Rainy Day Music

The Jayhawks | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: April 8, 2003
• Label: Legacy Recordings
• Copyright: (P) 2003 SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
• Genres: Country/Alt-Country & Americana, Pop/Adult Alternative, Rock/Country Rock
• ASIN: B001GNWMH4
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (133 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #68,772 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars walking on water, April 9, 2003

By 

A. J. Williams "song and dance man" (Cotswolds, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rainy Day Music (Limited Edition w/ Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

They say that most artists have one great record in them and that they tread water from then on in, trying to recapture that elusive 'something'. I remember hearing Hollywood Town Hall, buried under my first job, playing in bad bar bands and thinking things mattered more than they did. I also remember listening to the opening riffs of waiting for the sun, the fuzz pedal illuminating a staccato drawl and being hit by how pure the harmony was and how easy they made it sound. The Jayhawks were my big secret - living in the UK they hardly got mass media attention - and they were where I went to escape. Songs that made you feel something.
The first bars of Stumbling through the Dark, the simple chord progression, the layers of instrumentation building up until the drums kick in then the voices holding it all together, harmony and counter harmony. And the one thing that rings out is the simplicity of it all. A great production, open and clear allows the instruments to come through separate but together.
All the reviews I've read rely on other bands as markers. It sounds like the Burrito's, it sounds like the Eagles, and it's the Byrds, CSNY revisited. It's all of these but more importantly it's the Jayhawks. That's not to say references can't be made. Marc Perlman's bass lines could have come straight from John Wesley Harding era Dylan. The guitar on SarahJane out Keefs Keith Richards. One Man's problem has a Stones swagger to it. Don't let the world get in your way draws heavily on Bowie but takes Major Tom to a bar and gets him drunk on good whiskey and makes him empty his heart.
But when people have to use comparisons drawn from the past, it's because they don't sing songs like these anymore. And these are songs - not samples or compressed theft from others with more talent. They'll get into your head and into your heart and you'll carry them with you gladly. These are songs of hotel rooms, early mournings, last and lost chances, faces and names gone but not forgotten. And the beauty of them is that they aren't so specific to mean one thing to one person only. They'll end up being reference points on your rainy days. Hollywood Town Hall will always be my sentimental favourite Jayhawks album. Trouble my favourite song. But Rainy Day Music has memory in it that you'll make your own. This isn't the sound of a band treading water. They're walking on it. Superb.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars stripped down americana with pop sensibilities, April 9, 2003

By 

Ryan Berg "rberg" (nyc) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rainy Day Music (Limited Edition w/ Bonus CD) (Audio CD)

Producer Ethan Johns (of Ryan Adams fame) described the Jayhawks song structures as American roots music with British melodies. I think he hit it on the head. The influences heard on 'Rainy Day Music' range from Gram Parsons to the Kinks, CSN&Y to the Beatles, the Beach Boys to Faces . But in the end the sound is undeniably unique. Even though influence is evident, there is nothing recycled or banal about this music. It is pure, stripped down goodness. Gary Louris and gang have left behind the glossy, out of place production of 'Smile' and the psychedelic experimentation that floated through 'Sound of Lies' allowing the new songs to speak for themselves. In this bare form the tunes seem deceptively simple, yet with repeat listens the intricacy of Louris' writing reveals itself proving that this album will only age better with time. By cutting away the excess 'Rainy Day Music' offers up sparse, honey soaked ditties dealing with love, loss, and being lost. The great achievment here is that they make loneliness and longing so damn beautiful. The harmonies that have become associated with the Jayhawks' sound are here but more subtle. Songs such as All the Right Reasons, Save it for a Rainy Day and Angelyne are among the best this band has ever produced. Drummer Tim O'Reagan's gem Tampa to Tulsa is more aching and intimate on the demo version as is Louris' gorgeous ballad All the Right Reasons. And what better way to end this collection than with Gary playing Waiting for the Sun all by his lonesome.

There will be those who still say the Jayhawks aren't the same without Mark Olson. Well, yes, this is a different incarnation of the Jayhawks. One, in my opinion, just as glorious as when Olson was co-fronting the band. Gary Louris has had the bravery to march forward into new territory, to constantly challenge himself and his bandmates by respecting the past but never trying to relive it. With 'Rainy Day Music' the Jayhawks continue to evolve. I can't wait to see what's next.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid Return to Their Roots, July 5, 2003

By 

Music fan (Norfolk, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rainy Day Music (Audio CD)

From the chiming first chords introducing Mark Louris' soaring falsetto on "Stumbling Through the Dark (Lost Highway)," it's clear the sixth effort from the slimmed-down Jayhawks will chart a return to their roots as folk rockers in the tradition of The Byrds. "Smile," their 2000 release, found them moving into polished pop/rock with the should-have-been radio hit, "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me." But it also created an identity crisis for longtime fans weaned on "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass.

"Rainy Day Music" brings them back home. Soaring harmonies are everywhere. So are nice touches of banjo, pedal steel, mandolin and keyboards. Just what you'd expect from a Jayhawks disc. The first half of the record compares favorably to the best of the group's work with "Tailspin," "Save It For a Rainy Day" and "Angelyne" taking their place alongside tasty oldies like "Waiting for the Sun" and "I'd Run Away." "All the Right Reasons" might be the best ballad the band has produced in half a decade.

Reverberations of the sheen of "Smile" show up in two Beatles'-flavored cuts, "The Eyes of Sarah Jane" and "Don't Let the World Get in Your Way," while "Madman" recalls '80s CSN (which may be good or bad, depending upon your perspective). There are a couple of duds on the disc's latter half.

In the main, though, "Rainy Day Music" is a promising return to form. I slipped it into the player leaving D.C. on a road trip recently and when the album finished, I hit play again -- and then again for a third time. It's that kind of disc.