Customer Reviews

Please Come Home

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue has a seemingly limitless supply of tricks up his sleeve. If you thought "Vheissu" was a curve ball, wait till you hear this! With "Please Come Home", Dustin has once again done something really different, and really great. Eschewing practically all of his past musical trademarks in favor of a stripped-down, acoustic folk rock album, he still sounds far from out of his element. Even the vocals here are completely different. You could probably listen to this album 100 times, and it would still never cross your mind that it was made by the guy from Thrice, if you didn't know better.

At 29 minutes, the album goes by disappointingly fast, but then, this album could probably never be long enough. Witness the country-rock opener, "I Knew You Before", the harmonica-laden ballad "Pistol", the short but sweet "Blood and Wine", which I swear is practically a dead ringer for Johnny Cash (it's so convincing, in fact, that I at first thought it might even be a cover). And, last but not least, the absolutely jaw-dropping title track, with its touching lyrics and STELLAR vocal performance, makes for a definite high point for me.

This album just could not have been a more pleasant surprise. As much as I'm looking forward to the new Thrice material coming up this year, this has really raised the bar. And, as a bonus, Teppei Teranishi even contributes some piano here and there. So, that's twice the Thrice (heh). Anyway, bad puns aside, this is highly recommended. Not all Thrice fans may care for this, but if you keep an open mind, you'll definitely want to pick it up.

This is a awesome album. Too be fair and honest though, this is not really my style of music at all. But, I'm a huge Thrice fan and a big Dustin Kensrue fan. I think he is a amazing artist. I've seen Thrice twice, and a solo show of Dustin's once and he sounds fantastic live. The acoustic stuff he did really shows off his voice and the range that he has. This album only shows that even more so. This album truly shows how much talent Dustin has. This is so far removed from Thrice its not even funny. If you listened to this album not knowing any better, it would be hard to imagine that Dustin is the lead vocals on a hardcore band. It sounds completely different, and truly shows of the range and ability of Dustin Kensrue.

This really feels like a personal album to me. You can tell this is music that means something to Dustin, and he is really branching out trying something new and interesting. While this might not be everyone's cup of tea, it's a very well made album and shows of a different but equally good side of Dustin Kensrue.

I've been a fan of Thrice for a while now. I've always been more keen to their heavier stuff rather than their softer stuff, but I when I heard Dustin Kensrue's solo effort, I immediately fell in love with it. The first song I heard, is ironically enough the first song on the album, "I Knew You Before." I knew Thrice was going in new directions with "Vheissu," but I never expeected this. It was a totally enthralled by the music and vocals. It's beautiful folk rock in the raw. Anyone, who likes music in general should enjoy this album.

Key Tracks:
I Knew You Before - song about a good girl gone bad, great lyrics
Pistol - ballad about Dustin's wife, great harmonica
Please Come Home - beautiful ballad that seems to be an homage to the Bible story of the Prodigal Son
Blood and Wine - 100% raw acoustic rampage, very much like Johnny Cash
Blanket of Ghosts - just a great song with great lyrics

Great album.
Even if you aren't a thrice fan Dustin pulls off the folky/bluesy/country/acoustic sound with finesse and his experience as a musician really shows.
And the lyrics and song writing are impeccable.

5 Star Excellence here. I'm not a huge Thrice fan so I'm not coming from a Thrice lover's bias or anything. Heard the song "Pistol" on a college radio station and was immediately intrigued. Now after listening to this CD in its entirety, I am absolutely hooked. Great Acoustic/Vox/Harmonica type stuff. One complaint might be that with only 8 songs, it feels like an appetizer as opposed to a complete meal but the 8 are pretty consistently top-notch. It's not electric guitars Rn'R just so everyone knows. But the down-home charms on this CD are ultra-cool. Enjoy folks...Later.

Great CD nothing like his work with Thrice. Influences from Johnny Cash to Elvis Costello and everything in between. Trust me its worth a listen.

I'm a huge longtime fan of Thrice (the hardcore-esque band that Dustin fronts) and Dustin's acoustic songwriting is just as powerful, moving and amazing as anything Thrice has put out as a group, and an even more "personal" endeavor.

Dustin has a remarkable talent for writing poignant, clever and moving lyrics in his music, and genre-hop like it's second-nature for him.

I really respect his commitment to being honest with his lyrics, revealing very real aspects of his humanity, and the hope that comes from his faith. "Blanket of Ghosts" is my favorite song on the album; an absolutely gorgeous tune about shame that comes from "doing the things you don't want to do" and the hope for deliverance from the burdens of sin. Dustin doesn't hide his faith, but never ever comes off as sounding 'preachy'. He is just plain true- to himself, to the world, and to God. Whether or not you agree with his faith, you've got to respect him.

The only downside to this album is that we are only graced with eight songs. I've been to a few of Dustin's acoustic shows (which are just plain awesome, by the way) and he busts out some killer cover songs (Radiohead, Counting Crows, Beatles, Elvis Costello...) - I think it would have been really cool to have included some of those on the studio album. I look very forward to hearing more of Dustin's solo work in the future, though us fans had to wait a really long time to even get "Please Come Home"!

I preordered this cd from Dustin's official web site. When I received it I was absolutely amazed with what I heard. I had listened to bits and pieces on his myspace but I was floored with the quality of this cd. The lyrics and music are amazing. Most songs have a Christian overtone like a lot of Thrice's music. They are remarkable. Blood and Wine is a dead-rigner for a Johnny Cash song. More close than anyone I ever heard. If it were longer that 29 minutes I don't think we could take it. It is just too amazing. OUR HEADS WOULD EXPLODE! Kudos Dustin on making my new favourite cd!

this is freaking good. Dustin takes a huge leap away from the sound he has helped create with Thrice and conjours up influences from such artists as Johnny Cash, B.B. King and Muddy Waters. If your a casual Thrice fan, or just a closed minded simpleton, then I don't really recommend you get this. Yet, if your looking for something different and want to experience the roots of where Dustin came from, then by all means get this NOW!

My 22 year old son first turned me on to one of the songs from this CD, in his attempt to apologize for having "Sold" me. The lyrics in each song have brought about an insight for me that has assisted with a daily serenity! The guitar in Blood and Wine is so raw and with each verse the drums build a tempo felt sinu... not over produced or edited. The entire CD is real.
Sheila
09/20/2011