Customer Reviews

Field Songs

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There have been a couple of instances where I've almost bought this CD but somehow doubted it being anywhere near as good as WHISKEY FOR THE HOLY GHOST. After listening to the new QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and the before mentioned Lanegan release I felt inclined to check this album out. The first two songs especially NO EASY ACTION; a traveling gypsy caravan moving through rolling hills of gold in blood red sun. Amazing. I felt like the music was getting me high. You can really see the range in this guy's voice on this song which is on some of his previous works a bit to subdued. The backing band of musicians is different from song to song but mainly keeps Mike Johnson as his right hand man at guitar (whom plays on, I think, every other Lanegan album) whom plays great but just enough so that the vocals shine through. Besides Johnson there are many other competent musicians making Lanegan's lyrics of barren, melancholy imagery and landscapes appear tangible in the mind of the listener. The music is so atmospheric he reminds me alot of Tom Waits, not neccessarily in musical style but the approach with very thick, layered sounds and instruments that make you feel as you are in the world of the musician. Also, the obvious parallel in the raspy vocals the two singers share There is an immense depth of feeling created by the music alone as can be heard in the instrumental piece BLUES FOR D. The whole album is beautiful and shifts mainly from folk/rhythm-and-blues songs. Two of my friends bought this album shortly after hearing a few of the songs through my copy of the album. If you like some of the more serious sounding Tom Waits material or have any of Lanegan's other material this is a must have.

Sadly, not enough people will be blessed to have a listen to this record. Then again, sometimes that which is sought out is better than that which is forcefed to us over the airwaves and television sets. This is certainly the case here. Go find this album and become immersed in a world of whiskey stained reflection and melencholy. This is just one of those albums that you feel inside. Upon listening, you soon realize this is more than just pre-fabricated noise. Mark lanegan is definatly a feelings man. Sit back, have a smoke, grab onto your favorite poison and relax. It doesnt get much better than this.

Those familiar with Mark Lanegan's previous outings into brooding folk/blues music will have no surprises with "Field Songs". Combine his sublime whiskey-drenched delivery (which immediately recalls the gravely tones of Tom Waits), a refined understanding of traditional folk and blues and then throw in the rock sensibility of 90s band Screaming Trees and "Field Songs" is the result. Perhaps Lanegan's best album to date with improved and more diverse writing, it still tragically remains an overlooked gem in the realms of singer/songwriter music.

"Field Songs" boasts some of Lanegan's best song writing. "No Easy Action" is a sumptuous flourishing rock song - fashioning very unique vocal harmonies thanks to middle-Eastern styled female vocals sustaining held notes over the top of Lanegan's delivery. This flows effortlessly into an archetypal Lanegan slow-burner in "Miracle", a shift in mood and atmosphere that is both bold and highly successful. "Don't Forget Me" and "Fix" are two of Lanegan's best blues romps, combining strong writing and menacing, gritty vocal performances. "Kimiko's Dream House" is a surprising soft and subtle highlight, and shows Lanegan's diversity as a writer. My personal favourite of the album, and quite possibly my favourite Lanegan song to date, is the stunning "Resurrection Song". The song instantly draws parallels to "Riding The Nightingale" from the album "Whiskey For The Holy Ghost" due to its stripped down atmosphere, focusing solely on guitar and voice, and forging a wonderfully engaging and raw piece.

"Field Songs" showcases a more diverse album than past releases thanks to tracks such as "No Easy Action" and "Kimiko's Dream House". It also refines the trademark Lanegan song, and combines to make a truly wonderful singer/songwriter album I highly recommend.

i'm a sucker for marlboro red smoking whiskey drinking americana, but this goes beyond all that. his voice is rough and dry one minute then noteperfect smooth the next, the guitar is mellow and lets him do the talking. in my opinion this is genuinely beautiful music.
one way street is such a mournfully strong song i never get tired of it.
i wish miracle went on longer, feels like the first verse to a great song.
dont forget me is another brilliant one,
and that work of art called resurrection song is for when you're lying out under the moon staring at stars and floating away, or wandering through fields alone at night when trees are swaying like the hypnotic guitar.
in fact the whole album's brilliant.
if you like music that's mellow and a singer who sounds like he's seen and done almost everything then get it. and get it if you don't cuz this album will convert you.

Mark Lanegan is a man full of wisdom, listening to him you can put your ideas in perspective if your girlfriend dumped you Ha!, can provide to you of new ways to see life, you can mature new philosophies, the man has a fascinating personality, cool , easy, careless about stupid matters, listen "dont forget me" , listen "Kimikos dream house" "low" "she done too mouch" with that cool, rough and calm voice the man has, that invites you to serenity , youll be a whole new man after listen to him is therapeutic
HM

With his last album of fairly obscure cover versions, Mark Lanegan found a niche for himself as a low-key and brooding vocalist with the uncanny ability to transform songs of an incredibly simple and almost sentimental nature into documents of organic honesty and beguiling urgency. "Field Songs" extends this talent to a new set of original compositions, as Lanegan's bourbon-soaked baritone drifts effortlessly through slow-tempo accounts of longing and loss, adding a uniquely masculine sensitivity to the sea of voices that fills the contemporary music scene.

This is a really great album. It's sung and played beautifully. I don't want to make a general statement, but it does sound like one might expect it to, meaning "Screaming Trees" light. That's fine with me though, I always loved their mellow stuff as much as the other. I won't even mention which tracks are the good ones, they all are. "Mark Lanegan" is obviously known for his smooth yet rough voice, and it is the star here, but the band is right on as well. I mean with ex-members of "Soundgarden" and "Dinosaur Jr.", how could it not be. This is highly recommended for anyone with a cool taste in music.

If things were right with this world, and the pod aliens who market 'popular' music had never landed, Mark Lanegan would have millions of dollars and be on every radio station, magazine cover and on every movie soundtrack that comes out. Maybe Mark wouldn't want it that way, though. I admit that I myself enjoy the privileged feeling that I get whenever I buy a new Lanegan CD and put it in my stereo. Hearing his songs is like being a member of a secret, elite society. If you too are part of this society, or want to be, Field Songs is just what you've been waiting for. On this album, we get songs that share familiar moods from Winding Sheet, Whiskey..., Scraps... and even I'll Take Care Of You, Lanegan's CD of Covers. There are also a few surprises, including one of my favorite tunes on the CD, No Easy Action, which sounds like the soundtrack to an Indo-Italian spaghetti western set during the Ice Age. Other standouts include One Way Street, the Tom Waits reminiscent Don't Forget Me and Low, which would have fit perfectly on Scraps... or Whiskey... There aren't any songs on this CD that I skip over. This is Lanegan at his best, and for a guy whose worst is far, far better than 99% of other musicians, that's saying a lot! I'm still waiting for Mark to cover some Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins gunfighter ballads, though.

Even before folding up the Screaming Trees for good in 2000, Mark Lanegan had quietly cultivated an impressive body of work as a solo artist. His version of Leadbelly's "In the Pines" on his 1990 debut "The Winding Sheet" anticipated the version made popular by Nirvana four years later and notably featured Kurt Cobain providing additional vocal accompaniment. Lanegan has traveled a great distance since those auspicious beginnings.

Field Songs, released in 2001, expands on many of the same sonic and lyrical territory explored on the much darker "Scraps at Midnight", his previous disc of original material. Lanegan's whisky soaked croon recalls Tom Waits at times but still sounds quite unique, particularly when most singers of his vintage are still trying to sound like Eddie Vedder. Lanegan sings with disillusionment, ruminating on love lost and found. Particularly haunting is the track "No Easy Action" which leads directly into
the almost dirgelike "Miracle." "Don't Forget Me" is also a standout number, reminiscent of Johnny Cash or even Bob Dylan's "Love and Theft."

If you find that you like this album, I recomment you check out Mark Lanegan's "Scraps at Midnight" album (Sub Pop, 1998) as well as the final Screaming Trees effort, "Dust" (Epic, 1996).

mark lanegan's solo albums get over-looked for his fantastic work with his former band the screaming trees and his other band that's he just left q.O.t.S.A i bought this album before christmas and it's been sitting on my cd rack for three months and last night i decide to finally spin the album as i thought it's night time something to relax my senses so i put it in and i was blown away as the beauty of the guitar chords lanegan's graceful deep voice and the beautiful words and that was just on no easy action i couldn't believe what i was hearing.
i have all his solo albums the winding sheet whiskey for the holy ghost here comes that weird chill ep bubblegum[being my second favorite] now this album being the masterpiece i have missed all them months because i'm an idiot
get and reap the genius of a beautiful folk/blues enlightning album
there are a few special musican's playing on this album

chris goss synth and voice track 11
mike johnson electric guitar tracks 1-7 &12
acoustic guitar 1-3 5-9 11;
wurlitser track 2 piano track 7
duff mckagen[bass player for GNR now velvet revolver]
plays drums on drums & fender rhodes track 12
ben shepherd plays electric guitar on most tracks

a classic album from a great man