Far Cry From Dead

Townes Van Zandt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 29, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Arista
• ASIN: B00000JCNG
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #312,991 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Gem, December 30, 2007

By 

William Stephen Dalrymple (Denny, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Far Cry From Dead (Audio CD)

Yet another gem from one of the greatest singer - songwriters the world's ever known !
And i'm not getting carried away . If you're familiar with Townes' work then you'll know these songs already but these are my favourite versions because of the way his voice was when these were recorded , basically , wrecked ! But that's a good thing because it lends a gravitas and air of beautiful sadness to proceedings and makes you love the guy more .
It's all good but the little run of 5 songs towards the end (tracks 8 - 12) must rank as surely the best iv'e ever heard , every one a perfect gem .
PS can someone please re-release No Deeper Blue soon ?

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 12 Masterworks, October 13, 2001

By 

"ateliermp" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far Cry From Dead (Audio CD)

This posthumous compilation of Van Zandt's most stunning and, perhaps, popular works is marred only by the concluding, 13th song, "Squash". Would that Arista had left it off. It is easy enough, however, to edit this item out and end the session with "Tower Song". The various mixed reviews, above and herein, are a testament to the complicated legacy of Townes Van Zandt. Vanity Fair recently (November 2001) included TVZ in a very tedious, pseudo-ironic list - a so-called "Rock Snob's Dictionary". TVZ is listed for the ultra-gratuitous reason that he "exuded a hard-drinkin', ramblin'-man aura despite coming from a wealthy family" and "died a Harry Nilsson-like alcohol-related death in the 1990s". Basta. Given VF includes this useless fillip in an issue devoted to "Music" - with the usual line-up of self-absorbed rock and pop fixtures - more than proves the point that true artistic integrity is lost on the guardians of commercial success (excess). TVZ was the most pure manifestation of a 40-50 year process of acculturation in the country-blues-folk genre without ever breaking out of the cult-status, musician's musician half-nelson partly imposed and partly self-wrought. His early works, often uneven and full of experimental assemblages of various streams of musical Americana, are tough to assimilate without careful editing. For example, the re-issue (1996) of two early 1970s recordings - "High, Low and In Between" coupled with "The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt" - is full of junk and is no one's fault except TVZ. This new collection, "A Far Cry From Dead", on the other hand, is nearly flawless, with the exception of the 13th track, and Van Zandt's voice and guitar are complemented by an all-star cast of studio musicians that are, in fact, paying homage to TVZ, after his death, and his extraordinary odyssey through the outback of America's musical landscape. If you listen to the early version of, say, "To Live Is To Fly" and the version on "A Far Cry From Dead" you may well experience an aural epiphany - a collapse (implosion) of 30 years - with the innocence and purity of the early version colliding with the worldweariness of the latter. The deepening of Van Zandt's voice followed the deepening of his experience of the world and it is reflected, in a sublime manner, in the very simple, exquisite re-calibration of this one song illuminating the presence of time itself while riding far above in a place that time cannot touch.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest country/folk album I have heard in a long time..., August 23, 1999

By 

"rgp721" (Sunrise, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far Cry From Dead (Audio CD)

For many years I have heard of Townes Van Zandt in relation to Eric Andersen and John Prine but for some reason, his work and me never crossed paths. Well, I read several reviews of this record and decided it may be posthumous, but it was about time.

From the first cut to the last it has haunted me. His music and lyrics intertwine in such a manner that they elicit different emotions at each listening. It has been a long time since I was so touched and moved by someone's work that it makes me kind of kick myself 'cause I will never get the chance to see him perform his songs live.

Nevertheless, a fan has been made. I can't seem to get my hands on his CD's fast enough. Townes Van Zandt was, no is, a truly great songwriter, musician, and poet. His music lives on!