Customer Reviews

Oh! Mighty Engine [Vinyl]

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

 

 

Very strong release from Neil and surely one that will continue to grow on you with repeated listens. After having the cd for a few days, the best way to describe it is that it is very mellow with only 4 songs or so having drums. Neil plays mainly acoustic guitar and sings with a hush. The melodies are great and stay with you after listening. Not as much variety as Sleeping on Roads or any of the Mojave 3 records, but a very solid release. Great pedal steel on the title track, wish there was more.

I've listened to this CD countless times. It would be a perfect CD, if not for the sixth track, "Always The Good," which grinds my nerves (I wish I could explain why, but I haven't actually heard it in quite a while, thanks to the skip feature). Neil Halstead sings very mellow acoustic music (again, with the exception of "Always The Good"). You need to listen to this CD more than once to fully appreciate the music and the lyrics. Anyway, I'm not very good at writing reviews, but I highly recommend this CD! It's ALWAYS in my CD changer. My favorite songs are "A Gentle Heart," "Paint A Face," and "Sometimes The Wheels" (the latter you may have to listen to a few times to really feel the full impact, but it's worth it, I guarantee).

To continue Neil's drifting-along-slowly-on-a-sunny-day-watching-stuff style, this is another successful album. He's "Shoegaze" without being annoying which is tough to accomplish. Fans of "Mojave 3" will find Halstead's string of solo releases highly satisfying.
It is notable that Brushfire has picked up Halstead's new release, considering the company has made a series of recent contracts with a number of under-the-radar very talented male singer/songwriters. G. Love, Zach Gill, Mason Jennings and Matt Costa are four of the best, and it is interesting to see the label recognition of the common features of these artists. Among other benefits of Jack Johnsons new label mates, these musicians probably wont hurt his image to be associated (with the exception of G. Love) with lesser-known artists with (including G) a hip appeal.

From the very first listen I knew this one was special. As of this writing I have over 1600 pop/rock discs in my collection and this precious little gem from Neil Halstead still manages to get monthly airtime. When I stumbled upon "Sleeping on Roads" it led me to acquire the Mojave 3 catalog as well as the 2 CD retrospective of Slowdive "Catch The Breeze". Of all these albums I find Oh! Mighty Engine to be the most satisfying. Though I must concede that the song "Always The Good" seemed to disrupt the flow of this record for me for a while (as also noted by another reviewer) I have since found peace with it and an actual appreciation. Each song here is slyly sweet, witty, and joyfully hum-able. Neil transports you directly to his cozy little world of thatch-roofed stone cottages, high grass and foamy Cornish surf but never in an overt our trite manner. The playing is casual but exquisite. There is plenty of rhythm without the need for intrusive percussion. And the production is clear and warm. This album is nothing short of an understated masterpiece. Golly, I think I'll pop it in now...cheers

This is my first exposure to Neil Halstead. I listened to a few clips and thought, "Hey, if it's on Jack Johnson's Brushfire Records label, it has to be awesome, right?" Well, if you're expecting it to sound like Jack Johnson 2.0 and be really surfer-chillout-music, it is not. But that's ok, because it's still quite good.

"Oh! Mighty Engine" is more folk-y, singer/songwriter-y than I expected. The album is very acoustic and basic in terms of instruments. Halstead has a pleasant-sounding voice. If you like Mason Jennings (he's great), this is probably right up your alley.

Overall I found "Oh! Mighty Engine" very relaxing and calming - maybe a little too slow if I'm going to pick on anything. I think this might also be one of those albums that really grows on you with repeated listening, as you pick up the subtleties of each song. Also, I thought to myself that this album will probably still sound good 10 or 20 years from now, which is always a good sign. Timeless good music.