Impasse

Richard Buckner | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 8, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Overcoat Recordings
• ASIN: B00006L3QO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,836 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alt. Country Genre Transcendence, November 3, 2002

By 

bruce watson (Belgrave, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Impasse (Audio CD)

"Alt. Country deity Richard Buckner has put his best cowboy boot forward minus the Calexico core of Burns and Convertino (who provided masterful support on 'The Hill'). As great as that release was, nobody would be missing them on "Impasse". (Buckner
played all instruments and his wife played percussion). As usual, he stretches the genre envelope into ethereal realms, and even the (sparsely used) 'cheesy' synthesizer sounds just right. Cannot this man produce anything less than exultant music? What gifts the music God hath bestowed! Let it vibrate the chakra of your heart.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once more, with feeling..., December 30, 2002

By 

singmebackhome (Macon, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Impasse (Audio CD)

Look, folks- just because you may not have heard of him doesn't mean Richard Buckner is not a major recording artist. He's making music equal to and better than Dylan, Springsteen, Joni and whoever else is going to be nominated for Grammies this year at his expense. His talent is utterly unique in popular music right now, and he's at the top of his game. Get on board- NOW! Devotion + Doubt, Since, and now Impasse are MAJOR records. Their effect will be profound and lasting. This is music that insists that you put down what you are doing and engage with it (so be careful what you are doing when you first try it on.) I could go on and on with alot of blah blah about specific qualities that this album possesses, but I would prefer not to waste any more of your time and simply urge you to snag Devotion + Doubt, Since, and Impasse. I dare you not to be moved. Buckner, along with Grace Braun and perhaps Iris Dement (if she'd put out some new music, dammit!) are among the most vital and uniquely gifted writers and singers today, and Buckner has not let us down with Impasse.

5 stars is not enough.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uncategorizable and uncompromising, October 16, 2002

By 

"pschattel2" (Arden, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Impasse (Audio CD)

Buckner has traditionally been labelled alternative country, but his music has always been a little to the left of everything else. Intelligent, literary, mysterious, and with unforgettable melodies, Buckner has suprised and delighted his listeners with every album. With "Impasse" he has done it again: Very different yet seemingly inevitable, this new album references such early-eighties post-punk bands like Modern English and Wire, but still stays within that same inexplicable realm -- part Pavement, part Nick Drake, part Ralph Stanley ... and now part Cure? Fascinating stuff.

If there's a gripe, its that he seems to be moving into the same lyrically inaccessible place that Jay Farrar went to -- all metaphor and simile, and few real connections. He is undoubtedly one of rock's best lyricists, but it's tough to relate to such obliqueness. You hum the melodies, but you don't always sing along.

Still, its encouraging to see an artist refuse to compromise and keep challenging his audience. Buckner is one of our finest, most integral artists. His boundaries seem almost limitless.