Customer Reviews

Peaks & Valleys

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

 

 

Acoustic versions of his favorites. No "Men at Work" stuff, but some excellent songs and singing. Colin Hay is an undiscovered country of talent. Buy his other solo albums: "Transcendental Highway," "Topanga," "Wayfaring Sons," and "Looking for Jack." Treat yourself, buy this album!

Alex G. Oklahoma City, OK

I cannot believe that he has done it again! Another album that blows you away! Although, I don't think anything can match his "Looking For Jack" (which I keep locked up like gold because it took my almost 10 years to find again!) album, this is excellent work again!

When I could only get Colin Hay's solo releases from a little record store in Brisbane by mail order, I'd buy anything that I could get my hands on sight unseen or heard. One of the discs that I was sent was "Peaks and Valleys", and next to "Wayfaring Sons", it's one of my favorite recordings. Primarily an acoustic album, it's filled with thoughtful and intelligent lyrics penned by a true romantic. Though it isn't really fair to compare musicians of Hays caliber, I find that the same qualities that I enjoy in songs by James Taylor are very evident in Colin's music. Just listen to "Sometimes I wish" and if it doesn't bring a wistful tear to your eye,then ignore any other recommendation that I ever write.

This 1992 album followed up 1990's Wayfaring Sons. This album marked the start of Colin's acoustic sets. No band here, no drums, no base, just Hay and his acoustic guitar. If you have seen him live recently you will know that he does a lot of songs off of this album as his latest tour is an acoustic set. The album starts off with the haunting "Into the Cornfields" which really is the best song on the album. The songs are steady up until track 8, "Boy Boy" which is more for amusement--a 60 second remembrance about a dog. Tracks 9 through 13 are incredible. "Conversation," "Melbourne Song," and "Go Ask an Old Man" are moving songs with good hooks and intelligent lyrics. I think this is one of his stongest albums but with Colin you always get strong musicianship, smart lyrics, and good melodies so saying Peaks and Valleys is a degree better than Going Somewhere or a degree lesser than Trascendental Highway would be silly-he has no weak album. It doesn't beat Wayfaring Sons in my mind just because I liked the full electric flourishment of sound that it brought to the table. However, Colin took a different approach here and it would mark a change in his career in that all of his releases following this album centered more toward the acoustic element up until 2000. This is a must have in its own right just as Wayfaring Sons is for what makes it great.