Customer Reviews

Heavy Ornamentals

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a long-time Gourds fan, I can tell you with much confidence that the Gourds' 9th release, "Heavy Ornamentals," will fulfill your Gourds fix. In the spectrum of Gourds albums, "Heavy Ornamentals" might come close to or equal "Blood of the Ram," but still doesn't match "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig" or their earlier albums.

"Burn the Honeysuckle" is quintessential Kev Russell and the album's best track. "Pill Bug Blues" and "Shake the Chandelier" are also Russell at his best and go down as all-time Gourds greats. Unfortunately, Jimmy Smith's contributions are par at best and the divide between the likeability of Kev and Jimmy's songs is greater on this album than any other. Ever since "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig," Jimmy's creativity has seemed to fall off a bit, and few of his songs stand out on the album. "Weather Woman," "Declineometer" and "New Roomate" are Smith's best tracks. An additional complaint is that Max Johnston-who showed his brilliance in "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig"-continues his song-writing drought. Max has no contributions on "Heavy Ornamentals."

If you're already hooked on The Gourds, "Heavy Ornamentals" will deliver more of what you're longing for. However, if you're new to The Gourds, I'd recommend an earlier album such as "Stadium Blitzer," "Dem's Good Beeble" or "Cow, Fish, Fowl or Pig."

Each listen of this album, front to back, it is like a road trip through varied terrain, all beautiful, often funny, sometimes sentimental.
The production compliments the songwriting and performances elegantly. The blurbs and farts and honks are all there, non-autotuned, non-beatdetected... raw yet complex- like the lyrical and harmonic composition. The honesty is an audible bonanza to the discerning ear (as well as to the casual listener).
Soon I'll have to move off of the awesome ballad, "Our Patriarch," and find a different song to listen to thirty seven consecutive times. The section on my hard drive that contains the file for "New Roomate" has probably been corrupted from overuse. Or Gourd stank.
This is good music.

I saw The Gourds live in Amsterdam in The Paradiso's upstairs hall- all 80 of us. They played from 2-4 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Great show...not only did I buy this, their latest cd; I even bought me a tee-shirt. Not a weak track here- and I read here that they recorded this in two weeks while recently on tour. This cd sounds very much as though it were live- and in the case of The Gourds, that's a good thing. Standout tracks are (for me, clearly): Pill Bug Blues, Mister Betty, and the cr?me de la cr?me...Shake the Chandelier. Very solid folk/rock more often on the rockin' side. See these guys live, in a great little venue near you- you won't regret it. ps: And a special 'thank you' to The Paradiso's ticket saleswoman who sold me a ticket to The Hackensaw Boys (from 4-6 that same afternoon) and let me in for free to see The Gourds, since I arrived at 2:30...also, if you don't know it already, Amsterdam is one fine fine city.

The Gourds always make great music. They are all talented musicians who seem to enjoy what they do. I've seen them live 7 or 8 times and they always put on a great show. Every time I watch them perform I get the feeling they are doing what they were born to do. As with any Gourds CD, Heavy Ornamentals calls upon many genres and influences, but they make all their songs their own. Catchy tunes with quintessential gourds lyrics. do yourself a favor and add this one to your collection.

How else to describe the impact of a band, and their latest record, except to say that I immediately ordered two other previous CDs within days of hearing "Heavy Ornamentals." Yes, I am a belated devotee of The Gourds. Their music epitomizes the best of my beloved Band, the Stones, and a bevy of roots, blues, and true country musicians. Yet they are not only derivative. They have their own hooky (junk?) lyrics, their own odd, oddly changing tempos, and their own rock-solid instrumental work, and lovely vocal work, to keep your ear glued to the speakers. I was walking down the hallway at work today singing their songs. What better praise!

This is, I think, Russell's finest album. His tracks are of outstanding character, quality, and fun. However, I prefer some of Jimmy Smith's other works, and his songs on this album are, in some ways, too similar to those of Russell's. However, the album is more than worth it for those excellent beats, melodies, and whoops and hollers.

The more I listen to this album, the more I like it. For the band that's hard to define, this album is a continuation of the quality, eccentric, and down-home bluegrass/rock/country music I have grown to love. Thanks Gourds

This is the 4th album by the Gourds that I've purchased, and I'm enjoying it. This one was recorded in 2006. I first saw the Gourds on Austin City Limits, and was really impressed. They have great instrumental versatility, and have their own distinct blend of musical styles. Everything they do has a bit of country-flavor, but tunes range from authentic old-time Mountain music to a more Rolling Stones style of country-rock. They write virtually all of their own material, having their own strange breed of imagery. I see them as a somewhat looser version of the Band. Like the music of the early Band albums, the Gourds are able to convincingly take you back in time with their more old-time tunes. This is a group that intentionally brings a loose and spontaneous performance to create a "back-porch" feel, often raunchily suggestive in lyrical content. I think they're a lot of fun. This album stands up well with their best, there being close to a dozen albums spanning at least as many years. I'm looking forward to more Gourd purchases. I'd also recommend "The Ghosts of Hallelujah", and "Cow,Fish,Fowl,or Pig".

The Gourds never sounded so good. This is their best album and is exactly how their supposed to sound. The perfect blend of guitar and drums makes this cd spin round and round for me all day.

I heard the Gourds interviewed on NPR a couple of years ago. They have such a fun, laid-back attitude. And the cuts played were just great...including "Hooky Junk" which is based on one of their young sons asking his dad to play that "hooky junk," meaning Tom Waits! How can you not love that. The whole CD is wonderful and really contagious.