Customer Reviews

Invisible Man

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Man. I continue to be blown away by this guy. I'm a huge Tim O'Brien fan, and it was their dual album "Real Time" that got me turned onto Mr. Scott. I still don't know how you would classify his music. Country Artists do his songs but he's not really 'country'. I think his allusion to one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Hank Williams, in this new album, is a fitting comparison. Just like Mr. Williams, Darrell Scott seems to know how to put chords and words together in ways that seem too simple for the cumulative power they have. He creates poetry without affect, and he creates powerful music without pyrotechnics. When you see the chords to some of his best songs, you can't believe they are simple chords that most people know. How does he get that kind of emotional power out of those simple chords? His arrangements on this album do justice to the songs, as they pretty much always do on his albums. This album in particular seems to have more intensity. It's as though Mr. Scott has taken the measure of his soul with an unflinching eye (again), seen where he stands, and picks up a guitar to try to elevate himself. There is a power in this album that is above even the high watermark or his last couple of albums. I was so knocked out by the first song ("Hank William's Ghost") listening to it on the way to work that I wanted to stay on the train and call in sick. I felt like I'd been kicked in the solar plexus. He speaks to real matters of the heart, that real people experience: loss, temptation, being happy with where you are while not being able to lose sight of where you could be or could have been. I say clumsily what he says brilliantly, succinctly. If you like good music, I could not recommend this album strong enough.
Hank Williams wrote songs that continue to be performed by artist of every stripe and genre. People like to record them and sing them because they are Good Songs. Darrell Scott is riding right alongside him.

Scott is a busy, busy man: an in-demand Nashville string player, vocalist and songwriter whose own "Live in NC" CD accompanied his father's "This Weary Way" just last year, and whose melodies appear on John Cowan's latest release. Scott's music echoes the broad experience he's gained playing with country traditionalists Suzy Boguss and Randy Travis, outlaws Steve Earle and Jim Lauderdale, and progressive bluegrassers Sam Bush and Tim O'Brien. His latest retains the electric approach of 2003's "Theatre of the Unheard," sometimes rocking harder than his writing actually requires. The jazz underpinnings of his songs, so prevalent on his trio-based live CD, are occasionally lost amid this full-band context and attendant studio touches.

Still, this is an intriguing blend of Scott's soulful vocals with country, folk, rock and Celtic flavors. The introspective "And the River is Me" pares back the electricity and stretches out to over six minutes, and the pairing of "There's a Stone Around My Belly" and "Shattered Cross" is emphatic in its picking and singing. Scott's lyrics interweave many biographical details, but his poetry often provides obtuse imagery rather than story or character study; more Dylan than Simon in many cases. The verbal impressionism is matched by the complexity of the arrangements, which may challenging for listeners who enjoy more straightforward exposition. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]

just a superb CD that grows on you with each listen. well crafted songs with very thoughtful lyrics that reveal a lot about Darrell Scott. there's not a clinker in the bunch. very highly recommended. check out The Dreamer, Let's Call It a Life, And the River Is Me.

Darrell Scott picked up a guitar in Gruene Hall at the Fred Eaglesmith Texas weekend and brought the rowdy Texas audience to reverent silence. Mr. Scott squeezed as much passionate music out of his solo acoustic guitar as an entire band of guitar slingers. His performance was stunning. This album is a great example of his songwriting and playing skills.

This one is very different from his earlier work. It's somewhat topical - which is a departure for Scott, and listening to it it's like discovering some lost classic... 'Goodle USA' is like a melding of John Hartfords 'Goodle Days' and Lennon's 'Imagine' while 'Looking Glass' is a like a dead-on channeling of some unwritten classic Joni Mitchell song.

Playing Time - 50:17

Who They Are: A bit of a rogue and maverick, Darrell Scott's a Grammy nominee and ASCAP's 2002 Songwriter of the Year.

What They Do: He's assembled an impressive team of players to present his originals on his sixth album

Little Known Facts: Born on a tobacco farm in the coal-mining center of London, Kentucky, Scott moved as a young child to East Gary, Indiana, a steel-mill town on Lake Michigan near Chicago. His father is a musician, and he grew up around music and creativity. By 16, he was playing roadhouses in Southern California. After some dues-paying years in Toronto and Boston, where he attended Tufts University, studying poetry and literature, Scott finally made the move south to Nashville. Darrell is currently an active member of Steve Earle's Bluegrass Dukes.

The Songs: "And The River is Me" presents some of Scott's self-assessment: "They had this test back in high school / Said I had a career in forestry / Had aptitude for isolation / Yeah, I could live without T.V. / But me, I took the low road / My soul flies up into the night / I don't live in a tower on some fire road / But the human view is out of sight." As central as Scott's own songs are to the project, the spirit of the CD is also captured in the only cover "Shattered Cross," from his friend Stuart Adamson. The powerful song was recorded within a month of Stuart dying.

The Musicians: Recorded live in Scott's home studio, he has a familiar core of distinguished and experienced players like bassist Danny Thompson (Richard Thompson, Rod Stewart) and drummer Kenny Malone (JJ Cale, Johnny Cash). The album also features Richard Bennett (guitar), Dan Dugmore (pedal steel, guitar), as well as many others to a lesser degree (John Cowan, Sam Bush, Gabe Dixon, Andrea Zonn, Tim O'Brien, Minton Sparks). The Invisible Man was mixed by award-winning engineer Gary Paczosa.

Of Special Note: In his own "Looking Glass," we gain some more insight into Scott's head. He sings "Me and this song we got a lot in common / Neither knows quite how they end / Just follow along like a leaf on the river / Believe we always can begin again."

If I Could Change One Thing: If I were producing his music, I'd like to hear a little more fiddle, pedal steel, resophonic guitar, and even more vocal harmonies in his music.

His Bumpersticker Might Say: Darrell Scott's got his head in a song and a song in his head

The Bottomline Is: Darrell's stirring songs "come riding in on the wind" and they are "rainbows in the sky"

Reviewed By: Joe Ross (staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

This was a hard CD for me to review. I bought this about 4 months ago and have mixed feelings about it. First of all, I had never heard of Darrell Scott before hearing his "Do It or Die Trying" song one day. The music coupled with wonderfully interesting lyrics made me want to look deeper into his music. I got a chance to listen to "Hank Williams Ghost' next and was sold. So I purchased this CD.

Upon listening to it, an interesting thing happened. Usually when I get a new CD I play it to death the first week or two, until I'm almost sick of it. That didn't happen here. With "The Invisible Man", I probably listened maybe a total of three times, then put it away. It's not the music, there is a great blend of songs here. I think it's more his writing. While he has a great way with words and lyrics, blending with the music nicely, I think his message here is almost depressing. He seems fixated with death and unhappiness. Again, solid writing but overall not always a enjoyable listen.

I occasionally pull it out to listen but really not very often. It's won't be one of my staples. I would recommend this if you are a Darrell Scott fan but not sure about anyone else.

I checked out this album after a recommendation from American Songwriter magazine that stated that he is "that good". I can't say that I agree because none of the material here is exceptional. It's just one unremarkable, uninspired, trite song after another. The low-point comes in the song "Goodle, USA" where he sings how it would be great if "the army had to have a bake sale for their wars". Not only is that lyric fatuous, it is as cliched as you can get (out looking at bumper stickers for song ideas Darrell?).

After hearing Mr. Scott perform with Jeffrey Foucault and Chris Smither in the summer of 2006, I dove into his music library ear first. Finding great songs like "Heartbreak Town". On Mr. Scott's latest release Invisible Man, great songwriting continues. "Hank Williams Ghost", "There's A Stone Around My Belly" and "Looking Glass" show why he is so good. "Shatterd Cross" written by the late Stuart Adamson (Big Country) is hauntingly beautiful, reminding me of Mr. Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule with a country flavor.

Darrell Scott does writes great music. I don't think you can truly classify it. This maybe one of the best cd's ever recorded period. "Looking Glass" is probably one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. You need to buy this cd, pour a glass of wine, sit down and just try to absorb the cd as a whole. I feel this cd goes beyond music. It is truly a masterpiece painted with words. I can't thank you enough for what this cd has meant to me and my family.