Fresh Wine for the Horses

Rob Dickinson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sanctuary Records
• ASIN: B000ANVPC4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #278,082 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Five years after his former band came to sputtering halt, ex-Catherine Wheel frontman (and cousin to Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson!) Rob Dickinson packs away the bruising guitar riffs and returns with a positively grown-up solo debut. Optimism and innocence streak through stately piano ballads, woozy strings and jingle-jangle acoustic guitars take the place of white-noise, and Dickinson's voice settles into an affecting falsetto. He's finally written a worthwhile follow-up to "Black Metallic" in the excellent "My Name Is Love," although always a weak lyricist, his songwriting skills could still use a little refinement ("You've just got to smile and hang out with intelligent people," goes the particularly uninspired chorus of "Intelligent People"--proving his old band's extreme penchant for feedback wasn't entirely pointless). Nevertheless, his renewed passion can't be doubted, especially in sweet melodies like "Oceans" and "The Night." --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

The debut solo album from the lead singer of The Catherine Wheel is finally here. Five years after his groundbreaking band stopped making records, Rob Dickinson has delivered the sweeping, heartbreaking opus we knew he had in his back pocket. Always known for crafting superb albums for his criminally overlooked band, Dickinson takes us through his lush musical landscapes with beauty, power, romance and lots of guitar. From the fi rst note of "My Name Is Love", Dickinson takes you on an unforgettable journey where you believe every heartfelt note.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A welcome return!, September 15, 2005

By 

David Parker (burlington, vermont United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fresh Wine for the Horses (Audio CD)

Let me first say that I think Rob's former band Catherine Wheel was THE most criminally underrated band of the entire 90's! Amazing album after amazing album, with a groundbreaking sound that I still hear in newer, more unexplainably popular bands today, and they couldn't get arrested! (Perhaps it was their name, which unfortunately may have caused their albums to end up in the 'Female Folk Singers' category at most record stores!) Sadly, the switch of labels from Mercury to Sony, instead of giving them the push they so greatly needed, served to simply let them fade away into self-described "hiatus". So, it was with great anticipation that I picked up Rob's long-awaited solo release. While not too reminiscent of the Wheel, it's still SO great to hear his wonderful and expressive voice again! I guess this could be considered a more "adult" or "lighter" version of the Wheel's sound, since he was, after all, their songwriter. But don't let that stop you from enjoying one of the best albums I've heard this year. And, CW fans can rejoice that two songs, both leftovers from the underrated "Wishville" album, are included here, and reunite three of the four Wheel members, along with frequent collaborator Tim Friese-Green! I only hope that alternative radio catches onto the first single "My name is love" and turns it into the hit it oughta be! For Rob Dickinson, major stardom is long overdue and well-deserved! May he 1) find success with this solo release, and 2) reunite the mighty Catherine Wheel again!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We missed ya, Rob, October 29, 2005

By 

Ethan Straffin (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fresh Wine for the Horses (Audio CD)

I was unkind to Catherine Wheel in my review of their swan song, _Wishville_, which I (like so many CW fans) considered lackluster and distinctly subpar. I wrote back then that I hoped they'd rebound, and while things didn't exactly work out that way, _Fresh Wine for the Horses_ -- hey Rob, watch whom you're calling a horse! -- is a highly worthwhile listen from that band's primary songwriter.

As with most of CW's albums, the songs here are something of a mixed bag with respect to musical and lyrical quality, and CW fans may be a bit disappointed by the fact that only the hyper-dynamic rocker "Handsome" goes beyond midtempo. Still, between that track, the sweet and soaring single "My Name is Love," the delicate and skillfully arranged ballad "The Night," and the slow-burn closer "Towering and Flowering," there's more than enough good stuff here to make for a solid album.

An addendum: having adored Warren Zevon before I adored Catherine Wheel (for the simple reason that Zevon arrived 16 years earlier), I find Dickinson's two-part cover of "Mutineer" to be well-chosen, appropriately symbolic, and all-around menschy. (I don't entirely get why he decided to cover approximately the same snippet of the song on track 4 and again at the album's end -- with original harmonies on the latter -- rather than simply covering the whole song, but that's a minor point.) While CW's life as a band and Zevon's life as a human being may have ended right around the same time, this album finds promising new life in the ashes of the old.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank you, Rob! We missed you!, September 16, 2005

By 

Team JJ (Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fresh Wine for the Horses (Audio CD)

My husband and I have been Catherine Wheel fans for YEARS and have been awaiting the release of this album like no other- we were NOT disappointed! It saddens me to say that we actually found his album at a major music store filed under the Bruce Dickinson tab- argh! (Not that I'm surprised since Catherine Wheel albums were always under "W" for the presumed female artist Catherine!) Rob's voice sounds incredible (Towering and Flowering) and some of the melodies are just phenomenal (Oceans). This album is full of songs that are great to sit down, relax and actually LISTEN to (as were most Catherine Wheel songs) unlike most of the thee minute crap out there today that's written only with radio station playlists in mind. I must say that I can never understand why Rob is often pegged in reviews as a "weak lyricist" because many of the lines in this album are quite tender or downright catchy. I hope this album brings Rob the success he's deserved for years and CW give it another go!