You Can't Relive the Past

Eric Andersen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 22, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 22, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Appleseed Records
• ASIN: B000047873
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,193 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Perhaps you can't relive your past, but for Eric Andersen escape is no option. In these 13 songs--sung in a desolate whisper, played like a seance at Parchman Farm--Andersen, who Bob Dylan has called "a great ballad writer," pursues his darkest memories with one ear cocked to the Delta, the other listening for "the wisdom of Job ... old as the devil." Andersen recorded half of the album in New York and half in Mississippi: Artie Traum picks sparkling lines and Lucy Kaplansky adds sweet harmonies on the acoustic New York material, while a small combo of blues musicians--including legendary drummer Sam Carr and slide guitarist Kenny Brown--add a haunting and muscular electric groove on the Delta cuts. There are also notable writing collaborations with Lou Reed, who cowrites and sings on the title track, and four songs penned with Townes Van Zandt--brooding meditations on mortality imaged in snakelike roads and meadowlark laments. Easy listening? No, but essential for devotees of songwriting at its darkest and deepest. --Roy Kasten

All Music Guide, February, 2000

"His most diverse and adventurous [album] in years. . .This is terrific stuff."

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Album I Have Heard This Year., June 1, 2000

By 

Jonathan Lyness (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: You Can't Relive the Past (Audio CD)

I'm going to go out on a limb, and say this may be the best work Eric Andersen has ever done. Beautifully written, hauntingly performed with some of his best singing ever. The folk-oriented songs are some of the strongest & most mature he's written, while the blues songs are a bold experiment (and how many artists with a 35-year-career behind them are still experimenting?) that pay off beautifully. More people deserve to know about this one...any fan of Eric Andersen, Townes Van Zandt, Dylan, or any kind of folk/blues music will love this. Buy it...you won't regret it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another delightful masterpiece, March 20, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: You Can't Relive the Past (Audio CD)

Eric Andersen has struck gold with You Can't Relive the Past. I love the variety of song styles, and my favorite song is "Eyes of the Immigrant", both for its theme and its gorgeous lyrics and melody. Its opening reminds me of "Moonchild River Song" from years back. Every Eric Andersen fan should buy this CD immediately-it's great!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping the faith., March 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: You Can't Relive the Past (Audio CD)

This record maintains and sustains a certain kind of belief in a core unity of American songwriting. Stylistically varied, to be sure, but of a piece in the hands of a master. Andersen may not have had as strong of an impact on the culture as contemporaries Bob Dylan or Lou Reed, but who cares? His art has the same unflinching honesty and fearlessness. Just buy it.