Closing in on the Fire [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Waylon Jennings

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 21, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 16, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Ark 21
• ASIN: B000007OG9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,593 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Some of Waylon Jennings's brightest moments have come with galloping Texas near-rockers like "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way," so Closing In on the Fire's emphasis on boogie and blues is no surprise. Nor is the basic thrust of many of the songs here; Waylon will continue delivering bemused observations like "Back Home (Where I Come From)" till the planet spins off its axis. Exceptions include the sweetly effective ballad "Be Mine" (with guitar support by Mark Knopfler) and one real clunker, Sting's "She's Too Good for Me," which suggests that its writer should stop trying to tell jokes. Although not stunning like the belated reissue of 1975's Dreaming My Dreams, Closing In still puts Jennings's point across satisfactorily. --Rickey Wright

Country Music Magazine
Many of the tracks are cranked up on guitar power chords, snare-drum shots and rampaging piano as if the singer were trying to smudge out the boundary between Lynyrd Skynyrd and George Jones.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues-rock with a little country tossed in, May 27, 2001

By	Michael Carley (San Joaquin Valley, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In another review (click on my name to see it), I stated that "Waymore's Blues (part II)" was Waylon's best album of recent years. I still think that one was great, but somehow this CD seems to find it's way into my stereo more and more.

Waylon states in the final track (a hidden track in which he discusses the background of some of the songs and the production of the CD) that he told his collaborators (which include Sting, Sheryl Crow, Travis Tritt, Mark Knopfler, Marty Stuart, Carl Smith, Randy Scruggs, and of course, his wife Jessi Colter) to ignore everything he had previously done and start anew. The result is the most rock-oriented album of his career. Buddy Holly's influence was never more evident.

The mood is set by the title track, Tony Joe White's "Closing In On the Fire" an outstanding blues-rock number that radiates sexuality with every beat (if not the lyrics). "Just Watch Your Mama and Me" may just be the best ballad Waylon has ever written. "She's Too Good For Me" is Sting's contribution, and although some of the lyrics are corny, it is a fun song. Sheryl Crow duets on this one. "Back Home (Where I Come From)" is typical Waylon swagger, mixed with a little country humor. "Be Mine" is a sweet ballad written by Texas singer/songwriter Kimmie Rhodes. (The two have a great duet version of the song on Rhodes' now out of print album "West Texas Heaven"). "Easy Money" and "The Blues Don't Care" are two more blues-rock numbers that fit the album well. And, while the world may not have needed another cover of the Stones "No Expectations", Waylon fans will probably enjoy his.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great modern Waylon!, July 3, 2004

By	Casey Newbold - Kerr (Melbourne, Australia.) - See all my reviews

This is an odd album in that Waylon attempts some new sounds... but those new sounds certainly work. Diehard fans will love it. Others should listen to a few earlier albums before this one... but if they do that, they'll love it. Either way, this is a great album.

On this album, Waylon branches out. It's got some great blues-rock stuff on it. Waylon and the band on this album really rock out, and it sounds great. It's different from, say, Waylon Live or Dreaming My Dreams in that it's not about the "Waylon sound," but you can still tell it's Waylon's music. If you want to hear Waylon doing rock and Tony Joe White-style swampy music, this is the album. After you buy the essential Waylon classics, this is a good modern Waylon album, along with Waymore's Blues Pt II, Right For The Time, and Never Say Die: Live. The latter day albums may not be up there with Honky Tonk Heroes and Dreaming My Dreams with the critics, but in my opinion these albums are as essential in a Waylon collection as the others.

If you're getting into Waylon and want something different, this is a modern classic that you'll love. His last 5 or so albums (including the Highwaymen releases) are pretty essential, in my opinion. Waylon's voice aged like a fine wine. In about 1994 he started sounding like a wise old man -- one with a very, VERY good voice. His voice developed a quality that suggested he'd lived everything he was singing about... possibly because, well, he HAD lived most of what he sang about!

Another classic Waylon album. It deserves to be in your collection, like most of his releases.

(Also, the audio liner notes are great! You can tell Waylon is trying to be serious... but we still get a few glimpses of that classic Waylon sense of humour!)

Oh, and... WAYLON RULES!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite, January 14, 2000

By A Customer

But this album shows why Waylon is more than just a singer. He wrote a lot of this, it's very different than things he's done in the past...it's fresh and new. It's not my favorite version of Waylon's music by any stretch. But at least it's a stretch. Waylon has always been a pioneer, unlike people like George Strait that keep making the same album over and over and simply re-titling it.