critics, who deemed it "overproduced" and "formula", but this album is one of the high points of Emmylou Harris' recording career, and that's saying a lot! The most noble quality credited to Emmylou Harris is that she is willing to experiment with diffferent styles and musical ideas. She doesn't tie herself to one genre or one musical mindset. The only thing truly consistent about her is her integrity, and by 1990, she'd already gone all through traditional country (BLUE KENTUCKY GIRL) bluegrass (ROSES IN THE SNOW), country rock (EVANGELINE), gospel (ANGEL BAND), and SALLY ROSE, which could best be described as a "country opera", yet she had never really tried a conventionally-produced country album. DANCE may seem like a timid effort at the onset, but as always, Emmy assembles an ecclectic selection of songs, ranging from a Springsteen tune to work by folksinger Dave Mallett, to the country standard "Never be Anyone Else", and everything else just seems to fall into place. Her vocals are breathtaking, and while the backing isn't her illustrious Hot Band, they're nonethelsss a talented bunch (mostly studio players, I assume) who know exactly what a given song requires, and give what they've got. In short, one more amazing pit stop on Emmylou's brilliant musical journey.

Prime Cuts: Wheel of Love, Never Be Anyone Else But You, In His World

"Brand New Dance" may not be the most successful CD by Emmylou but it's a dance you won't want to forget. It's a dance with different moves: the opening track "Wheel of Love" a toe-tapping waltz about waiting for one's true love. Emmylou has a foot in the pop territority on the Bruce Springsteen ballad "Tougher than The Rest." Emmylou turned this into her own song and it has a nice country feel to it. One of the best songs on unrequited love sung with verve and sincereity is the haunting "In His World." It's one of the best songs ever written by famed country writer Kostas. The tempo picks up with a country almost cajun flavoured "Rollin' and Ramblin'" -- a catchy tune in tribute to Hank Williams. Emmylou's cover of "Never Be Anyone Else But You" is short and sweet. It makes you humming in no time. The title track is perhaps one of the best songs ever written about rekindling one's passion in a relationship. This certainly will rekindle any one's believe that Emmylou has the sweetest voice in country music. The album comes to a close with a tender ballad by Dave Mallet (writer of Kathy Mattea's "Summer of Dreams"). A beautiful and poetic song that makes you loose yourself in the music. This is a great album with great variety of tempos, lyrical content, and memorable melodies. I only wish the dance would never end!

I bought this CD seeking for folk-type singer like Iris, Nanci, or Lucinda. Emylou is really super, and this CD is super. I play it again and again since I've received it.

I have about 12 emmylou CDs, the best being Weaking Ball and the worst being my lastest edition Brand New Dance. The song are just not as good.