Customer Reviews

Out of the Storm

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While many Jack Bruce fans wax ecstatic over Harmony Row and Songs for a Tailor, this release is every bit as good, if not better than those two brilliant albums. In my mind it completes an early period trilogy of his work. The stuff he did after this album was good but never quite sounded the same as these three albums. I like the fact that he introduces some lead guitar work here - finally - after eschewing it on the first two albums. Steve Hunter is in great form and songs such as Time Slip are really spectacular. As in Harmony Row, he has an uncanny ability on this set to create beautiful, haunted worlds, with the assitance of Pete Brown's magnificent lyrics. And the cut, Into The Storm, has a great autobiographical quality - it could be the opening from a Broadway show - and I mean that as a compliment. There is not a single weak track on the album and his continued vocal mastery and bass playing agility is very much in evidence. Pieces of Mind is a great example of everything Jack is great at. Evocative, complex, searing, burbling, soaring music.

A note on the remastered version: it sounds very good - clean and well balanced and actually kind of "modern". The extra tracks are frankly irrelevant and not the reason you should buy this. The packaging and liner notes, however, are a big plus, as well.

I bought this album in the 70's when I was in high school. I've "recycled" a lot of albums and CDs since then, but this is still one of my very favorites. I'm can't wait for the CD to come in the mail, my album is worn out, but all the songs are a part of me, part of my internal great music collection. This is a perfect album, everything fits, there's not one song or note out of place, it's a truly amazing work.

Jack's voice is a beautiful, expressive instrument, full of passion and he uses it in amazing ways. Very few singers can match him. And he's been a long time inspiration to bass players. He really is one of the great musicians/song writers. I have no idea why more people don't know about him, or think that Cream was Eric Clapton's band, when Jack wrote so many of their songs, and was the lead singer, never mind his wonderful bass playing. His music has brought me joy, gotten me through the blues, made me dance, inspired me. Discovering Jack's music is like falling in love. I guess that's because Jack loves music so much, you can see it in his smile when he plays; he only wants "the real thing." Out of the Storm is the real thing. Wishing Jack good health, and hoping that more people fall in love with Jack's music.

Jack Bruce is truly the most underrated and under appreciated superstar in the history of rock and roll. I discovered this album when I was in high school and wore out the eight track tape playing it over and over. Hot on the heels of his work with West, Bruce and Laing, this solo effort showed the true spirit of Jack Bruce. Fusing rock and jazz like no other, songs like Timeslip and Keep on Wondering are forever timeless. There isn't a weak song on the album and yet there aren't many who have even given it a chance. People think Jack Bruce's only contributions to music came as part of Cream. Well, if you listen to this album I think you'll surely discover he was more of an influence on Cream than anyone ever gave him credit for being.

I still don't quite "get" the opening song, which is complicated and instrumentally too busy. But the other seven songs were up to Jack's standard. More personal lyrics, too, about time, separation, and the perils of showbiz life. And Jack Bruce was still at his singing peak on this release. The Andy Johns production hasn't dated all that well.

This was the record that convinced Mick Taylor to quit the Rolling Stones for a job in Jack's band. Sadly they didn't keep up for long. Still making up my mind about the sound versus the no longer available 1988 transfer (does it really matter?). Of the bonus tracks, only one seemed really interesting: Keep on Wondering, which made me think of Stevie Wonder, who was influencing a lot of musicians in 1974. Ironically I hear Wonder even though Jack dropped his harmonica solo for some nice guitar from session mate Steve Hunter (who Jack must have met while making Lou Reed's Berlin).

I was raised on The Cream. When I was around 18 years old and got an internet connection, a whole new world opened for me and I learned many things about the music I had been listening to all my life. One of my most cherished memories is finding out about the post-Cream solos from Jack Bruce and setting out to get them one by one, giving each CD enough time to sink in before I got the next. Out of JB's records, the first three (not counting Things We Like, which was great not sublime) stuck with me the most, and remain all time top ten records for me. Out of the Storm is the third in this 'trilogy', and in my opinion ranked #2 of the bunch (Harmony Row being the best CD ever made, let's be honest). My favorite tracks are naturally Peaces of Mind, an epic track containing many different emotions and feats of musical strength; and Keep on Wondering, a track that was just way ahead of its time. Pete Brown's surrealistic lyrics, Jack Bruce's spot on, perfect delivery and an unbelievable musical diversity make this record an absolute must-have for any rock/jazz/blues fan, and I find it bizarre that nobody I know has ever even heard of Jack Bruce. I am glad these CDs got the treatment they did by the execs, and revere them almost religiously. Still, I keep on wondering..

You know, maybe too often we tend to raise certain artists or entertainers too high onto a pedestal. We find a work or performance so inspirational or transcendent that we can't help but apply superlatives like "genius" or "master" to the performer. I used to question whether Jack Bruce was an overlooked musical genius, or simply a better-than-average journeyman bass player who was lucky enough to hook up with a few great rock and jazz musicians along the way. But one listen to Bruce's first three solo rock albums would sway most cynics to the former - in "Songs for a Tailor", "Harmony Row" and this cd "Out of the Storm", one is continually graced with well-crafted, passionate, haunting, personal performances of some great (if eclectic) songs from a special period in Bruce's recording career in the early 1970's. He collaborates again with Pete Brown to produce lyrics dealing mostly with sun, rainbows, rivers, fields and relationships. And his three distinct vocal styles (slightly nasal tenor, falsetto, bluesy snarl) are all on display in these varied songs. Great liner notes highlight Jack's career up through the making of this album, and while reading along and listening, one again realizes that it's no matter of luck that this unique singer, songwriter and bass virtuoso found himself playing with some of the best musicians around during the late 1960's and through the 1970's. Check out the bass line on "Timeslip" - and pick up your jaw.

I implore everyone with an appreciation for rock and music in general to treat themselves to all three of these albums. While I personally enjoy "Harmony" and "Songs" slightly more, "Out of the Storm" is a great album, and heartily recommended for serious music lovers. After this one, he lost some of his magic...

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:

Music quality = 8.4/10; Performance = 8/10; Production = 9/10; CD length = 7/10.

Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 8.2 ("4 stars")

While I think Harmony Row remains JB's greatest LP, in terms of songwriting, performances by sidemen, and production, I was very surprised when I recently picked up the newly released CD after not listening to the LP for many years. It was much, much better than I remembered. If I could give it 4-1/2 stars, I would. I do wish they'd remaster it, to bring the vocals up a bit, and de-muddy the overall sound, but it may be Jack's second best LP after Harmony Row. While I like Songs for a Tailor, and a few songs on it (e.g., Theme FAIW, To Isengard, He the Richmond) are desert island picks, I don't think it is as consistently great in terms of writing, perfomances and production.)

Clapton got all the accolades & Bruce made records & toured through the 70's with modest fanfare. While the focus was on EC, only die-hards recognized & respected JB's talent. Mostly jazz-oriented/influenced, he always seemed to surround himself with quality musicians. This record is no different. Golden Days & Into the Storm are my 2 favorite tracks on this album, but there are NO bad ones on it at all.

I can't even begin to explain it... Here you have, Jack Bruce, arguably the greatest bass player in the history of popular rock music, releasing a solo album that has so much heart and spirit and yet has been overlooked to the point where it's out of print... Says something about people and the industrial roadblocks that can keep an album from becoming popular.

Out of the Storm is about as good as rock music got in the 1970's. Mixing jazz and rock influences in a way that should have made every Cream fan rush out to buy it, the album sold only in small numbers mainly because I suspect radio stations wouldn't play the "long" songs. But is a song long if it's a classic?

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy! There is no denying that this is worth the price of admission...

I've listened to various groups that Jack Bruce joined for a short time (West, Bruce & Laing; Bruce, Lordan & Trower) and found pretty much all appealed to me. I was expecting something like what I heard in the past but was very disappointed. Only one track, (and the bonus one at that) "Keep It Down", came close to appealing to me. The first version was not as interesting as the redux. I guess if you're a modern jazz aficionado this would be your cup of tea, but I expected more rock. I've listened to some cutting edge stuff, but the songs were just not interesting except for some of the vocal work and electric guitar playing that (finally) found its way into some of the songs.

If you are a JB fan who favors his rock style, I would rather recommend "BLT" (Bruce/Lordan/Trower), "Truce" (Bruce/Trower) or the first West, Bruce & Laing "Why Doncha". The songs from these offerings aren't cluttered with a lot of seemingly disjointed instrumentals and are fairly simple, but I think they show off his vocal talents, bass playing and composing skills more than this compilation. Sorry, I guess I just didn't get it. If I had been able to preview the songs on this CD I wouldn't have bought it.