10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A frustratingly disjointed peek into Peter Himmelman's vault, December 30, 2000
This review is from: The Himmelvaults - Vol. 1 (Audio CD)
If you own no Peter Himmelman albums, then this isn't the place to start. While it does feature some fine songs, it lacks the cohesion of his best albums ("From Strength To Strength" and "Flown This Acid World"). But then again, it's not MEANT to be a cohesive listening experience, but rather something like Pete Townshend's "Scoop" series--a collection of outtakes and oddities that somehow don't have a place on "regular" studio albums. The liner notes speak of four 90 minute tapes of material which were subject to review for this cd. However, the album clocks in under 39 minutes, and many of the tracks aren't real "songs" (two are brief spoken-word "stories" captured live in concert, two more are essentially jam pieces). So we're left with only about half a dozen "unheard" compositions (not incl. the live & alternate versions of two Himmelman concert staples). Of those, "Holding Diamonds", "Blind" & "Simple Faith" are clearly among his best material. On these cuts, Himmelman's effortlessly eloquent lyrics mirror the thought-provoking poetry of his famous father-in-law, while the music evokes the rootsy rock of a latter-day Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen--though Himmelman's vocals are infinitely more pleasing than any of those singers.
If only those DAT tapes would have been scoured more thoroughly, we'd certainly find more of these gems. Hopefully, future volumes will provide more generous "scoops" into Himmelman's previously unreleased output.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
