Customer Reviews

Comedians & Angels

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

 

 

It's hard to listen to this album without a smile spreading across your face. Tom Paxton doesn't feel like he has to bring darkness and despair into the lives of his listeners to balance out the appreciation and wamth he conveys. It's as though he were gathering you (the listener) under his arm and saying, "After all, it's been a pretty good time, hasn't it? And there's always a little bit of hope in the hole that yesterday's tragedy blew into life, and a little new love where your heart used to hurt so bad." This CD is a musical hug for my generation (40++)to enjoy--but also for my eight-year old, whose favorite CD has been one of his kids' recordings from an early age. Carry on, Tom!

This is a bit of a retrospective, with Tom looking back and appreciating the people in his life. The song writing is crisp and moving, the voice shows a little wear and tear, but it is good to hear from this fine musician, who has the respect of his fans and of his collaborators as well.

The whole CD is filled with a quiet kind of joy that's a relief among the protest songs and cause driven folk. Yeah, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax and enjoy good music and this is the CD for those times.

Tom Paxton's enjoying himself performing these songs and you're going to enjoy listening. I started out this morning with a headache. Half an hour of listening and my head's feeling better and I have a smile on your face. Oh yes, music has healing powers!

Just a sample of what you get:

"Oh How Beautiful on the Mountain" quotes Isaiah and talks about what it's like to do good work.

"Out on the Ocean" is a peaceful song about just going out sailing and enjoying yourself.

"Home to me is anywhere you are" is pretty descriptive of what the song is. It's a gorgeous love song.

"Jennifer and Kate" is a love song to his daughters. How many Dads wish they could sing something like this for their girls?

And yes, Paxton's generous. He's given us 15 songs at over 52 minutes instead of the generic 9 or 10. All worth listening to and thoroughly enjoyable.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2009

Comprised of roughly half new songs and half re-recordings from his huge back-catalog, this is, in Paxton's own words, "made of songs of love." He is one of the best in the business at those, and this shows it.

Paxton also writes in the liner notes that "my definition of love songs is broader than I once would have found it to be". This is reflected beautifully in the CD's first and last songs, "How Beautiful Upon the Mountain" and the title track. Rather than conventional love songs, they're tributes to his friends and heroes from the protest-song era - but they are definitely songs of love all the same. Expressing love for what they accomplished and wistfulness for those whom we have since lost - and Paxton pays tribute to some of them by name - both are the sort of song that could only come from someone like himself who has been at the craft for over 40 years and was there to see the golden era for himself. They just might be the two best songs he's given us since the 1960s, and every fan owes it to him- or herself to hear them - they're that good and that important.

Most of the other new songs are above average, and a few are truly great. "And If It's Not True" and "Out on the Ocean" are a couple of other standouts, about vacations real and imagined. Your enjoyment of the re-recorded songs probably depends on whether or not you're familiar with the originals. There are three songs updated from 1996's Live: For the Record album: "A Long Way from Your Mountain," "Dance in the Kitchen" and "You are Love." The new versions, while not bad, lack the sparkle and intimacy of the live versions - but of course, if you don't know the live versions, you'll probably love these.

Only one song gets a real thumbs-down from me. "Jennifer and Kate," his tribute to his daughters, is a rare case of Paxton being saccharine. None could doubt his sincerity, but his usual subtlety is sadly lacking on this one. Of course, if anyone has earned the right to a bit of self-indulgence now and then, it's him. Thanks, Tom, for the honor of your company!

I have been a fan of Tom Paxton's since 1968.
His voice has improved with age. This CD is brilliant!

Some familiar songs and some nuances make this worth a listen. The voice and some new lyrics are not what Tom was at his best, but listening to this American treasure is still worth the time. He was recently inducted into the Folksingers Hall of Fame, and it's certainly well deserved. Do yourself a favor and get some recordings from the earlier years to really appreciate his contribution.