Customer Reviews

Last of the True Believers

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Nanci Griffith has made so much fine music that it's hard to pinpoint her best album -- but this one's got to be near the top of the list. Every song is a beautiful little story, with Nanci's unmistakable voice bringing passion and sincerity to each tune. If you're a Nanci fan and you don't have this one, shame on you. And if you're looking for an introduction to this wonderful artist, start with this one and the two "Other Voices" discs and go from there. A real gem.

I have been a Nanci fan for almost 15 years and this is my all time favorite CD. Here Nanci sings some of her best written songs ever as well as a few by selected artists such as Eric Taylor and Bill Stains. The Blue Moon Orchestra was better back then befor they became "synthesized". Just good pure folk-a-billy music coming from one of the most honest singer/songwriters of our time. A must for your collection!

On what seems to be widely regarded as the-must-have Nanci Griffith album, this eminently loveable lady from Texas does just about everything she can to steal her way into your heart, your soul, your world, not to mention your cd collection. Using her trademark voice and brute honesty, she achieves her goal in every respect. Try as you might you'll find no misses, duds, or weak tracks on this album. Instead you'll hear delightful songs, one after the next, each recorded in a manner which suggests thoughts of sincerity, humility, even decency. Last of the True Believers should be listened to especially by any who swear they do NOT listen to country music. Those who try may soon realize that the genre is not the sonic wasteland they had once thought, rather one which can bring great joy into one's life of listening. (Okay, so you have to be reaally selective.) While enjoyable at any time or day of the week, like any great record, it might be best suited to lazy Sunday afternoons or quiet evenings at home. Just put it in, push play, and get comfortable. Don't waste any effort making sure that the remote is in an easily reachable place, in case you feel the need to skip over a dull track now and again. You won't, I promise. And the songs are indeed country, but they're each just great songs in themselves, regardless of the style they're played in. See what I mean on tracks like "The Wing and the Wheel" and "Love at the Five and Dime", as well as the very poetic "Goin' Gone". And don't be surprised to find yourself singing along with tunes like "St. Olav's Gate" with it's rousing, uplifting chorus. Nanci presents herself very well on this album, writing freely and openly about her life and her loves in a way which we come to admire and respect. Listening to her other work shows us that she truly is that open, that giving of herself to anyone who may want to share in her stories. Oh, and she plays a hell of a guitar and writes some seriously good tunes, too, just in case you don't care about all the rest. But my guess is, you will.

I second all the other reviewers. To me, I find that this album puts Nancy Griffith in an exclusive class among the very finest of songwriters of our time. "Ponchartrain" does something few writers can do: write eloquently about the love of place, and to do it with melody that carries the words as freely as the spirit in those words. I WANT to see Lake Ponchartrain someday because of this song. There is so much going on in these lyrics... setting the scene with that other French-American locale, Montreal, and, like a lover who finds absence makes the heart grow fonder, realizes she must go back. In short, a simple sounding tune that is layered with a lot more than meets the ear initially. "Love's Found A Shoulder", is like diamond-cutting-- so exact in word choice that that the reult is so beautiful you cant really see the effort that went into it. Some day, as others have said, I really hope this writer gets a wider respect. Those of us who have found Nancy Griffith's songs know already that we have a found a true musical artist. I simply don't know of a better songwriter, regardless of genre or gender.

Every song on this album is a story that invites the listener in to become a part of it. The songs are well-written, well-sung and well-produced. But the most important part of this album is Nanci's heart. Her voice seems to echo what she feels in her heart when she sings..and this album is one of the best she's ever done.

I have now bought eleven of Nanci Griffith's recordings including this one. This is a Must Have along with "Blue Roses" and "Storms". Nanci Griffith sounds outstanding when she sings Looking For the Time and Banks of the Ponchatrain. I swear by all the stars in the sky that I will see her in concert one day. I want so very much to meet her.--Robert Metz

"The Last of the True Believers" is the crowning glory of Nanci Griffith's remarkable talent and career. I t remains, one of the greatest singer/songwriter albums of all time.

Consistently plagued with the "is she country, is she folk?" question that a label obsessed music industry must asked, Griffith has yet to achieve the higher profile commercial success that many of her peers have. This, however, does not diminish to power and glory of this wonderful album.

Full of first rate songs inhabited with intriguing characters and dressed with lovely melodies, the album is a music lovers delight and one that belongs in every collection. Sad it isn't the household name it deserves to be.

In 1987, I bought my first Nanci Griffith albums. The song "Ghost in the Music" led me to "Once in a Very Blue Moon." "Love at the Five and Dime" led me to "Last of the True Believers."

I believe that "Last of the True Believers" is Nanci Griffith's finest creation. "Love at the Five and Dime" is, like "Pancho and Lefty" and "Tangled up in Blue," a perfect story song, a brilliant novel condensed into less than five minutes. As with "Blue Moon," she chooses songs to cover that combine with her own compositions to make the album a strong, unified whole. "Saint Olav's Gate" is perhaps the finest example this time around. And, for my money, "More than a Whisper" isn't just about longing and loss. It exemplifies longing and loss.

Longing and loss are central themes to this album, but there is no wallowing or whining. This is strong, spirited, beautiful music. Get it.

This would have to be my favourite Nanci Griffith album - probably one of the last before she became a little self indulgent.

Classic Records have reissued "The Last of the True Believers" in DVD Audio format, opting for a straight 24 bit/96 kHz two channel conversion/remastering from the original master tapes. I am unsure as to why they didn't attempt a 5.1 surround mix also, as I think the material would suit that medium perfectly. That said, the 'upgrade' in sound is amazing, bringing new clarity and space around mandolins, auto harps and background vocals.

Anyone who loves this album and has a DVD player capable of DVD-Audio should invest in this sonic treasure. I once asked the Marketing Manager of Rounder Records why they didn't have more 'hi rez' releases, he replied that the formats were not all that successful for them. Alison Krauss SACDs command very high prices these daysAlison Krauss & Union Station - Live (Multichannel Hybrid SACD), so it is a great pity that this musically inovative record company is not embracing at least one high resolution format, be it SACD, DTS CD or DVD Audio. As most homes have a surround home theatre system, it seems a bit of a no brainer to record, where appropriate, in multi channel, and at a higher bit rate than standard CDs.

In summary, a true gem that should be bought before it is deleted.

I, uhm, normally listen to Electronica. Really. No, really- Moby, Everything But The Girl, BT. Ska, too. Oh, uhm, ska- think of it as high-speed reggae might sound. So I'm having a little challenge with expressing myself here...

Superlatives like "Best Of The Best" don't fit this album or this artist; they don't seem to live up to the performance. I thought maybe "The Best's Best"- the difference is subtle, but too subtle, it's still too... superlative. No, perhaps just "Best".

Same problem with genres. Griffith isn't bluegrass, or country, or Americana even. She doesn't fit into any single genre, and yet the more genres listed to describe her the more limiting they become. "Newgrass" works, maybe, but implies bluegrass, and she easily (and unconsciously) transcends that.

I discovered Griffith in 92 or 93, and was immediately captivated by the stories she weaves (at BPMs that best some techno music); her voice irritated me for about half a minute before becoming charming and endearing. But most of all I was hooked by her sincerity, and that was new too. "Sincerity" is usually capitalized (if not italicized), tends to ooze forth (Mariah?), and always repels me like a line of "Home Sweet Home" cut-out ducks on the wall. Griffith introduced me to lower-case-s sincerity, the kind that's real, not cloying but simple, and honest. Little "s" sincerity provides the foundation that lets her spin these tales of real everyday life in anywhere USA without spinning into a pit of affectation.

It's the little things here, really. Little things, like walking through town 'cause there's nothing else to do, or going to Woolworth's cause that's where there is to go; little things like reminiscing about seeing your first ever real live in person prostitute when you went up to the city last year. And remembering her sympathetically.

That's the miracle here, amidst an album about small town America comes the simple, unaffected tale of a prostitute, and it fits - you totally buy it. That's a miracle! Of course, anyone who can sing a song with "Pontchartrain" in the title at 180 BPM is a bit of a miracle anyway...

Superlatives? How's this: this album remains the biggest miracle yet from a lady who is, in and of herself, a miracle.
(And yep, that's a lower-case "m".)