Customer Reviews

Dark Shades of Blue

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

 

 

I should preface this review by stating I'm a loyal fan who has attended several live performances and regard Xavier Rudd as one of my most followed artists. However, this album is very different from previous releases. It is dark, loud, and in my opinion cluttered.
Xavier Rudd commented recently: "We captured what we do live, the thickness of it, the tone. I think we finally achieved what I've always wanted to hear on my recordings." One must respect the artist's thoughts regarding his own work, and to some point, it's quite interesting to know that he regards this as his live sound captured in a studio album. I've been to several live shows and Xavier Rudd is often alone, playing Didgeridoo, Lapsteel, Harmonica, Tongue drum, and guitar. On the Food in your Belly Tour he also added a drummer. His sound is simple but complicated as he predominantly plays all of the music himself simultaneously. This new album features bass guitar, electric, keyboards, and several ambient sounds that are unconventional to his sound. This provided a heavy, loud, and aggressive sound that often times sounded busy or cluttered to me. Some may have been waiting for an album like this, but I myself prefer his traditional sound.
In conclusion, if you are starting to listen to Xavier Rudd and don't have the ability to get to a live show, then Good Spirit is a great live album to start with. As for studio releases, it doesn't get much better than Food in the Belly or White Moth. All three of these titles are excellent and clearly merit five star rating in this format. Bottom line, get to a live show. Xavier is very accessible as most shows are general admission.

This is hard for me to write. I have been a huge Rudd fan for as long as he has been around. As another reviewer mentioned, it's hard to say what exactly is wrong with Dark Shades of Blue. The overall sound was hard to listen too and not the smooth, easy music that I am accustomed to with him. The instruments seemed to clash and the aggressive style seemed to drown out the message. Overall, not his best work. If you are just getting to know his music, buy "Food in the Belly" first, and save this one for last.

This album is moody, heavy and emotional. I thought it was about time he tried something different and it works great.

Compared to Xavier Rudd's larger body of work, "Dark Shades of Blue" languishes in a slump. I first want to establish that I adore Xavier Rudd; I enjoy his live show and I was enthralled by many of his earlier albums like "White Moth" and "Solace." What is the issue? It's hard to say. This pleasant album features all of the typical elements of a good Xavier Rudd release. It features Rudd's killer slide guitar, a good overall sound, the infusion of aboriginal sounds and his environmental consciousness. In this respect, "Dark Shades of Blue" seems a bit redundant. It is more of the same without taking things to the next level. What's ultimately missing is compelling song writing. 'Blackwater' is an amazing, jamband friendly instrumental piece that rocks hard. The rest of the selections are song oriented and the tunes just aren't that good. Hey you win some and you lose some. Before this effort, his albums made a straight flush. Let's hope that after the current tour, Xavier Rudd recharges his batteries and returns with anther exciting album.

My wife has a lovely voice . . . as sweet as silver and as pure as the morning dew. I love to close my eyes and just hear her graceful, silvery sounds.

But when I put Xavier Rudd's "Dark Shades of Blue" on the car stereo, I pray to God that she'll just shut her effin' trap so's I can hear Rudd's divine music!

This is an amazing combinations of instruments: a Dijiri Doo, in a blues rock and mystical rock style. Love it!!

For those of you who think this CD is cluttered - you are probably listening to this on a crappy stereo - in a room filled with bass resonance. This album is incredibly well recorded especially the drums and bass. But it is a system tester. Too much bass out of your system and/or too many room problems (which most people have) and the bass will get real muddy. Try the LP on a good stereo system or try it with good headphones or in a car that has a good system nut NOT too much bass. (Worst case set up your speakers 8 ft apart, tweeters at ear height and listen - on axis with the tweeters, from 8 ft away at a lower volume than normal. This will keep some of the room from screwing up the sound.)

I'm a big Xavier Rudd fan. I have listened to all his albums, even the live ones since his first official release in 2001 and this release is my personal favorite. I would like to start off by saying that contrary to what others have said here, this is a great record. Those that have become accustomed to his happy, dance orientated, reggae type grooves obviously found this record hard to swallow. But if you've listened to his older stuff like 'To Let' you will know that Xavier Rudd has a darker side. Personally I find it refreshing that Xavier Rudd has once again explored this side of his music, because for me, the result is excellent.

Other comments that criticize the production should not be taken seriously. Sonically, this album speaks a different language to White Moth and Food in the Belly. Xavier explores distortion on a whole new level. Not only does he do this with guitar, but with the vocals also. It is the latter that I find to be the only problem in the album, it is simply too confronting. However this only appears on two tracks. Other changes worth mentioning is the bass, which is much more prevalent than his previous works and works very well. Also, adding another layer to the soundscape is some beautiful lead guitar work which interlaces with the usual (but excellent) rhythm guitar.

I could write so much more, but it is simply an album worth exploring yourself. If your a true Xavier Rudd fan, you will not be dissapointed.

I'm a big Rudd fan and have seen him live several times. I thought his last album "White Moth" was his best yet and came closest to capturing his spirit, message and sound you experience at one of his live shows (although still not completely). I was really excited for this album and liked the idea of a darker, harder rocking Rudd. Especially since I thought "White Moth's" only flaw was that it could use a couple more rockin' tunes (and Xavier's shows DO ROCK!). The album IS darker and generally harder rocking, but still left me disappointed. I would actually describe this album as the Anti-White Moth since it is very much like White Moth but turned inside out. There's a similar vibe in the Rock, reggae, world and folk songs, but the sunny optimistic beauty of White Moth which had some shades of darkness like all of Rudd's work, is now turned on its head with more focus on the darkness with only some light shining through.
There's alot to like here, Rudd's got some hot Weissenborn licks (Black Water/Dark Shades of Blue, Up in Flames), "Guku" is a good (but sad) world beat song, "Edge of the Moon" has a great reggae vibe with a cool backup chorus and a great message that would have fit right in on "White Moth", and "Hope that you'll stay" has a serious but laid back camp-fire feel to it. There's really not a "bad" song on here, just a lot of songs that are not very accessible and really demand a lot of listens to connect with. I definitely don't believe that this album best captures Xavier live. Xavier in concert exudes lots of good energy filled with hope and optimism, not the mostly meloncholy feel here. Sonically, Xavier's show's rock with a deep relentless pulse but by no means is it the distorted, muddled sound present here. Also, if you're hoping for more digeradoo's, you better look elsewhere. The didj is definitely downplayed and used more for mood and ambience instead of being at the forefront in previous releases. Which is too bad, considering that I think the song "This world as we know it" works best with its didj and guitar simultaneous workout and harder rocking sound. It's songs like these that truly show Xavier's talent and uniqueness.
My biggest gripe is in the production. I thought the production on White Moth was right on. I think many of these songs simply suffer from over use of distortion and come off sounding too muddled. I especially notice this on songs like "Up in Flames" which is a great Rudd song, but sounds like sludge, particularly when taken out of context when it pops up randomly on my iPod mixes.
It's an intriguing and ambitious move for Rudd but has some misteps and lacks alot of the spark, sound and vibe that made earlier albums so great and unique. It's an interesting detour, and there are some great aspects that I hope he will carry on and improve upon. However I hope it remains only a detour and simply a dark shade in a great body of work.

Simply one of the best albums of the year, powerful, full of ideas, well played.....