Customer Reviews

Light Years

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This album came after Campbell's Still Within the Sound of My Voice when Campbell returned to the charts again with the Webb penned title song.Light Years is primarily Jimmy Webb songs(7 excellent,varied Webb tunes).The title track Light Years is classic Webb,beautiful soaring melody with poignant lyrics.Campbell's voice is elegant,contemporary,emotive,and anything but country.Webb simply brings the best out of Campbell as an artist.Music such as this has no category(and thus little commercial marketability).I originally purchased this on cassette in the 80's and have replaced it with a CD.Campbell has not put out an album since with an abundance of Webb songs.I hope they get together soon--we need this kind of music --

I heard an interview with Glen Campbell quite some time ago in which he lamented the relative lack of popularity of this album, as he clearly thought that it was quality work. The Jimmy Webb songs on this disc also appear on the expanded Glen Campbell/Jimmy Webb Reunited CD. If some of the songs on this album would have been released in Campbell's prime (Light Years; Lightning in a Bottle), they might well have been huge hits. Light Years reminds me of great works released by other artists after their popularity was in decline (Judy Collins' Fires of Eden and Gordon Lightfoot's Shadows are examples) that never reached the large audiences that they deserved. Light Years is a genuine bargain, and will be enjoyed by any Glen Campbell fan.

Originally I got hooked on Jimmy Webb's music from Richard Harris' MacArthur Park and his albums. From there it was a short trip to find other artists who appreciated and sang Webb's compositions. I must say that Witchita Lineman is my all time favorite song. But this particular album has received a lot of play for me because, again, we have a great combination of Jimmy Webb songs performed well by Glen Campbell. "Lightning in a Bottle", "Light Years" and "Our Movie" are just absolutely brilliant love songs. You hear them, they echo your deepest feelings, you wish you had written them, but are just thankful someone like Webb did and Campbell interpreted them. The arrangements, production and performances are very high quality. I have no idea why this album was not a commercial success, even with the country audience that I do not profess association with. If you like the combination of great melodies, intelligent lyrics, and real singing, then do not miss the opportunity of listening to this album. You will not be disappointed and you will wonder why you did not discover it long ago.