Customer Reviews

Good Life

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow, it's taken quite a few thousand albums to inspire me to write a review of a new album... This follow-up to Bird in a House (also a brilliant album) is absolutely fantastic. I was sold on the band the moment I first heard them on their debut The Blackbear Sessions. I then saw them live in Waitsfield, VT (see title track # 5, Good Life, "went up the Mad River Valley and never looked back...") and realized that I was completely sold.
I have to admit, with a slight change of style I was ready for a let-down. Good Life was just the opposite. I've never listened to an album (well maybe Dark Side of the Moon) so many times. I left it in the truck and it made me want to drive all the time.
The album is strong throughout, with my favorites being:
#1: Storms
A ghostly ambience like the moments just before the rain starts pouring down, except with tempo and smooth melodies
#3: Mourning Flies
Another haunting melody that digs deep and hits you, paving the way for a firm quiet jam
#4: Long Way to Go
This song could have been written in 60's/70's, by Creedence Clearwater Revival. One of the catchy tune on the album, I've been whistling and mouthing this one for weeks.
#6: Said What You Mean
A purely original, not quite tear-jerking ballad. From start to finish exactly what I want to be listening to. It makes me feel a little like I'm back in middle school in that I haven't been this moved by a ballad since then.
Te rest of the tunes on the album.. they blow away some of the finest on other recent albums from related bands. If you haven't listened to any RRE shame on you.

This CD (RRE's third) was released in June of 2004, but I didn't know about it because I was preparing to take the Ohio bar exam. Under those circumstances, it's just as well that I _didn't_ know about it, or I'd have spent all my study time listening to the durned thing.

Well, now I've got it, and it's every bit as good as I expected. And it cements RRE's position as my favorite currently existing band in any category.

The musical duties are distributed in pretty much the same way here as on their previous two releases: Todd Sheaffer handles vocals and guitar and does the bulk of the songwriting; John Skehan, Tim Carbone, and Andy Goessling provide the band's trademark swirling-and-skirling texture; new bassist Johnny Grubb (replacing Dave Von Dollen) and percussionist Carey Harmon provide the solid ground they take off from and land on. Every one of them is an ace at his job -- and Skehan (mostly mandolin), Carbone (mostly fiddle), and Goessling (mostly banjo and guitar) seem to play every instrument under the sun at one time or another. The arrangements sound tighter than on their previous releases and everything seems a little more structured.

As on _The Black Bear Sessions_ and _Bird In A House_, the real heart of the CD is Sheaffer's songwriting, which this time out seems a bit less otherworldly and a bit more focused and topical. On a few songs the other guys write some of the music (and Skehan contributes a fine instrumental), but basically, things go in the direction Sheaffer takes them.

And it works yet again. Sheaffer is stretching himself here and his material sometimes enters what, for RRE, is new musical territory -- but every song is a gem and there's really not a weak moment on the entire CD. As before, many of the songs are 'long' without _feeling_ long: you'll listen to a tune without even noticing that six or seven minutes have gone by, and then wonder why it ended so soon.

Probably the most daring piece is 'Goat', an utterly brilliant, penetrating, and haunting take on Leviticus 16:21-22 (and my current favorite song on the CD, though it may not be for all listeners). And probably the most flat-out gorgeous is 'Said What You Mean', a captivating ballad that, to my ear at least, recalls _Double Fantasy_-era John Lennon. In general, Sheaffer has written lots more lyrics to these songs than on the band's earlier CDs, with the result that there's significantly less trading of instrumental solos. (That's not to say that the rest of the band is idle, just that Sheaffer doesn't always stop singing while they work their mojo.)

Which reminds me of one other well-considered change: this time there's a lyric booklet, with the words to all the songs except the hidden twelfth track. I like lyric booklets in general, and I especially like them for RRE because it's occasionally hard to hear exactly what Sheaffer is singing.

RRE occupies some weird niche in musical space that is somehow entirely their own but simultaneously 'next door' to lots of wildly disparate styles. Of course they've been compared (and appropriately) to the Grateful Dead, but on _The Good Life_ they also, at fleeting moments, remind me of e.g. the Beatles (especially the aforementioned Lennon), the Byrds, ELO, Tom Petty, Arlo Guthrie, and the Rolling Stones. (Which is pretty amazing for a mostly acoustic band relying mainly on bluegrass instruments. Part of it is Sheaffer's voice, and part of it is because these guys are just so danged _good_ on all those instruments.)

I'm not going to try to rank these three CDs in order of quality; I've got my favorite parts of each, and no doubt you'll have yours, and yours may not be the same as mine. The main thing is, if you like this band, they really haven't released a CD you can afford to skip.

"The Good Life" is Railroad Earth's third CD. The band was formed in 2001 and came out with its first CD ("Railroad Earth") in 2001. This was followed by 2002's "Bird in the House." The band's genre might best be described as bluegrass. I'm not a huge bluegrass fan, but I did enjoy their first two CDs. With "The Good Life", the band has branched out a bit, making it my favorite RRE CD.

As reviewers note, RRE reminds the listener of other bands but manages to sound original at the same time. In addition to the influences suggested by others, I'd add The Band and Neil Young to the mix. Lead singer and principal songwriter Todd Sheaffer sounds a lot like John Lennon and a couple songs remind me of John Lennon material (Beatles and solo stuff).

In addition to the stylistic variety, the songs rang from the uplifting ("Storms"), the serious ("Goat"), the touching ("In the Basement") and the humorous (the final bonus song). It's not often that a band can range over such a wide variety of styles. My favorite song is "Long Way to Go", which starts out like late John Lennon and ends sounding like Black Gospel.

I got this album based on a friend's suggestion and was honestly sceptical. But much to my surprise, I have been incredibly impressed with Railroad Earth - this is a great album and I would recommend it to just about anyone. Their music crosses several genres and I have found it to be very enjoyable. I haven't been able to stop listening to it since it arrived.

When was the last time you heard an album that really inspired you? I don't mean one that you liked a lot, but one that stuck with you and dug deep down into your soul. This is one of those albums. I stumbled across this band a few months ago and have been transfixed ever since. They have been described as psychedelic bluegrass, but I don't think that is really accurate. You see, they are a band that can't be defined, at least not yet, because they are creating something new. See Railroad Earth live if you can and buy this CD. I don't like to buy CDs because there are usually only a few good songs, but this CD is chocked full of goodness. RRE is only going to get bigger and bigger and they deserve whatever success comes to them because really have something. What is that `something'? I can't describe it. See for yourself.
www.GeckoTales.com

What can I say, I put this CD in, 'Storms' begins with a soulful vocal croon from Todd and a smile emerges from my face. Storms is without a doubt my favorite tune on the album.

Some songs from Todd/RRE just flow like water and this is one of them. Overall, however, I feel a few songs seems more "forced" or disjointed and so overall I give this album a B+ and rank it 3rd of their 3 albums. Do not get me wrong, though, I have been playing it over and over and over non-stop, so it is still MUCH better than most any other album out these days.

Long Way to Go is the other ear-catcher on this album. These are the two A+ songs for me.

The title song has grown on me nicely, Way of the buffalo brings a hint of From Good Homes back with its touch of barritone sax added. This song may be the most unique on the album in a similar way to 'Came up Smilin' on the Bird in a house album.

The only songs I skip are the instrumental "quicksand" which is really not a song, but more of a snippet of a nice jam during a song that you might hear during a live show. It is fun, but since it does not go through a lot of changes it gets a bit old quickly (for me anyway). The other is Goat, which just rubs me wrong in its vocal styling for some reason. This might be the first song I really cannot listen to from any album so far.

Surely another winner from the band and some more Gems mixed in with some basic great tunes. Todd is really an amazing songwriter and has the unique ability to alter his tonality and emphasis in singing to give songs real life. Long Way to Go for example sings the phrase over and over, but each time it is sung with different inlections, giving it a heartfelt feel and avoiding the typical pop song burn-out effect from repeated listenings.

One question, the repeated use of "Johnny" in songs - is this just because it conjures up a certain image/feel, or does Todd have an affinity for the name? This and the use of "old man" as in "old man trouble" seem to crop up a lot, or at least I think so, which is no real issue, but more of a curiosity to me.

Oh Yes, and there is a nice track 12 not listed. A sort of rustic romp, maybe called New Jersey? Hard to say, but it is a great tune, sounds kinda live, but not. Reminds me of the end of Fruitful Acre in a way - an extra little romp at the end. Good tune, up there with the Storms and Long Way to Go.

And last, but not least, I should mention the production of this album is absolutely perfect. By far the best produced album - with all instruments and vocals receiving the proper tonality for the song and proper sound levels and mixing. I did not read the credits, but maybe someone new did it? Or the budget is a little bit better? Not sure, but it is well done.

Imagine a 60's Byrds type vibe, with one part New Grass revival, a pinch of Grateful Dead-esque jam sounds, a dollop of Neil Young inspired rock topped off with evocative roots/pop songwriting, and there you have this album. This album pulls together the best ingredients of many different genres to make an incredible record that you can't help but to play it the whole way through. The album is unique in that it is very fun and yet retains an enormous amount of integrity. "Storms" is a beautiful and fun intro for this album (and my personal favorite). The album also contains bluegrass jams like "Bread and Water" and more melodic tunes like "Say What You Mean." This is a beautifully written feel good album and I would recommend it to any music fan.

Playing Time - 58:09 -- From New Jersey, Railroad Earth formed in 2001, as a result of live sessions at the Pocono Bluegrass Society open mics. They recorded a five-song demo and were immediately booked at the Telluride, High Sierra and Grey Fox Festivals where they were compared to The New Grass Revival. Band. Members include Andy Groessling, Tim Carbone , John Skehan, Carey Harmon, Johnny Grubb, and Todd Schaeffer . Previous bassist Dave Von Dollen has apparently left the group to be replaced by Grubb. Schaeffer was a founding member of a band called From Good Homes (which recorded for RCA), and Groessling and Carbone formerly had a group called The Blue Sparks from Hell The band's first album, The Black Bear Sessions (BOS Music was released in 2001. "Bird in a House" was their 2002 highly-acclaimed sophomore effort. That project actually left me with a more indelible impression than their latest release, but I'm sure that "The Good Life" will surely grow on me with repeated listening.

"The Good Life" is an arousing and insightful collection of eleven original songs, primarily from the creative pen of Todd Schaeffer. The band's unique signature sound combines a variety of acoustic and electric instruments with drums in arrangements that emphasize meaningful messages while creating a musical mood with hopping rhythms, compelling vocals, engaging riffs and enchanting fills. Best described as an eclectic jam band, their uplifting and happy songs are a nice respite from so much sadness, blues and sorrow in today's music. We need more songs like Railroad Earth's optimist tales about being positive, living the good life, going back to the country, finding success and true love, despite all the hardships faced along the way. It's nice to see lyrics included in The Good Life's album's jacket, and a song like "Goat" tells us how to get fear, violence and hate out of our lives by running "this goat right out of town."

With a distinctive stamp on today's music scene, Railroad Earth displays the raw energy, talent and emotion of an innovative band like Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys demonstrated when they first took the stage in the 1940s. With a full touring schedule, good airplay and the support of the Sugar Hill label, Railroad Earth is destined to leave a lasting impression. Only time will tell if my prophecy comes true. (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

The arresting beauty and soft playfulness of RRE's music begins ever so charmingly with the first notes of the first song, "Storms" It takes me back to those wondrous Midwestern evenings when storms would be boiling on the horizon, but beyond the strange sense of awe- you felt safe.

I've been a fan ever since I read a review in Relix magazine several years ago when their debut album arrived on the shelves. The simple fact is this- these guys just keep getting better and better with each progressive album.

"The Good Life" will do nothing more than beget a genuine smile. If not, there is something seriously wrong with you.

"Said What You Mean" is simply one of the most beautiful love songs employed by music. Come dream it with me.

If you haven't listened to RRE, you are missing out on some rare musical beauty and rollicking fun. I strongly recommend this album along with any of their other releases. If you enjoy bluegrass, jamgrass, jambands, or just music in general- I'm sure you will be more than pleased with this and any other release by RRE. Do yourself a favor, and add this to your collection.

Disclaimer: I've seen From Good Homes live many, many times, and always loved Todd's music. I want to give this community a fan's first impression:

1) The song that gives the greatest first impression is "Long Way To Go": it's a tremendous romp. A signature song, and I envy everyone who gets to hear it live.
2) "Storms" starts with a long intro "ahhhhh", kind of how I felt when I got to spin a new album from Todd. RRE preform a song about getting through troubled times, such a common topic that the song highlights the qualities of the band rather than the qualities of the song's subject. You'd swear that Todd is channeling Neil Young.
3) The title song, "The Good Life" defines a laid-back quality that pervades the album, expressing a certain weariness that reminds me of R.E.M's Automatic For The People. Yet this comparison also highlights the pastoral qualities of RRE versus the urban(?) qualities of R.E.M, and most current-day pop music. The pastoral qualities create a great part of RRE's uniqueness.
4) "Mourning Flies" has a soulful, contemplative quality that builds into a quiet anthem song, so well suited to Todd's voice and RRE's signature acoustic sound.
5) "Way Of The Buffalo" - back to New Orleans, so it picks up from, yet is dramatically different than "Fruitful Acre."
6) One of my complaints about RRE is that they occasionally trip into the LightFM equivalent of acoustic, bluegrass-styled music. The album in spots gets in this mode, most specifically, "In The Basement" (bring back spacey Johnny please).

Highly recommended.