Customer Reviews

One Soul Now

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A cynic might've said: "you've heard one of their albums, ya heard'm all".. Well, i happen to be a heavy cynic, but there's no way i could bring myself to say that. With this, being their 10th album, what could one expect actually? For most bands this just means one more repeat effort cashing in for the upcoming pension days. For most bands yes, but the Junkies do belong to that elite few who gring out several albums over the years without losing their magic, and somehow, always finding a way to intrigue the listener anew.

With them, it's mostly the storytelling that comes across their cool lyrics.If you don't speak english and you just try and get a feel about what they're singing about you might think it's all lazy lil songs about the summer and sitting in the sun. But, and that's the cool trick really, it's mostly pretty bleak and dark confessions and narrations dressed with a rather sarcastic musical scape.

Speaking of their music, what i've always loved about their albums, is that they have a way to rationalise tragedy, sadness and misery through that majestically hypnotic music of theirs.

In "One soul now" this is once more the case: beautiful tracks that never tire you but rather soothe you and leave you with a notion like "whatever happens we'll live another day".

For those familiar with the group this new album is top-notch stuff, one of their best in years in fact. For those who haven't discovered the magic the pouring heavily through their music and lyrics "One soul now" is ideal to start from. The odds are you will (like many before you) want to check into their past as well. Brilliant stuff.

Cowboy Junkies have become a staple of my music collection. Their longevity has not diminished their musical ability nor their perspective. They are as relevent as ever, and continue to be overlooked by the Music Industry, but not the fans that allow them to play Wolfe Trap in VA or tour Europe on a fairly regular basis.

Sublime in it's sound, Michael Timmins continues to use his guitar as a weapon, with his notes lurking in the woods, waiting to come grab you. His lyrics on this album, which his sister faithfully sings, are more introspective. As on other albums, his characters continue to struggle w/ Christian Spirituality in a modern cruel world. He never completely rejects it, but rather comes across as honest with it's shortcomngs.

Timmins continues to use his guitar to paint a picture, and his sister to tell a story. The story may come out meloncholy, but one walks away from each song and sound wondering if there is a lesson to be learned. In a world where image is everything, it s good to hear a message delivered or a story told by a band that is low key and is strong enough to allow their music to stand on it's own.

I recommend this album and wish the band continued success.

but certainly not bad. there are a few standout tracks: "one soul now," "my wild child," "no long journey home" and "slide. some others, "from hunting ground...," and "he will call you baby" are rather unimpressive. the bonus cd is better than the main cd. their cover of "darkness, darkness" is one of their best songs.

their new cd, coming out summer 2005, is mostly covers...that is something to look forward to.

for those who've followed the junkies thus far, saying this is a deep, elegant slice of southern gothic rock-folk is going to be nothing new.

but that's what it is. falling somewhere a little closer to "lay it down" than "open", this album contains the latter album's long washes of cure-influenced guitar feedback, and instead channels it towards an obvious lambchop influence which turns the more uptempo numbers on this album into near-bar band rock.

but don't think this is a "happy" junkies, oh no: have you EVER known a cowboy junkies album to take five songs' worth of unfolding to reach one song that sounds like it could possibly be a single? "stars of our stars" seems to be the only true "uptempo" number on here. there's a lot of deep, dark territory to explore, and though i liked "open" better for its immediate expanse of dark chasms...there's a wide crevice here for fans to dive into.

As far as the album goes, I've given it a few spins, and it's sounding just as good as I hoped it would. New, but still with that classic "Cowboy Junkies" sound. At the very least, it's a great album. However, I actually got this for the 5 track bonus EP, which includes covers of songs by "Neil Young" (again), "Bruce Springsteen" (again), and "The Cure" of all bands. They're all done very well, as they've done with so many others songs. So I say, with or without the covers, this is a must for "Junkies" junkies.

I'd like to say that the Junkies keep getting better and better. Nope. And this is a good thing. I need some things to pop up and bite me with a beautiful consistency. One Soul Now is a breath of fresh musical air with Margo's sexy, sedated voice and the other Timmons rocking out in their fuzzy, bluesy, river rat kind of way-sometimes I hear Neil Young in those licks and other times just a bar band flipping off the gloss of over-production and jamming out.
Some tunes on this one are downright bouncy. I don't find the story telling of the lyrics quite up to par. The last song about an indescriminate God seems too contrived and musically not strong enough as the other nine songs.
And why not put the extra disk on the first disk and give us our money's worth?
Just once I would like to see a real fine Producer grab Timmons by the-um-throat and say let me produce an album, push you a little, tell you this song isn't strong enough, let's feature Margo on this one a little more. You know, this song sounds too much like that song from...It won't happen. I love them though and when I was walking the beach last week my two little kids filled my shorts with shells from the Ponce Inlet jetty and while the Junkies new one was blaring through my IPOD I started singing, "Rally Round the Family! With a pocket full of shells!"
I think that's the way these Timmon's would be if you were to step in try to change them in any way.
So be it. I'll buy everything they put out.

they are back. after a disapointing,very unstructured album/"OPEN"
Michael,Margo and the boys are back in the form that made us fans and that
made them quasi-famous. top notch,tight musicianship and crisp recording
of a very good set of angular electric musings and thoughtful lyrics.
"A DUSTY SIMPLE MINDED PIECE OF FICTION. STRANGE AND ODD,TWISTED AS A
CONTRADICTION, A GLITTERING JEWEL OF FLAWS AND CELEBRATION"/ song: WHY THIS ONE. there are a very few weaker tracks that I personally find myself skipping over "JESUS,SWEET JESUS,CAN YOU PASS ME TO YOUR PA?"
but overall this is a very solid effort from a very solid Canadian/American band.
I am very gratified to see these folks come back this strongly.

There are few sure bets in life, but one of them is that the Cowboy Junkies make some mighty fine music. They just keep getting better and better. Musically, this is probably their most palatable since 1996's Lay It Down - 10 great sounding songs from the first spin. Lyrically, most of these songs will take quite a bit of time to understand, as is the case with the rest of their catalog. They continue to write songs that explore deep "life" issues - gothic and grotesque at times, like a Flannery O'Connor novel. On this album, "children" is one of the themes to explore. Some deep studying for those interested, and some ear candy for those that are not.

If possible, I highly recommend picking up the bonus disc of cover songs and their CD-ROM, Anatomy of an Album (only through their web site - www.cowboyjunkies.com). The cover songs are the exclamation mark, and the CD-ROM gives very detailed information for each of the songs. You not only get to read the story behind each song, but you get to hear earlier demoes and how each song progressed.

Catch them on their Long Journey Home Tour this summer and you should hear a newer version of The Slide.

Like any album, this one gets better each time I listen to it. This isn't their best or worst album, but it's pretty solid. "Stars Of Our Stars" is the rocker on here, the rest is typical "Junkies" material. All is good, but favorites are "No Long Journey Home" and "Why This One". The bonus disc is also a major extra, including covers of "Springsteen", "Neil Young", "The Cure", and two others. I wouldn't call this album alone essential, but if you can get it with the bonus covers disc, essential.

Having read the reviews for "One Soul Now" I tend to agree with what has been said, and will probably rate it five stars when I get around to hearing it:-) But for now I can't get past playing the bonus disc of covers, it is so damn good!! I sometimes stop and wonder if music these days has really progressed since the genius of the Cream, the Beatles, the Byrds, the Stones, Led Zeppelin etc. But Cowboy Junkies have got what it takes to make it to the top. Just listening to this EP bonus disc says everything there is to say about real soul music.

So ignore this review in terms of the main CD. But don't worry, if you can get the bonus CD alone, your day will be made.