Customer Reviews

Right Between the Promises

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

 

 

Freedy Johnston earned the right to be called "an American original" by Rolling Stone when he released "This Perfect World". It followed on the heels of "Can You Fly", and in tandem, these are two of the best singer-songwriter records you'd ever want to buy. The imagery inherent in the lyrics, the power of the story telling and the melody that tied it all together left you wanting more.

Unfortunately, this album doesn't hold up to the standards Freedy set for himself. He almost sounds like he's gotten lazy, ripping off his own, now tired chord changes. The stories sound as though he rushed his way through the lyrics and the New York edge that spun through "Perfect..." and "...Fly" is gone.

I love Freedy and wish he'd awaken to his former self.

Having been a fan of Freedy's after purchasing Blue Days, Black Nights and then his back catalogue, this record is another beautiful addition. More of a pop slant to this one and it challenges the best of Big Star. All the songs are well-written, there's not a clunker on here and the cover of "Love Grows" fits really well with the feel of the record. It's a sunny day record with the occasional song for a passing cloud.

I'm a long time fan of Freedy, and I'm enjoying this mellow CD. I find myself humming songs from it frequently. I'm having difficulty rating Right Between the Promises without comparing it to Freedy's past recordings. My response has been a sigh of relief that the CD is comfortable and good, rather than a WOW! what a brilliant project.

The title of my review pretty much sums it up. Being a Freedy Johnston fan, familiar with his entire catalogue, I was a little disappointed to hear exactly what I expected to hear: a collection of songs that rarely strays from his quirky, tried-and-true formula yet is almost always pleasant and exceptional in spots. This description would fit any of his albums, with the exception of "This Perfect World," an album uniformly excellent throughout.

RBTP contains a handful of gems: "Radio for Heartache," with a quaint man-with-a-banjo delivery, is actually a home demo Freedy recorded for his LAST album, "Blue Days, Black Nights." "In My Dream" is a creepy ballad suggestive of Sting in his more organic moments. "That's Alright With Me" is plainly produced (some might say boring) but pretty, if a touch too long.

There are a few throwaway tracks of bland pop sugar--"Anyone" and "Save Yourself, City Girl"--but they're so well-crafted and pleasant it's hard to dislike them. "Broken Mirror" nearly goes this way as well but is saved by its thoughtful lyrics. The only stinker for this reviewer was "Back To My Machine," a clunky and overdone waltz about robot love (really).

Freedy's last album, "Blue Days, Black Nights," was recorded almost entirely live in the studio, with as few overdubs as possible; this process gave the album a warm and very human feel. RBTP, on the other hand, seems to far surpass the slickness of "This Perfect World" (Freedy's biggest complaint about that album) and consequently sounds somewhat manufactured. Even so, Freedy's talent for plaintively affecting lyrics and relentlessly tuneful melodies shines through.

Based on the extant critical evidence, I felt like I was the only person who really, deeply connected with Freedy Johnston's last album, Blue Days Black Nights. Like the stars described in "The Farthest Lights", its pleasures were rich and infinite, enigmatic, awash in indigo hues: perhaps the best 2am record since Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours.

Right Between the Promises, by contrast, feels more superficial. The lyrics seem less like the vignettes of albums past, less specific, occasionally too elliptical (undercooked?) for their own good. There are fewer full-blown stories here like "Gone to See the Fire" or "The Mortician's Daughter", more like emotional snapshots than short films. Taken in their musical framework, though, it's less of a concern. And musically speaking, the album is frequently impressive.

Freedy's guitarist Cameron Greider (ex-PM Dawn) produced the album, which initially caused me to worry that Elektra's budget was making fewer allowances for Freedy's work. However, the independence has suited Greider and Johnston well; they push the musical envelope to a greater degree than ever before. "Broken Mirror" recalls the tense, burning brilliance of early Son Volt, while "Back to My Machine" is sharp, skewed and dissonant, a warped blues reminiscent of early Pere Ubu. "Arriving on a Train" floats like a lost outtake from Joni Mitchell's "Hejira", and "Radio for Heartache" is all voice and scratchy, plaintive banjo.

The songs that take the fewest musical risks - the ultra-mannered "Love Grows," "That's Alright with Me"'s velvet-smooth balladry, the Freedy-by-Numbers stomp of "Anyone" - are the ones that make the least impression, and even if they are perfectly fine examples of songcraft, they suffer next to the insidious creepiness of closer "In My Dream" and the brittle, hallucinogenic "Back to My Machine" -- two of the album's strongest and most surprising performances. The latter in particular, an 18-year-old chestnut rescued from obscurity on a whim, makes me wonder if Freedy isn't going to make good on his avowed influence by all those old avant-garde punk bands he loves so much.

With such varied musical settings in such a short running time, Right Between the Promises is difficult to pin down, but if you've enjoyed any of the musical styles Freedy's essayed on previous outings, you'll certainly find something to like here.

I love Freedy Johnston. But I am woefully disappointed by this CD. I loved "This Perfect World," and also enjoyed "Never Home" very much. But this CD is simply not very good. It sounds like an artist who is trying to fulfill a record contract. There's nothing to get excited about unless you consider covering an old Edison Lighthouse song exciting. For first-time Freedy listeners, stay away! Buy something else. For long-time fans like me, I think we deserve much better than 38 minutes of filler!

One of the best yet from Freedy - altho' all of his records are so good it's tough to pick one that tops the others. This time he delivers an impressively diverse collection of original songs - straight-ahead rock, indie folk, blues, pure pop - plus one superb cover tune ("Love Grows," originally a hit in 1970 for Edison Lighthouse). Throughout the CD, Freedy's vocals are consistently smooth, and the musicianship and production are both top-notch. The tunes are mostly all quite hummable. This is a disc I will be coming back to many times in the future.

A great album. If there was an option for four-and-a-half stars I would have used it. Incredible songs as always, but what sets this one apart from the last couple is the diversity--akin to "Can You Fly" and "This Perfect World". For that reason, I can't imagine growing tired of it. And it's not just the varied instrument selection and production choices that make these songs so refreshing. The type of writing in the songs themselves varies from the specifically detailed stories--which he happens to be the modern master at--to the more ambiguous "Anyone", to the spare use of words in "Arriving On A Train" in which he lets the music tell the rest of the story. And the more unique strands of Freedy we get the better.

Sure I was blown away by "This Perfect World," and there are some truly revelatory moments on "Can You Fly", but since those two records, Freedy has hit us with two albums of rather uneven material. It is with great pleasure that I can report, after listening to "Right Between the Promises" almost continuously for the past week, that Freedy has rediscovered his touch. The cover of "Love Grows" aside (we all know how good a cover artist he is), there are nine songs that are as evocative and moving as anything from his earlier albums. Like welcoming an old friend home after a long absence.

Freedy's best. Starting with that opening guitar, the album gets going and never stops. The slow songs are thoughtful and authentic without being morbid, and the accompaniments are gorgeous. Love that riff on Back to My Machine, the slide guitar on Arriving on a Train, the very cool Radio for Heartache. Great songs, great musicianship, great production. Much more available to the ear than Blue Days, Black nights, and more upbeat without being silly.