Customer Reviews

Our Mother the Mountain

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

 

 

I've never written a review before, but after seeing some of the earlier ones, I decided that I just had to say something, and say it loudly. Here it goes: THIS IS THE TOWNES RECORD FOR NEWBIES TO PURCHASE. The arrangements are absolutely excellent. I cannot stress this point enough.

I am absolutely mystified as to how anyone could criticize this record on the basis of its arrangements. It has much better strings going on than on the first record, and puts the arrangements on some of the later ones to shame. I love the majority of his records, but sometimes I would prefer to hear him solo than to hear the arrangements on say, Flyin' Shoes. Now THAT record is overproduced. Or, if you want to hear a record where his material is butchered beyond recognition, try the ambient textures of No Deeper Blue.

The arrangements on our Mother The Mountain fit the progression and mood of the album perfectly. Whether it be the opening steel guitar riffs on Be Here To Love Me, or the thick ominous strings harmonizing with Townes's guitar part in the opening measures of Kathleen, and so on down the line, the arrangements fit the material perfectly.

Along with this album, the other Townes studio record I absolutely adore as a beautiful, integrated, fully realized statement in terms of both songwriting and arrangement is High, Low And In Between. That record also has consistent arrangements throughout, with excellent drum and keyboard sounds. Buy this album and ignore the naysayers!

I've got most of Townes' stuff, but had never heard 'Be Here to Love Me' until I heard it on the recent Norah Jones 'Feels Like Home' CD ... which is actually pretty damn good itself.
Which has naturally made me track down Townes' original version.
I was lucky enough to see Townes twice, a couple of years apart I think, at small concert venues all the way down here in New Zealand, and his effect on the audience in the quieter passages was such that you could have heard a pin drop. Funnily enough, I remember chatting to one of the concert promoters a while after the second show, and asking him if they had plans to get Townes back... he smiled, shook his head and said 'he was just too much hard work'.

Yea it's true, most people would say that the instrumentation on OUR MOTHER THE MOUNTAIN is intrusive, but after a few listens, it becomes subtle and even complimentary. The songs deal with themes of a dying way of life in the West. Corrupted innocence and destroyed beauty in a cold and getting colder world. As a whole, the album stands still like a painting or as in cinema. You walk in and cannot exit without riding all the rides. It is somber, honest and quite intimate. Definitely one of my favorites of all time. Gothic country folk. It'll change yr life.

Yup. I bought a tape version of this album for a couple of bucks somewhere a few years ago, and I dare say it changed my life. I can't promise the same for you, but it's a classic album by one of the great songwriters of the twentieth century. I give it four, rather than five, stars only because I found that the instrumentation took some getting used to. The songs, though, are tremendous, and that, after all, if why one listens to Townes Van Zandt--for the songs.

For my money, this and "High, Low and In Between" are Townes Van Zandt's two most rewarding and fully realized albums. Only complaint to be made would be the stripped-down packaging and unexceptional sound quality on these Tomato CDs--surely the entire catalogue of this giant deserves careful remastering and *bonus tracks*.

First, I would like to say that these accusations of overproduction concerning this album are absolutely preposterous. Our Mother the Mountain may be one of the most unique and tastefully arranged pieces of work that I've ever come across. Of course it's a tad bit different and somewhat quirky..meet Mr. Townes Van Zandt.

I will be the first to admit that his first recording effort, "For the Sake of the Song," was far from his best. The treatments given to those beautiful songs by the studio producers responsible were terribly misguided. In this, his second effort, everything is as it should be.

It's not every day that you stumble upon a work that immediately re-defines your sense of what music should sound like. The lush landscapes created here by Townes' captivatingly tasteful and skillful guitar playing combined with the accompanying string sections, flutes, harmonicas, and bass provide an ever-gentle foundation for some of the most geniuinely stark, poignant, and poetic lyrical passages about America ever laid to wax.

By all means, get it.. if you can find it.

I've never written a review before, but after seeing some of the earlier ones, I decided that I just had to say something, and say it loudly. Here it goes: THIS IS THE TOWNES RECORD FOR NEWBIES TO PURCHASE. The arrangements are absolutely excellent. I cannot stress this point enough.

I am absolutely mystified as to how anyone could criticize this record on the basis of its arrangements. It has much better strings going on than on the first record, and puts the arrangements on some of the later ones to shame. I love the majority of his records, but sometimes I would prefer to hear him solo than to hear the arrangements on say, Flyin' Shoes. Now THAT record is overproduced. Or, if you want to hear a record where his material is butchered beyond recognition, try the ambient textures of No Deeper Blue.

The arrangements on our Mother The Mountain fit the progression and mood of the album perfectly. Whether it be the opening steel guitar riffs on Be Here To Love Me, or the thick ominous strings harmonizing with Townes's guitar part in the opening measures of Kathleen, and so on down the line, the arrangements fit the material perfectly.

Along with this album, the other Townes studio record I absolutely adore as a beautiful, integrated, fully realized statement in terms of both songwriting and arrangement is High, Low And In Between. That record also has consistent arrangements throughout, with excellent drum and keyboard sounds. Buy this album and ignore the naysayers!

I'm an unabashed Townes fan, so the man would have to do an N'Sync duet to warrant harsh criticism. I like all of his stuff, but this is definitely not a first-buy album. To have it said one more time, this album is way overproduced. The songs themselves are very good, however, and one can't deny that.

If you haven't bought Rear View Mirror, get that and work your way to this one.