Customer Reviews

Lover Fighter (W/Dvd)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When you find yourself skipping every second track on a cd, or changing the radio station at an unreal pace, you know you properly appreciate music, and you know what you are looking for. Lover/Fighter is a cd for those who enjoy pure, raw, meaningful music. "No reason to cry out your eyes" is the only song off this album that I had ever heard played on air, or seen on mtv, and although it was a fast favourite, I never really explored the artist. After downloading further songs, I was compelled to buy the cd as it appeared to have 3 quality songs on it, which in this day and age is scarce to say the least. After popping the cd in my car player, I listened to it through, and I was amazed by the fact that I felt no urge to skip any tracks, or search for my "favourites". Lover/Fighter is solid through and through, and it leads you through the emotions, from mellow tracks like "wonderful and sad", the rock-ish "smoke baby" to the simple solitude of a song like "autumn's here". This is a must have for your collection, one of the few cds i don't regret purchasing.

This is actually one of the best cd's i've listened to in a long time. The songs are meaningful and beautiful. The parodies he uses in his music and the symbolism is pure genuis. The only song I question is a bonus track and thats only because he swears too much for me. My personal favorites are "Even an Ugly Man", "Future Language of Slaves", and "Smoke Baby", but truly the entire album is great.

In typical fashion, excellent music flies right under the media radar. This may be blamed, I Think, on a poor choice for the first single (Anger as Beauty), one of the, if not the, poorest songs here. That aside, Hawksley makes some excellent tunes on this CD, and the whole album flows very well.

That Hawksley is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic is on display everywhere.

I can't find much negative to say about this album. "We Will Still Need a Song" makes you wonder about who will be sitting next to you when you're 85 and sitting on a rocking chair outside on a nice sunny day in September. However, there is still definitely a note of sadness to this song. Sadness is a consistent theme on this album even when the beat and sound is upbeat. The one song this doesn't apply to is "Anger as Beauty" which just gets in the way of an excellent flow.

The five best songs are all one after the other, starting with "Tonight Romanticize the Automobile" and ending with "Addicted." "Tonight" is just a solid showcase of the talents here: guitar is on full display, and so are Hawksley's gravelly vocals. "Future Language of Slaves" is a haunting piece of vocal work with very subtle instrumentation that adds to it. The highlight is undoubtedly "Slaves... slaves..." A positively excellent song when listened to far from a large city at night, perhaps at the cottage.

"Smoke Baby" is a masterful fusion of the rest of the album's sound with a more urban vibe. However, it doesn't pick up the pace too much, which is good, because otherwise it would definitely jar the rest of the album, as the tracks surrounding it are so delicate (and that's meant in the best possible way).

If you listen to "Autumn's Here" 50 times over a year and never *once* have your eyes even get moist, there is something wrong with you. I can't add anything more to this.

Now on my version of the CD , there is a song separating "Autumn's Here" and "Addicted." They might have flipped the last two songs on this version. In any case, "Addicted" is just a wicked jam tune. It does drag a bit, but since it does finish the album (or does for me), I didn't mind. IT gives you time to get up and press play as soon as the CD finishes or to pick another CD. You won't want to though.

An excellent album, and I can't think of any vocalist that could pull off half the songs on this album other than Hawksley.

4.5 < Hawksley Workman, Lover/Fighter < 5.0

An Excellent CD!

Possibly the first album I've heard start with the word "f*ck," Lover/Fighter is the most emotional work of rock music I've had the immense pleasure of hearing since Nirvana's heyday. I believe with all I have left for a heart that this is Hawksley's Sea Change (Beck) and possibly even his Pet Sounds. While there is not one real dance floor tune like "Striptease," I'm beginning to suspect that was a one off anyway, the presence of any obvious singles as such would only detract from the poetic quality and sensitive fragility of this moving piece.
I originally heard most of this album in the background at a music store and didn't really think much of it at the time. That taste set me back in buying this album a few months but as soon as I did, I couldn't turn it off. It gets better every time I hear it and, once you get over the fact there aren't any stripper staples to be found, you'll pick up all the little touches and signatures that make each song unique in their common goal of creating a work of pure singer-songwriter rapture. This is the type of art that lives for decades. Give it a couple listens. You will thank yourself.

I heard the song "Anger as Beauty" on the radio and then heard it again when I caught the countdown on MuchMusic and thought " I have to buy this album!" Which I did, and boy, am I glad! What a great album! So listenable from beginning to end. For any of you who haven't yet had the pleasure of listening to this CD, I can't really help you out by comparing Hawksley to anyone else. Sorry! He is definitely in a category all his own. Although, something about this album reminds me of Elvis Costello's "When we Were Cruel". Not that Hawksley sounds like Elvis . . I guess just in the sense that Elvis' sound is so unique as well. It is definitely my second favourite album this past year - right behind Sam Robert's "We were Born in a Flame". (not that he sounds like Sam either!)

Smoke Baby is probably my favourite song, but Anger as Beauty, Even An Ugly Man and We Will Still Need A Song are close behind, as is the last hidden track, which I can't remember the name of right now. Autumn's Here is stripped down and stark, but gorgeous. Really, there are none I dislike. On the Highway Tonight There's No Reason to Cry out Your Eyes has a very neat video. A girl is crying in a car, and Hawksley is a little guy with a guitar hanging by a string from the rearview mirror, trying to get down. Cool idea whoever had it. Also love the fact that Hawksley is a drummer but plays all the instruments himself. (kind of like Pete Yorn - although I don't think Pete plays the base)

Anyway, it's a great album. Definitely worth a listen. (It might even make it into my top 10 favourite albums of all time.)I'm sure I will be listening to it for years to come, and I will definitely be checking out more Hawksley . . . hope you will too!

The very day this album was set for release in Canada, I went on autopilot to the local HMV to buy it. I had in the past been a Hawksley fan, owning one of his previous releases "(Last Night We Were) The Delicious Wolves". Through my past experiences with the vocal and poetry-driven sounds of Hawksley Workman, I knew that I wouldn't be disappointed with "Lover/Fighter".

My intuition was right. This album represents Hawksley as a tortured soul to his unseen muse Isadora. He makes references to whiskey on several tracks, and doesn't refrain from diving into his true sentiments, if not lyrically - vocally. Oozing a romantic, untamed and operatic feistiness, Burns relentlessly opens his heart to the listener.

One of the bonus tracks, "Addicted", boasts a fun, 50's swing-style sound. I found it to be the most humourous track, as it includes some witty rhymes and cursing. It will not disappoint. In every song, Hawksley delivers a poetic journey into his soul.

This CD is always in my discman, I now regard it as the soundtrack to my life. Each song has a different edge to it, be it sexy, fun, cool, crazy, intoxicated - whatever. So, if you're not familiar with the not too hard, not too soft but just right sounds of Hawksley, or if you've been a fan since day one, I guarantee you that you will never want to put this album down.

I love all of Hawklsy's previous works. This one just doesn't do it for me personally. My two favourtie songs are the bonus songs, and only a few of the actual songs are intriguing enough to make me want to listen to it again.
I've listened to it about three times...maybe it will get better with time.

I haven't lost my faith in Hawksley as a songwriter, but I have a gut feeling that his latest effort Lover/Fighter is going to go down as the "iffy album" in his catalogue. The first six tracks contain mere teasers of Hawksley's signature lyrics. Very promising at times, but the overly slick production and repeated (and repeated and repeated) choruses kill any promise his unique and crafty lyrics make. At times, he sounds painfully like U2/Radiohead/Coldplay/Rufus Wainwright - which isn't a bad thing - except, I'm used to a Hawksley Workman who sounds like...Hawksley Workman. He was impossible to fit into a genre before, but there are certain moments (and this hurts me to say) that it sounds like he's been listening to too much John Mayor and Jason Mraz. I don't know if this is some ploy to get mainstream radio play, or a dumbing down tactic to gain a new and wider audience, but the intimacy I had with Hawksley as a listener on his previous albums is just not there with this one. However - tracks 7 - 9 are comforting. By the time the album reaches its (first) finale with the ridiculously magnificent "Autumns Here" I can almost over look any quams I had with the first six tracks. Almost. Not a bad album by any means - there are moments on this album where I want to drop to my knees and thank "the maker of all ears that hear" for Hawksley's ability to say EXACTLY what I was thinking. The hidden tracks are also better than much of the album - very worth it and it's classic Hawksley at his best: Music that sounds like nothing else out there - yet somehow sad jerks like me can still relate. I almost feel dirty and vulgar for even comparing this work to a few of the other above mentioned artists, but any fan of Hawksley will notice that something here smells a little different.
Lover/Fighter - the title speaks for itself - there's definetely a conflict going on.
I just hope it's resolved by the time he releases his next collection.

Well, I for one was alarmed and dismayed to see one critic handing down only 3 stars to our hawksley for his Lover/Fighter album. This album is really quite lovely, uh-huh. But I will say that Mr. MacDonald is right to point out that this cd is something different than previous works. Still, I get that feeling inside when I listen. I've listened to everything of Hawksley's that has been available for several years now, and it is correct to say that his style is not something that can be classified under most mainstream genres. There is almost something personal about his writing, as if he can sing everything we've ever wanted to say but couldn't find the words. I also thought that the album felt like it was reaching out for that poppish sound and catchy lyrics and choruses that refrain hourly in the ears of wide audiences. So? There is so much on this album that is absolutely and wonderfully Hawksley... he has not deviated entirely from his original style and lyrics. I think Hawksley should get 5 stars just because he is not yet 1/10th as famous as he should be and will be. I would not want to give less of a rating than that, for fear than a potential new listener would be discouraged from experiencing the music. It's wonderful.

I haven't lost my faith in Hawksley as a songwriter, but I have a gut feeling that his latest effort Lover/Fighter is going to go down as the "iffy album" in his catalogue. The first six tracks contain mere teasers of Hawksley's signature lyrics. Very promising at times, but the overly slick production and repeated (and repeated and repeated) choruses kill any promise his unique and crafty lyrics make. At times, he sounds painfully like U2/Radiohead/Coldplay/Rufus Wainwright - which isn't a bad thing - except, I'm used to a Hawksley Workman who sounds like...Hawksley Workman. He was impossible to fit into a genre before, but there are certain moments (and this hurts me to say) that it sounds like he's been listening to too much John Mayor and Jason Mraz. I don't know if this is some ploy to get mainstream radio play, or a dumbing down tactic to gain a new and wider audience, but the intimacy I had with Hawksley as a listener on his previous albums is just not there with this one. However - tracks 7 - 9 are comforting. By the time the album reaches its (first) finale with the ridiculously magnificent "Autumns Here" I can almost over look any quams I had with the first six tracks. Almost. Not a bad album by any means - there are moments on this album where I want to drop to my knees and thank "the maker of all ears that hear" for Hawksley's ability to say EXACTLY what I was thinking. The hidden tracks are also better than much of the album - very worth it and it's classic Hawksley at his best: Music that sounds like nothing else out there - yet somehow sad jerks like me can still relate. I almost feel dirty and vulgar for even comparing this work to a few of the other above mentioned artists, but any fan of Hawksley will notice that something here smells a little different.
Lover/Fighter - the title speaks for itself - there's definetely a conflict going on.
I just hope it's resolved by the time he releases his next collection.