Broken Promises

Mary McCaslin | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 27, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Philo Records
• ASIN: B0000003UO
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #384,626 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Older, wiser, sadder and richer, November 19, 2002

By 

J. C Clark "eanna" (Overland Park, KS United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Promises (Audio CD)

I don't want to say Mary's voice is an acquired taste; I liked it when I first heard it 20+ years ago. But it is not "pretty", especially these days when the producer and the engineer determine what female singers sound like (and amazingly, they sound so much alike...imagine that!). But Mary is an authentic folksinger, carrying the earth and the wind and the rain in her voice.

This CD is even more challenging than her others. On first listen I thought "Oh my, she's lost the ability to sing." But more time has made me realize that these are different songs, sung by a woman who's experienced more bitterness and disappointment than she should have. Not angry, not vicious, not bellicose, she just conveys great sadness and the shock of feeling the befuddled loss that so often accompanies middle age.

This is not a quickie to be gulped and consumed, rather, like a fine port that contains great pleasure in the strength and acid and pungency, it is to be sipped and savored. Give her a try. No one sounds more real....and she consistently makes other singers sound like the "pop" they are.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical, sad, and beautiful, March 26, 2006

By 

abt1950 "abt1950" (usa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Broken Promises (Audio CD)

Mary McCaslin and her late husband Jim Ringer were staples of the folk circuit in the 1970s, and , according to many music critics, remain vastly underrated. "Broken Promises," released in 1994, was Mary McCaslin's first album in many years. Although the wait was way too long, the end result is well worth it.

McCaslin's work always combined a feel for the open spaces of the West with an intensely personal sensibility. Her voice and her guitar work were unique, influenced by the acoustic folk tradition, but molding it to suit her own purposes. This is still the case in "Broken Promises. " By no means is this a happy album. It chronicles the breakup of McCaslin's marriage to Jim Ringer, and as such is both bittersweet and introspective. These are sad, wistful songs, but they're not bitter. Instead, they reflect the passing of years as a relationship slowly disintegrates and the singer's attempt to get on with life. These songs may reflect McCaslin's own experience, but, like all great songs, they're universal.

It's hard to pick out favorites, since the songs are all so strong. If I had to, I'd probably pick "Ghost Train," for its haunting metaphor , and "The Abyss." McCaslin's version of the Beatles' "Help" is a revelation. One of her strengths has always been her ability to cover other writer's songs and to wring new meaning out of them. But even as I write this review, I'm listening to the CD and different songs catch my attention.
This is one of those rare albums that reveal something new with every listening.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars introspective songs, September 26, 2005

By 

Matthew F. Wettlaufer (Cape Town, South Africa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Promises (Audio CD)

I am very fond of this album--it is introspective and sad, it expresses the losses McCaslin has suffered through the last couple of decades. Her voice is a bit more edgy than it was in her first album, but I think that adds to the impact of what she is singing about. It has the same western feel to it that Way Out West, her first album, had--conveying the Southwest and California, the open spaces, the deserts and mountains--but in this one all of those images are inside/interior--it is a very confessional album (whereas Way Out West was comprised of story telling, like traditional folk songs generally are). This is a much more personal collection of songs.