Customer Reviews

Murder of Crows

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This is the only disc by Joe Henry that I don't like. I'm a huge fan of this guy, but this; his second release, is a dud. While being overproduced, the material is bland and just doesn't have anything that grab's you. He's changed styles a few times over the years, and I've liked the variety, but this one has no personality, so to speak.

I stumbled across this and felt compelled to defend this man's work. I saw him in Hoboken with the Jayhawks and this was the first music of his I ever heard. I'm almost 50 now and have never been quite struck by an artist as I was by this cd...I own thousands of LP, cassettes and CDs and at one time 8 tracks. I agree that his growth has rivaled any artist that I have been acquainted with...there is no genre that can hold this man. Be that as it may these songs seem to bubble up from the subconscious and will intrigue me for the rest of my life much like difficult poetry would if I let it and had the time...sorry James Joyce etc. I cannot imagine how Drummond, Taylor, Leavell,Bromberg, Fisch, Parks etc. coalesced to present these songs in the incandescent manner that they did. Just another gig I guess to them....mind numbing. Well I am no Rhodes scholar but this fellow occupies the vast no man's land between Ronnie Lane and Miles Davis in my listening experience and has no equal. There I wrote it! Dave Perry.

This is Henry before he hit his Mammoth Records stride and way before his arty phase on Anti-. It's not fantastic, but it's definitely no dog either. For fans, it's worth picking up. But if you're new to Henry, try to find a copy of SHUFFLETOWN, SHORT MAN'S ROOM, or KINDNESS OF THE WORLD instead.

It's impossible for me to judge this CD without applying the very high standars that Joe has set himself on his best efforts. When I listen to Murder of Crows, I mostly end up thinking what a shame the production is. There are some fine songs here, but as someone who admires and enjoys the warm, organic (dare I use that adjective?) HUMAN sound of his other great works (Shuffletown, Short Man's Room & Kindness of the World) I find it difficult to get past the vaguely 80's slickness here. I think that if you are a dedicated Henry fan you will still find things to enjoy. I hesitate to recommend it beyond that. Joe took a huge leap forward when T-Bone Wolk produced the splendid Shuffletown and then later with Brian Paulson assisting (presumably, although he's never listed as producer.) Beyond my complaints regarding Anton Fier's heavy-handed polish job, I must say that Joe's song-writing muscles seem to have developed quite rapidly following these recordings as well. Again, just reference any of the above mentioned titles. All of them are superior to this in every way.