Customer Reviews

If the Ocean Gets Rough

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

 

 

Great songwriting once again but, as this is not really my preferred genre, I feel the need of something darker. His first album gave me a bit of that and seemed a little more experimental. Albeit part of its charm was the amazing 'Oxygen', the kind of song that may along come around once in a while.

I have nothing against this or him but it just seems to have lost a bit of edge. Perhaps I need to listen to it more.

This album is cleaner and more refined than his debut. The lyrics are more mature and the songs are more melodic but manage to stay soulful and gritty. They also play a good live show and its only a matter of before they are the headliners. Willys deep voice is complimented by Nina Violets voice and viola. Its the soul of old Cape Cod. Every song on the album is good. Buy this album!

Bob Dylan, Ryan Adams and Conor Oberst - three songwriters who were often cited as "old souls" early in their careers - all recorded their first "classic album" at age 22 (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Stranger's Almanac and Lifted, respectively). Willy Mason, another "old soul" type, recorded his first classic, If the Ocean Gets Rough, at age 21; the problem being that almost no one in the U.S. paid any attention to it. Risky, you say, to mention such an unknown artist among the names of the gods of yesterday and today? Normally, yes, but not in the case of If the Ocean Gets Rough and William Mason, who now at age 22 seems poised to be everything Ben Kweller and Ben Lee were supposed to be.

At first glance Mason looks like a kid; not a 22-year-old kid, but a real deal, pimply-faced kid who just might still get an allowance. Look a little closer. Look at the album cover, the liner notes and the way he carries himself. Then read the words and listen to the voice. Listen to the arrangements. If no photos or bio information existed on Mason, the kid could easily pass for 30. Make that 40. Raised to be nothing more than a folk singer by two folk singer parents, Mason has music - more specifically a rare gift for economical, "old timey" songwriting - in his blood. On the organically produced folk/rock/pop hybrid Ocean, Mason displays a rare preternatural understanding of the possibilities of a three-minute song better middle-age-bound guys like Jakob Dylan and Rob Thomas have ever managed.

Okay, so maybe calling Mason's new album a classic is a bit of a stretch, but it does have a handful of top shelf songs, and maybe the best Side A of the year. Opening with the anthem-ready "Gotta Keep Walking," Mason shamelessly mixes portraits of meandering youth and idealism over his always mid-tempo, always untreated, always tight Americana-meets-pop accompaniments. The real jaw-dropper hits two songs later with "We Can Be Stong," a sharply insightful tale about a youth dropping out of college, moving home and finding a way to "be strong" in the world's shadow of disappointment. Plenty of songwriters have written about regret, disenchantment, failure and frustration, but rarely do you find someone able to write about an anticlimax with such grace and comprehension.

Following "We Can Be Stong" is "Save Myself," a similar themed tale of redemption, though in the context of cultural criticism and ageism. "When the elders all are playing make believe / Save myself, I got to save myself / When they teach us lessongs that they don't believe / Save myself, I got to save myself / When they build up statues but neglect their seeds," sings Mason in his typically thick, mumbly and dusty drawl. The song - which utilizes a Ryan Adams-meets-The Beatles backdrop - perfectly paints the way any sensible, wandering 22-year-old should feel. Mad, sad and somehow hopeful.

Mason's Ocean starts to teeter off following the wonderfully raucous "When the River Moves On," leaving the last four songs as filler for what could've been a seven-song no filler EP. Actually, track 10, "The End of the Race," is pretty stellar, too, just not when compared to Ocean's powerhouse first seven tracks. While Mason surely doesn't write with the natural poetic grace of a young Adams, the fiery, studied shtick of a young Oberst or the intellectual godliness of a young Dylan, his weathered-but-hopeful social observations are universally relatable and written with in an economical way that promises even better things to come. Simply, for ever one word this kid wastes, Dylan, Adams and Oberst waste 100.

Let's not picture young Willy Mason visiting Dylan on his deathbed just yet ... but, for what it's worth, if it were to come to that in the next year or two (God forbid), Mason would easily be the most auspicious wunderkind for the job. (Greg Locke)

We Can Be Strong is the reason I bought this CD. The rest of it will not disappoint. I heard the song on WFUV and every time it came on I would wonder who the artist was and try to get the name. I liked it so much, I tried to find it on line by typing in the lyrics I could remember. I even went to WFUV's website and looked at their current favorite cd list and tried to find it that way. That will give you an idea of how much I liked that song. I wouldn't have cared if it was the only one that was good on the cd, but far from it.

as an avid admirer of many genres - punk, indie, hip-hop, electronica, industrial, whatever - the bottom line for me is the quality of the music. i've seen and heard willy mason before, and this album truly captures his oft-described older than he seems voice, quirky and thoughtful lyrics and fine musicianship. this is an album that i've enjoyed sitting and listening to, and once the lyrcis sink in they tend to follow me around. the music has texture and doesn't lie still as the songs change tempo and his voice and instruments weave in and out. he has some interesting takes on youth, the music industry and society. it's worth your hard earned dollars, so just buy it already, you'll be satisfied.

There aren't many like Willy out there, something you'll truly understand if you are fortunate enough to see him live. But this second album seems to have gotten permanently stuck in my CD player. Willy is a natural storyteller, a fine guitarist. He writes with real power, and possesses wisdom that belies his age. To say that I am impressed with "If the Ocean Gets Rough" is a massive understatement. Willy is the real deal, the kind of talent we hoped still existed. It does, in spades.

Willy Mason is an incredibly talented person. His lyrics are inspiring and his music as a whole puts a nice beat into my days. This new albumn rocks. I highly recommend others to check him out and be inspired!

Willy Mason just keeps getting better. From Martha's Vineyard to touring with Radiohead he has never lost his integrity as a humble guitar plucking visionary. A must see live.