Customer Reviews

New Life

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK. I realize people will disagree with me on this, and that's fine. I have worked as a DJ for 35 years now, listened to a lot of music, and hopefully formed a lot of opinions.

In my opion, "A New Life" is far and away the best release ever from The Marshall Tucker Band. so this isn't the stuff you're used to hearing on the radio. That doesn't mean it is not their best stuff. This may just be the perfect Southern rock album. Put this thing on, and believe me you are IN the Blue Ridge Mountains, just soakin' it up.

An incredible release. A must for Tucker fans.

One of the most underrated bands ever. These guys were tight and you can tell they loved making music. If you enjoy the feeling that the Allmans "Blue Sky" eminates, than you will love this cd. This is Southern down-home music at its finest.

I believe that this album, along with "Eat A Peach" by the Allman Brother Band, is the essential "Southern Rock Album". Tuckers sophomore album captures the spirit of the early 70s southern rock movement better than any other album. From the jazzy Southern Woman to the incredible Another Cruel Love, Toy Caldwell's songwriting was never better. You Ain't Foolin' Me might be the purest "anthem" song that Marshall Tucker was so famous for in concert. The best album by maybe the most underrated live band ever.

The album cover perfectly sums up what to expect. A horse walking down a path on a high mountaintop and looking down at a few small homes in the fields, with a beautiful and colorful image of distant mountains in the background. It's not only a fantastic cover to analyze, but there may actually be a few ways to interpret it, too.

Such as... maybe the horse riding high in the mountains is an indication of the bands quick rise to stardom? Or maybe I'm thinking about it too hard and the album cover simply illustrates the beauty and colorful creativity that can be heard in the music.

A New Life is a minor masterpiece and REALLY shows just how much further the Marshall Tucker Band were willing to push the boundaries as far as how far the southern rock formula can go. This album is a drastic step forward from their self-titled debut in terms of songwriting and instrumental variety.

"You Ain't Foolin' Me" has a very good verse melody and chorus, but that's not *quite* what makes this song stand out so drastically. It's shortly after the 2 minute mark when the song REALLY takes off and confirms (to me, at least) that the Marshall Tucker Band are the real deal. The saxophone solo is incredibly melodic and perhaps this is a total coincidence, but the first few lines of the sax solo totally remind me of a Roxy Music song from their debut released back in 1972. From here, well, images of the album cover noticeably come to mind as the saxophone takes a sudden departure and a dreamy guitar solo elevates the greatness of the song to even higher heights. This instrumental middle section resembles *no* other southern rock band. Not the Allman Brothers Band or Lynyrd Skynyrd. It's completely unique.

If you enjoy the instrumental creativity in "You Ain't Foolin' Me" be prepared to have your socks totally knocked off upon experiencing "Southern Woman". What starts off as a highly memorable vocal melody suddenly (eventually- 3 minutes later) sends me into total, unexpected shock as a straight up saxophone solo makes a VERY surprising appearance. Unlike in the song I mention above, this particular sax jam actually *jams* for a minute or so, and it sounds completely different from anything any other southern band had ever attempted, before or since. It's flat out awesome. Perhaps it's inspired by Van Morrison's "Moondance" a little bit, but it's certainly no ripoff or anything.

The title song brings me to tears, seriously. I actually cried the first time I heard it... alright make that the second time (because I wasn't paying attention to it the first time, for some clueless reason on my part!) The verse melody is another quality piece of writing, the lyrics are touching and meaningful, but it's the flute jam and the gradual morph into an electric guitar jam that BLOWS MY EMOTIONS COMPLETELY AWAY! There's quite a few moments of this song that move me emotionally, but the jam takes the cake.

"24 Hours at a Time" is *another* fantastic highlight. I can't exactly explain why, though. It's a fairly fast-paced country rocker, but... there's something special about it that makes it stand apart from the crowd. I think it's the line "Woman you're always on my mind, 24 hours at a time, somehow woman I'm hoping you feel the same" that really makes it attractive. Or perhaps the tasteful guitar jam at the end which immediately makes me think of a happy place is the reason for its ability to give me especially strong positive felings, I don't know.

"Fly Eagle Fly" ends the album on a fairly quiet note with a softly written track. It contains innocent lyrics and an attractive vocal melody, and not much else. Honestly it doesn't *need* anything else.

I really hope you pick up what I consider a masterpiece in southern rock. I've had people tell over the years how much they dislike the southern rock genre. It's honestly nearly impossible to hate THIS album, in my opinion. The arrangements are constantly beautiful and always played tastefully, and the amount of sincerity in both the vocal melodies and the lyrics is simply hard to ignore. Find a way to hear this album.

MTB became my favorite band about 10 years ago. I never had much use for them before. Ozark Mountain Daredevils is my former favorite. A New Life is their best album. It has the most satisfying songs.
Favorite MTB songs:
1.24 Hours At A Time
2.In My Own Way
3.Losing You
4.Blue Ridge Mtn. Sky
5.Fly Like An Eagle
6.Fire On The Mtn.
7.Heard It in A Love Song
8.Love Is A Mystery
9.You Ain't Foolin Me'
10.A New Life
11.Can't You See
12.Singing Rhymes
13.Ab's Song
14.24 Hours At A Time Live. The San Francisco 1973 is the only version to start with the entire band in the same groove. But you cannot beat the Charlie Daniels long jam. I think the Stompin' Room version sounds better than the Where We All Belong which is the same performance.
15.Hillbilly Band
16.Blue Ridge Live
17.In My Own Way Live
18.My Jesus Told Me So
19.Dream Lover
20.Fire On The Mtn. Live
21.Virginia
22.Searchin' For A Rainbow
23.Dream Lover
24.I'll Be Loving You
Favorite MTB albums
1.A New Life
2.1st album
3.Carolina Dreams
4.Searchin' For A Rainbow
5.Where We All Belong
6.Together Forever
7.Stompin' Room Only
8.Live On Long Island
9.Way Out West
Find as many of these as you can for about $10 a piece, because you never know. Downloads suck.
The 3Cd Collector Tin is 3 full albums with bonus tracks and made sense at $15 but now the price is $20 I would go with the individual albums. The discs in the Tin look the same as the individual albums but they are a different pressing and they sound different.

The Marshall Tucker Band scores another big one. I wouldn't necessarily call A New Life a perfect album, but it's an excellent one nonetheless. The songs are pure gold: they can eclipse most mainstream songs that are released in the new millennium. "A New Life" and "Southern Woman" are constant reminders of why Marshall Tucker is one of those bands that just dominates the world of Southern Rock. "Blue Ridge Mountain Sky" sounds slightly generic, but it's still a great song overall. "Too Stubborn" has a few fusions of reggae (a music genre that I strongly detest), but it's not really that bad, anyway. "Another Cruel Love" and "You Ain't Foolin' Me" are brilliant beyond belief, while "24 Hours at a Time" is fun and catchy. "Fly Eagle Fly" makes for a splendid closer for the album.

I really enjoy their self-titled debut album, and I've enjoyed this one just as much. This one could easily stomp on today's mainstream junk. I'm so glad that I've stumbled upon Marshall Tucker a few months ago.

Grade: 9.3/10

No sophomore slump here! MTB's second album picks right up where the first one left off. So many good tunes on this album! This is a great one to put on while relaxing on the deck, enjoying a beautiful evening.

This is one of the best albums of the 70's, not just from The MTB. This is simply a choice recording, and you should probably get it if you get it. ;)

A glimpse of college, North Carolina in the late '70's. A refuge from disco.

MTB is one of those country jazz influenced bands of the seventies. I had forgotten all about them for years and happen to hear one of their newer songs,(Although Doug Grey is the only original member.) titled the "Ride Of Your Life" from Beyond The Horizon CD. I went out and bought all of the older stuff right up to the 30 yr Anthology. Still good stuff. Takes me back to another time and place.