Customer Reviews

Renmin Park

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

 

 

Renmin Park is a step outside of the box for the Cowboy Junkies. Inspired by a months-long family stay in China, songwriter and lead guitarist Michael Timmons returned home with newfound sounds and ideas for his band. And just as with most experimental concept albums, not all of it works. But when it does...it soars. For the dearly devoted, relish this new, interesting entry in the Junkie's catalog in its entirety. For everyone else, buy this record simply for "(You've Got To Get) A Good Heart" > "Cicadas" > "My Fall" > "Little Dark Heart" --as it might be the best sequence of songs they've ever done. A straight solid 20+ minutes of terrific new music. Other highlights include the bittersweet title track, the mournful "A Few Bags of Grain" and the rocking, radio-friendly single "Stranger Here". For my money, though, the best of the lot is "My Fall"; a cover song translated from Chinese into what I believe is one of their best songs -ever. A gorgeous, romantic, and enormously catchy track that shows the band at their very best.

Even more so than other Cowboy Junkie albums, this is an album that needs listening to to enjoy. This is not background music. The sound is very complex, and I made the mistake of listening to it on my computer, and then my ipod, and was inclined to agree with the two star reviews given here. Then I played the CD on a decent system with quality speakers and was blown away. This is really enjoyable, interesting and adventurous album that builds on the CJ's previous body of work. In its own way it is as distinctive as The Trinity Sessions was when it was first released. Just sit and really listen to it, ideally with the CD rather than MP3. No tinny speakers or ipod headphones please.

The only unfortunate part of this CD is that it is unlikely to be heard by a very large number of people. The Cowboy Junkies have always been a band with a strongly dedicated cult following, who appreciate their musical excellence. So many of their CD's (Trinity, Lay It Down, Black-Eyed Man, Pale Sun Crescent Moon) contain impressively great music. Now comes Renmin Park. Michael Timmins and the band prove that after 20+ years, they just continue to grow and expand musically. It is easy to give this CD a quick listen and dismiss it, but with careful listening, it reveals musical and lyrical depth rarely heard. The musical experimentation and success absolutely parallels such standards as Sgt. Pepper and Who's Next. I have such respect for this band, that I compare all other music to what this band produces. What other band or musician (except for possibly Van Morrison) is putting out excellent music after more than 20 years? They will put out 4 CD's in the next 18 months. Most artists after 20 years put out one album every 7 to 10 years. This is a great band and Michael Timmins is a first rate musician and composer dedicated to making this a first rate band (which it is). The CD has a couple bizarre moment (Into, A Walk in the Park), but with 10 sparkling gems on the CD from Renmin Park through Little Dark Heart, the whole album works perfectly as a whole. Sit down and really listen to this CD. It is beautiful.

Unique, thought-provoking, tender... at times utterly raw, and yet quietly constrained... this is a mature group of musicians and artists who are completely confident in their sound.

Renmin Park took me back to Southern Asia, the sounds and the feel of the Guangxi Zhuang. China -- the land of ancient beauty, coming to terms with the force of the present day.

I expected an unforgettable sound from the Cowboy Junkies. Between Margo's haunting vocals and Michael's soul-touching lyrics, what else would one expect? Still, this is something entirely new and unexpected.

I highly recommend Renmin Park -- it's one of a kind!

Donna Carrick
author of The First Excellence ~ Fa-ling's Map

This is a Cowboy Junkies album that challenges the listener hear music that doesn't sound like everything else. I find the use of Asian sounds and themes to be fascinating. "Sir Francis Bacon At The Net" and "A Walk In The Park" are great examples of this.

The album also has lots of very accessible songs. "Stranger Here" and "My Fall" are songs that may find their way onto some radio playlists. "Renmin Park", "Little Dark Heart", and "I Can Not Sit Sadly By Your Side" have a classic Cowboy Junkies sound featuring the beautiful voice of Margo Timmins.

An added bonus is the vocal by composer and guitarist Michael on "Renmin Park (revisited)" that gives the song a distinctly Wilco / Jeff Tweedy sound.

Renmin Park is probably not the best album to use as an introduction to Cowboy Junkies. Most people start with the 1988 classic Trinity Session. Their last studio album, 2007's At The End Of Paths Taken is a good introduction to more current Cowboy Junkies music. That said, I highly recommend Renmin Park. It is a creative and adventurous effort by a band that has been making terrific music for 25 years.

Take an hour some quiet winter evening with the stupid tv off & the iPhone locked in the minivan. This thing is incredible - rich, deep, daring & beautiful. A man low-sings in Mandarin and it actually works! One of the great bands of all time.

Renmin Park is the latest album and the first of the four part Nomad series by Cowboy Junkies. The Nomad series as I understand it will deal with various parts of Cowboy Junkies lives. The first part (Renmin Park) deals with Michael Timmins going to China with his wife to adopt 2 children. Renmin Park was the park they would go to hang out while they were over in China. It provided the inspiration for Michael to write most of the songs for this album. CJ albums have always proved to be a little bit different, sometimes in style sometimes in sound, from their previous albums and Renmin Park is no exception. Because it deals with his time in China the album does have a bit of chinese musical influence in it. Cowboy Junkies invited Chinese musicians and singers to take part in the recording of this album. Also Michael recorded somes of the sounds of the park while he was there which have been added to the feel and mood of the album. I enjoy this album very much though I would say this is not one of the best they have released I feel. Certainly the hardcore CJ fan like myself will want to add this to our music collection. For the casual fan you may want to get it but it's probably not an absolute must. I give this review three stars but it's really worth more stars but not quite four of them. I wish Amazon would change their rating systems to include half stars since three and a half stars is what I really want to rate this.

like others... first impression was a couple of good songs and the others were throw aways... until I listened closer... was totally taken in by listening to both versions of renmin park. initially drawn to the first version but after listening to renmin park revisited was also drawn to comparing both interpretations... each with their own merit.

I expect if you have been to china and understand their culture and music then this CD would be very interesting, it's certainly china-oriented.

I really enjoy Cowboy Junkies' "Trinity Sessions" and "Black Eyed Man" albums, but this China-themed collection of songs has little in common with those except Margo Timmins' intoxicating vocals (not present as often as I'd hope) and the ultra-largo tempo. In the place of melody-based songs, this album has croaking in Chinese, throbbing bass-n-drums, and "noise as art" distortion that recalls Wilco's more self-indulgent moments. Not the album I'd choose to show people how great this band can be. Daring? Yes. Listenable? Not so much, this time.