Customer Reviews

Bridges

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have waited a long time for this Gil Scott Heron release. I don't know why it took so long. All of Gil's music is worth owning but "Bridges" and "It's Your World" were always my favorites. There is not a weak track on the disc and the music is outstanding. I saw Gil at Blues Alley a few years ago and he was still bringing the heat. Every time I hear him sing "All of the Places We've Been", my life flashes before me. No other vocalist/musician compares to this man's natural ability to make you feel something deep and meaningful. He is a true American treasure.

There are still a couple of CD's missing from his collection like "Real Eyes" and "Secrets". So hopefully "Bridges" will trigger the release of his entire catalog. I hope Gil is doing well. During a time when most music is falling short, this music soars above the rest.

Enjoy!

Agree completely with the previous reviewers. I still have my original vinyl copy and Bridges is one of the reasons I still have and use my turntable. I have been looking and checking for years for this to come out on CD. YEAH!!! I have been listening to this record for 30+ years and as another reviewer stated the the lyrics paint a picture. The package (lyrics, music, vocal incantations) have always put me right in the middle of that "racetrack" or in my car cruising down I95 to visit my home and relatives in the South, or when I worked in the environmental industry and stood at the base of a nuke plant cooling tower looking up, and "Detroit" running through my head. I think this is a must have or at least must hear and if it doesn't take you to where Gil and Brian are "comin' from" then you must be one of the "deaf, dumb, and blind". Enjoy!!!

delta man does it for me. It tells the need for revolution thru the african american history in the united states. I wish I was at that race track in France and Blow wind Blow is just a beautiful poem sat to music. To bad he is considered an underground artist much to counter culture for main stream.

This is my all time favorite GSH album in terms of the overall sound of The Midnight Band... maybe the poetry and lyrics are a bit bitter on some of his other albums, but in terms of overall music and performance, this album is, what we used to call back in the day... THE JAWNT.

What you hear on this album is a band that's tight, together, and uniquely Gil's (despite being a poet first and foremost, Gil did have his own sound) - - on top of this you have a genius poet/orator who's also refined his vocal skills... Typical to Gil, Gil is Gil (which is what makes him great) - -yet at the same time, if you listen really closely, you can hear ways in which he's refined his vocal skills and become much more confident as a vocalist (not that any of his previous works fell short!) - - On top of this, the album is just as much a showcase for Gil as it is for Brian Jackson. Though I think its great that he shares top billing with Gil on the album (the album is just as much his) - - I find it disappointing that he never really got his own due and cult following, say in the same way that Les McCann and George Duke did... both could possibly have beat him on chops... but I don't think either of them quite had his knack for crafting tunes. The compositions on this album don't just have grooves... they have lot's hooks, bells and whistles that really make them engaging listens... -- At the time of this writing there aren't any sound samples up, so I guess the best way to describe it is as kinda mid '70s funky Jazzy/Fusion crossover... in some ways typical to the Gil Scott Heron sound of the era... only really really really tight and consistant straight through. -- If you liked ITS YOUR WORLD, this album will really blow you away... If you don't have ITS YOUR WORLD in your collection, heck, get both.

All in all, reissue of this album (which is one of many that I lent out to friend after friend until it disappeared, then went nuts when I couldn't find it) is a gift from the gods. Get it while its still out!!! Though you may already be familiar with WE ALMOST LOST DETROIT (one of his most haunting, engaging yet funky, despite its slow tempo) tunes - - most of the other tunes on the album will surprise you if you thought it couldn't get any better ! - - socially conscious mind trip that will also get your body moving, whether or not you want to!

The first time I ever heard of Gil Scott-Heron was this album while stationed in Germany. I loved every song on it and I've been a fan ever since. His music was great, the lyrics made you think, and we (soldiers) had some really great times listening to it after work in the barracks. I was thrilled to find it again in CD format.

When I first heard this LP I feel in love with all of Gil-Scott Heron music. The best part of this LP was that I went to Tuskegee Institute and when I got there I asked some of my Instrutors what really went on here at Tuskegee and when they told me, I knew right then and there that Gil-Scott was a true Pioneer,"Tuskegee 626 someone there have gotten sick" A must have.

Gil Scott-Heron released this album at a very key time for his particular creative bent. This came out during the beginning of the disco era and for many,outside the influence of the Philly sound there just didn't seem to be too much room for complex sociological dialog in the music. There were songs with MESSAGES yes but in terms of the deep poetic insights you'd find from someone such as Gil Scott...it all seemed to be getting away from us at a time when it was needed most. Heron was intensely aware of this and had every intention of maintaining his vision and style even in the face of so much uncertain changes in the music industry. This album was recorded using TONTO,the massive synthesizer complex that had worked miracles for Stevie Wonder and the Isley Brothers during their early/mid 70's height. Even at this point is was all too easy for this huge instrumental complex to create a sound that was both very much in the now and futuristic. And musically that's what one gets here. Aside from Brian Jackson's multi instrumental talents including the fender rhodes the sound of the massive TONTO weaves it's electronic,bubbling melodic harmonies and bass lines into the musical tapestry to create a sound as unique as what Stevie and the Isley's had done with the same instrument. The mood it sets with Gil Scott is as emotional accompaniment of Gil Scott's vocal style. Therefore the bassiness in the production is pushed up front a lot farther and the improvised jazz-funk element to the sound is puffed up a great deal. Song wise the album ranges from uptempo,positive spirited melodic funk such as "Hello Sunday!Hello Road",the amazing "Racetrack In France" and "Under The Hammer" to slower and richly varied in texture and melody type tunes such as "Vildgolia (Deaf,Dumb & Blind,"We Almost Lost Detroit" and "Delta Man". The range of subject matter of these songs,as usual with Gil Scott is densely layored,ranging from enlightening muses both the concept of prejiduce itself to the escape from it along with the usual historical contexts. Songs such as the acapella "Tuskeegee #626" tackle a well known historical atrocity (in this case the Tuskeegee Experiments) but does so with a very bright and almost sunny melody. This showcases Heron's understand of the very sharp contrasts in the lifestyles of not only the African American culture but how it also extends into other aspects of life for Americans of other nationalities. This welcoming,humanistic album would be followed the more darkly reflective Secrets,also using TONTO for that as well. Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson had certainly proved their meddle in terms of how they were able to continue adapting their art their own way during an era where artists were losing more and more control of what they did. And when you listen to this and realize the influence it's had on so much musical poetry and the hip-hop world today (and Gil Scott is for all intents and purposes a hip-hop artist anyway) than you know your in for something very special and meaningful.

No individual work, whether music, letters, film, or performance, has ever laid bare the soul of this nation and its people like "95 South". It is--I kid you not--the absolute pinnacle of American songwriting. Nothing more needs to be said.

I was almost moved to tears when I saw Bridges was now available on CD. Thank God!

95- South is one of the most powerful poems ever written. I am so happy to see so many of Gil Scott Heron's albums now available on CD. YESSSSSSS!!!!

Great CD, brings back memories, I believe it's Gill Scott Heron's best album my favorite of all. If only today's rap artist had talent.