Customer Reviews

Lay It Down

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first CJ album that I purchased. A friend of mine was playing it in her car and I had to do a double take when I heard it. Now, I own every CD that the CJs have done. Honestly...this is the best of all of the CJs albums. Alot of people think that Trinity Sessions is their best. I would strongly disagree. Lay it Down and Pale Sun, Crescent Moon are their two best musically, lyrically and vocally. If you are gonna start, start with Lay it Down and then move to PSCM. This album is one of my top ten CDs in my entire collection (and I have HUGE collection). It is stark and haunting and hits you hard in the gut. Despite criticisms to the contrary Margo's voice is powerful and subtle at the same time. I've seen her live and she can belt it out when she wants. Her restraint is part of the overall CJ ambience.
Frankly, I don't think there is a single band out there in the last 10 years who can even touch the CJs when it comes to lyrics. Maybe October Project got close--but the depth and beauty of the lyrics on this album are amazing.
This is a "must own" album from one of the most underrated bands of the last 20 years.

After THE TRINITY SESSION and BLACK EYED MAN, LAY IT DOWN is,in my opinion, the third Cowboy Junkies CD that deserves the 5 starsmark. Thirteen perfect songs, all composed by Michaël Timmins, inthis album with no weakness. Exit Ken Myhr, welcome guitarist JohnKeane as the fifth Cowboy Junkies. Margo Timmins does have thestrange faculty to keep her melancholic voice through different rythmsas if she was flying over the band music. This is peculiarly patent in" Speaking confidentially " ; the rythm of this song is oneof the quickest adopted by the band until then but Margo Timmin'svoice stays in a slow-motion rock'n roll rythm. Absolutelyamazing. You will also find a curiosity in LAY IT DOWN : twoversions of the same song " Come Calling " , the firstversion is supposed to be uttered by a boy ( though sung by Margo ),the second one being called " Come Calling (her song) ". Agreat moment of music. I listen to this CD at least 10 times a yearsince its release and am not tired of it. It's definitely, if like meyou long for quality bands, a CD for your library.

I first discovered the Junkies with the "Black-Eyed Man" release and loved it very much. "Lay it Down" shows the group growing artistically and Margo's voice gets more heavenly all the time. This is easily one of the best releases of the mid 90's!! The title song "Lay it Down" is delightfully haunting - the bass guitar in this song is phenominal as is the dreamy, haunting music to carry the lyrics of the song. "Angel Mine" is an acoustical gem and should have been a #1 radio hit. "Musical Key" and "Lonesome Sinking Feeling" are ballads that highlight the low-key beauty of Margo's vocals. I can't decide which version of the song "Come Calling" I like best. I enjoy "His Version" because it is so uptempo and fun; yet "Her Version" is very haunting and sends chills down my spine like the title cut does. I enjoyed hearing all the string instruments in "Speaking Confidentially". This whole CD is such an acoustical masterpiece - shame on the music buying public for not making this a big hit!! I highly recommend this CD to any Cowboy Junkie fan.

Peter Timmins may be the most under-appreciated songwriter of his generation. His songs are always graceful, poetic, elegiac contemplation of life, death and love unrequited. He manages to articulate the emotions felt at varying stages of a relationship with gentility and stunning acuity. On this album Timmins isn't just a songwriter he is a poet. The vivid cinematic imagery in "Bea's Song" is almost reminiscent of D.H Lawrence. Margo's voice is its usual seductive blend of smoke and butter-ripple . A voice at once distinctive yet evocative of the best torch singers that came before her. Her delivery is perfect punctuation for the heart-wrenching themes occurring in songs like "Something More Besides You", "Hold on to Me", and "Come Calling." I always felt that her timidity and the reluctance in her voice were the emotional center of Peter's songs. On this album she comes across as a wounded creature brandishing her scars. After "Pale Sun Crescent Moon", Lay It Down I feel is the Junkie's best album. The songs are all little jewels that reveal new and exciting shades and colors on repeat listening. As a songwriter Peter Timmins may not be receiving the accolades he so obviously deserves, but his songs speak to his ability and has an emotional resonance I haven't seen since Dillon.

No one would ever accuse the Cowboy Junkies of being a rock and roll band, but their first album for Geffen Records found them turning the volume up a degree or two. "Lay It Down" is the most electric of the CJ's many records, yet the truly amazing thing is that the band loses absolutely nothing of their original charms. While the music may be a little denser and a touch louder, Margo Timmins never lets the sonics intimidate her subtle manner of singing.

Nowhere is this more evident than "Lay It Down's" best known song, "Common Disaster." Moving at a near pop song clip, the blues bassline and somewhat distorted guitar offer a tasty hook over which Margo sings brother Michael's tale of revenge planning ("I cut the list to one and you're name's on top"). It's one of the strongest songs of the CJ's career. Through the course of the Junkies' albums, one of the most consistent factors has been Michael's writing and "Lay It Down" is no exception. The his and hers versions of "Come Calling" show his love of country irony, and "Bea's Song" is a gorgeous entry that should find its way into someone else's record someday. He is, without question, one of the most underrated songwriters of the past two decades. With "Lay it Down," the second best album from the Cowboy Junkies treasure chest of recordings, he and his band continue to prove why their cult remains as strong as ever.

I had heard so many good things about the Cowboy Junkies that I went out and bought a couple of their CDs, specifically "Open" and "B sides...," and was disappointed. One thing I look for when I buy music is good sound quality, and I didn't like the way those CDs were mixed. Margo has such a great voice, and I found that on both CDs her voice was almost totally drowned out by the distorted guitars. This CD on the other hand is *perfect*. The songs are great, the sound quality is great, and Margo's voice is better than ever. My favorite songs are "Come Calling (his song)" and "Musical Key." If anyone's out there trying to decide what Junkies CD to try first, buy this one for sure.

This is an album that fans of the band tend to rate very highly. For me, although I think it is very good, I rank it slightly below some of their previous releases. The album continues the patented Cowboy Junkies sound with lush music, cerebral lyrics and gorgeous vocals. The band rocks out a bit harder in places than on previous album (although the junkies never really heavy), and for the most part it works. The single "A Common Disaster" even received some radio airplay. Highlights include the album opener "Something More Besides You" with the great opening line "One foot stands before the crib, the other by the casket...". The title track "Lay It Down" is a good one as is "Bea's Song (River Trilogy Part II) which is an ongoing trilogy divided between 3 albums. Another interesting one is two versions of the same song sung from different perspectives. "Come Calling (his song), and "Come Calling" (her song) is a clever idea. In conclusion this is probably the least favorite of the Cowboy Junkies albums that I own, but there is no such thing as a bad Cowboy Junkies album and this one is very strong as well.

I bought this album on a whim, after seeing the movie Niagara, Niagara a few times, i bought it because I thought I might like it, I was mistaken.

I don't like this album, I love it. No wait that's a atypical Anglo-Saxon statement that not even a Welshman should make. Look, this album is sincere and unblemished US brilliance, it sounds like country for the intellectual in all of us, the sweet voice and strongly expressive yet subtle voice, the enchanting and straight-forward lyrics, the smart and down-played arrangements. The love and compassion that exudes from this approachable album.

The track "Something More Besides You" is inventive as you can get without being a bore, and it's beautiful and enchanting too.

"Lonely sinking feeling" I think almost all of us wil identify with, the feeling you get when the ground under your feet is taken away.

"Musical Key" is so hi-art, that it's emotions become a part of you.

I love this album so much it's always on my car CD changer.

When a women tells you truths like this, sung like this, arranged like this, all I can do is acknowledge the brilliance of the message and the beauty of the delivery.

I'm well hooked onto the Cowboy Junkies!

Regards,

Martyn R Jones

This is on of the best albums to listen to when you are feeling a little blue or just want to chill out. Hold On to Me, Musical Key, and Angel Mine are the best tracks. This was the first Cowboy Junkies cd I heard and it made me a fan. You won't be disappointed.

LAY IT DOWN is the very best album by Cowboy Junkies. "Trinity Sessions" has several of their best songs, but that album as a whole just doesn't flow the whole way through -- too much difference between tracks, which is jarring; and mediocre tracks taking up space between their very best work. Unlike "Trinity Sessions" (which I highly recommend), LAY IT DOWN is a smooth ride all the way through, and you can listen to all 13 tracks several times in a row rather than feel compelled to skip over the filler to get to the good stuff.

This is their darkest album -- Gothic Folk, if you will -- and it is brilliant. One of the 10 Greatest Albums of All Time.