Funnel Cloud

Hem | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 5, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nettwerk Records
• ASIN: B000H7JD3Q
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,182 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It might sound like a backhanded compliment to say Hem makes lite-rock with a country twist. But before you conjure up images of Phil Collins with a cowboy hat, let's clarify by saying the New York band essentially picks up where the Cowboy Junkies left off--crafting intimate southern songs that unfold with quiet dignity over a bed of strings, pedal-steel guitars and restrained piano flourishes. That's more like it. Besides, in Sally Ellyson, the group has a singer whose clear, sweet voice can't help but make even the most overcast song sound oddly beautiful. If only "I'll Dream Of You Tonight" and "Too Late To Turn Back Now" could be the soundtrack to every waiting room people would actually look forward to that next root canal. --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe Hem's best yet -- and that's saying something, September 16, 2006

By 

Christopher Condon "Fuzzyman" (Shelton, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funnel Cloud (Audio CD)

Hem's last full album of new songs, Eveningland, was hauntingly beautful but suffered from overproduction. It was if all the engery was bottled up and they didn't want to let it out.

Not so here. Funnel Cloud sparkles with both beauty and energy. Even the slower songs like the title track tremble with an energy evocotive of their live performances. Meanwhile, the beautiful melodies keep on coming -- He Came to Meet Me and Reservior may be two of their best songs, ever.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A quietly beautiful, intelligent pop/country album, September 8, 2006

By 

John Matlock (St. Louis, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funnel Cloud (Audio CD)

If you've heard any of their previous releases, you know that Hem doesn't make loud, brash music. This release continues their previous albums' quietly elegant tone. They wisely cut back on the string sections this time around. The songwriters put a lot of thought into each of the songs and Sally Ellyson is the perfect voice for them.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Ear Candy, September 22, 2006

By 

Joseph A. Sciascia "Sade Fan" (S.F.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Funnel Cloud (Audio CD)

I've never heard this band before until today. I read some recommendations from some reviews. All I can say is that I "LOVE" it!
The whole album is Sophisticated, Contemporary and very smart. I have not even finished the cd yet, and my favorite track is the silky vocals on "He Came To Meet Me". Even though this is a new album for me, I'm putting it at the top with my other favorites of "folk/singer songwriter/Indie Rock"...like Joni Mitchell, Kate Wolf, Gillian Welch and Shawn Colvin.