Customer Reviews

Exiles

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think it can be said that Dan Fogelberg is one of the greatest examples of "using the gifts that God has given you". I'm only 34, but I have been listening to him for more than twenty years, and like fine wine, I think he's just grown better with time. HOWEVER, if I had to put one CD in a music time capsule, it might be this one. Every time I listen to it, all I want to do is give Dan Fogelberg a hug and a soft shoulder to cry on! Thank God he was able to put his heartache into words because it would have been impossible for a human being to have retained this much pain inside. Whether the tempo is fast or slow, from Exiles and She Don't Look Back to the heartbreaking and hauntingly aching ballad of Seeing You Again (my personal favorite), it's as if his insides have been cored out and you can see right through him. You just want some woman, ANY woman to come along PRONTO! and love this man.

For anyone out there who knows what it's like to have suffered the loss of someone you love, be it a mate or a friend, (and if you don't know, YOU WILL by the time you're through listening here!) this is THE CD for you. If you aren't moved by these songs, you don't have a heart.

I bought "Exiles" upon its release in June 1987, first on vinyl & about a year later on CD. More than 12 years later and having gone through a divorce as well, I still treasure these nine songs. They never fail to move me, and I do consider this album one of Dan Fogelberg's best efforts. My favorite track still is "Seeing You Again" with its brilliant arrangement & emotional depth!

All I can say, is wow! You can feel the blood and the pain in the tracks in this album. I think Dan must have been in an intensely dark time from Windows and Walls to this album. If you ever want to feel some real cathartic pain in music, get this album. I seem to have remember reading an interview with Dan where he said that he doesn't perform "Hearts In Decline" any more, because its a place that he never wants to go to again.

Yeah, the production is really 80's sounding, and it is the ultimate divorce/relationship album. But those songs!!! "Lonely In Love" is one of the best straight-ahead pop songs Dan has ever done in especially his later period. "What You're Doing" and "She Don't Look Back" are some of the best blues-rock Dan's ever laid down (how 'bout those guitar leads?!?!)

To me the the crux of this album is really in the slow tunes: "Seeing You Again" "Last Farewell" and in particular "Hearts In Decline". That song is so poigiant. The mental picture I have is Dan singing that song in an empty room with a piano and just a hint of sunlight pouring in. There is so much heartache in that song, and the music with the solo piano just frames it perfectly.

This album is an overlooked gem in Dan's catalog. Highly recommended!

"Exiles" is the hardest rocking album I have of his.My favorite is "Lonely in Love," with Michael Brecker on Tenor Sax.I played this one cut to death,but there's so many other great numbers on the CD."What your Doing" is very different for this artist.His voice is so raw,and the hardest rocking song of his career.The ballads are here we've come to love from Dan,"Seeing you Again," and "The Way It must Be," is my second favorite cut.It sounds alot like The Eagles,but wait untill you hear "She don't look back." Its so bad,and I mean bad in a good way.The bottom line is your going to love "Exiles," everythings here,Ballads,Pop,and the hardest rocking songs ever from Dan Fogelberg.

For those of us who grew up in the 70's, Dan Fogelberg seemed to know what we were going through emotionally with each new release. That's because he was going through the same things in his life. Being in your teens and twenties during that time frame, life in general was difficult, but learning about love and relationships was torture. "The Way It Must Be" and "Hearts In Decline" are just as true today as they were back then. Like all of Dan's music, you can relate to his because he was living and feeling the same things you were. Back in the "old days", when the lyrics made the song, Dan is at his best in this group of songs. He was never shy about wearing his heart on his sleeve. Many people ridicule him for it, I think it this trait that makes him one of the best song writers ever. His failed relationships, his tortured soul, the difficulty of finding love that lasts and how to deal with it when it failed. His songs are advise, as much as they are great music. I'm 48 and still relate to his music. Funny thing is so do many twenty-somethings that I know. Exiles is classic Fogelberg, and my all-time favorite.

This album shows Dan Fogelburg's endless talent! He so many wonderful songs on this album like "Exiles, Lonely in Love, She Don't Look Back, and It Doesn't Matter." All songs are beautifully written and they do touch the heart. With this album, Fogelburg shows that divorce is not a laughing, simple matter with the mood and lyrics of his songs. I also like the fact that Dan also put "Beyond the Edge" on this album; it seems placed appropriately as a last uplift. This is clearly one of Fogelburg's best.

Although you have to watch what kind of mood you're in when you listen to this one, Exiles becomes more layered and meaningful with the passage of time. Anyone who has ever been through a divorce or a major break up will relate to this one and listen to it over and over again. Some of Dan's best songwriting.

This album can make you cry even if you've never lost a lover or even a friend. The "reviewers" from Nashville should perhaps listen to Dan describe his emotions when he wrote these songs, then they'd easily understand what they're missing. This album is the story of lost love, one-sided love, love that hurts and love worth living for.

I find there is something so SAD about Dan's voice. Even his upbeat songs break my heart. What is it about him? I bought this album a long time ago for "Lonely in Love" and still it brings me to tears...

If you've ever experienced a broken relationship (and who hasn't) you'll find the audio version of it on this album. Every emotion, every nuance of pain and guilt and resignation is reflected in lyrics both powerful and fragile. "Exiles" is that rare item, a perfect album, being neither overproduced nor underdeveloped, and being both intensely personal and entirely universal.