Customer Reviews

Keeper of the Flame

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wasn't paying attention when I bought this CD. I knew Luka Bloom from "The Acoustic Motorbike", which remains a personal fave.

So I had no idea that this was an album of Cover Songs. All I can say is "Wow". The most surprising thing about this disc is the eclectic collection of artists Luka chose to cover, from Rose Royce to Robbie Robertson ("Golden Feather"), to Nina Simone (nice choice, that one), to The Cure and Bob Dylan. An acoustic version of Abba's "Dancing Queen"? No problem. U2's "Bad" (possibly my favorite U2 song) comes across in a whole new fashion.

This is a great album of consumate artistry. For the life of me, I can't figure out why commercial radio hasn't found a place for the work of Luka Bloom. Then again, you can buy this CD, and he'll be our little secret.

Whaddya think?

I found this album to be a very interesting surprise. I would venture that those of you who like Eva Cassidy's Songbird album will like this one too: a set of covers (from Dylan to Abba) in an acoustic setting, with a very memorable voice. I think all the songs work, even though the combination seems odd. Those of you who remember the British group "The Bible" which had one stellar album called "Eureka" somewhere during the 80's will find this album familiar, and it even brings back memories from another British band of the 70's: Magna Carta. All in all an excellent set, and I' hoping for more great music from Luka.

I stumbled upon this artist several years ago while enduring a three year job assignment in Elmira, NY. I was looking through the public library's CD section and came across a Luka Bloom CD, picked it up, put it down and continued to rummage around and ended up picking it back up quite by accident. I had selected several others by Robert Cray, Rusted Root,The Rolling Stones, Santana and there it was the Bloom CD. Said I to the librarian as I checked it out, "It's worth a free listen." On the way back home I popped it into my car's CD player and was hooked. Simple uncomplicated and better yet very soothing to the ear.

Anyway back to the subject at hand. "Keeper of the Flame" is an interesting compliation of "covers". Who'd a thunk that an ABBA song would sound like anything other than an ABBA song - Bloom's styling of "Dancing Queen" is definitly unlike ABBA's antispectic presentation. The best cut is Radiohead's "No Surprises". But as I reflect upon it there are several other very listenable cuts The Cure's "In Between Days", Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love", and Joni Mitchell's "Urge for Going". For that matter of the twelve cuts on the CD none will disappoint.

I was very surprised to hear an Irishman doing a Cure cover, but believe me, it works. I love his version of "In Between Days". He has such an Irish sound you want to pick up a Guinness, and it works with this choice of covers (except maybe for "Dancing Queen" ...). I also love his version of "If I Were a Carpenter". This is not just someone doing their requisite "covers" album, but he brings something new to each of these songs.

These days it seems like most artists eventually do an all covers album and "Keeper of the Flame" is the one from Luka Bloom. A great songwriter on his own (and with four albums to prove it) Bloom keeps things fairly sparse on both the instrumental front and time wise (the CD clocks in at less than 40 minutes).

As for the material itself, these covers range from the somewhat obvious (Dylan's "Make Me Feel Your Love," Joni Mitchell's "Urge For Going," Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter") to the surprising (U2's "Bad," Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic") to the downright surreal (The Cure's "In Between Days," ABBA's "Dancing Queen"). All are sung with his marvelous voice and are superbly arranged.

"Keeper of the Flame" is probably not the best place for newcomers to start, but Bloom fans will want to be sure to pick this one up soon.

I agree that this is an oddball collection -- who but Luka Bloom could cover a Bob Dylan song and an Abba song on one CD? But somehow, with his interpretation, even DANCING QUEEN comes to life.

This is very enjoyable and a good CD to introduce someone to Luka Bloom as I have on more than one occasion.

Luka Bloom takes advantage of his personal style to transform some songs in ways you would certainly not expect. As a result, his "Keeper of the Flame" is a small treasure of a disc, giving you new angles on songs that you wouldn't have cast in the light that Luka does here. After all, would you be the one to cast Bob Dylan and The Cure on the same disc? U2 and Abba? Joni Mitchell and Radiohead? Luka does so here, and it all makes sense.

The funny thing is, it is the most obvious songs on the CD that seem to leave the least impression. "If I Were A Carpenter" is a natural folk-singer's choice, but Luka's muscular guitar and fiddle version of U2's "Bad" and his guitar voice version of Radiohead's "No Surprises" make you wish he'd made more of those adventurous choices. Even the oddly convincing version of "Dancing Queen" is a risk taken with charming success.

If you are familiar with Luka Bloom's best work, that he can inject his personality into the work of other songwriters will be no surprise to you. (Or even if you are only familiar by way of his near-hit cover of LL Cool J's "I Need Love," for that matter.) But if not, then "Keeper Of The Flame" is a solid CD from a singer with a catalog of excellent music.

Luka Bloom's previous releases showcase his powerful voice, excellent songwriting abilities and skills with arrangement. While this CD still showcases his voice and arrangement skills, it does nothing for songwriting, as all the songs are covers and most are odd at that.

This is a release that even fans of Luka Bloom would not miss if it were not in their collections. It isn't bad, just disappointing. For those unfamiliar with Luka, you would be much better off with the stirring Riverside or uplifiting Salty Heaven.

It's wonderful: between the music and the poetry, this album is wonderful! The more you hear it, the more you love it.

its hard to review and experience. this cd is a must have.