Customer Reviews

Take Enough Home

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

 

 

Circa 1993, while attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, my roommate would frequently play selections of live recordings from his enormous collection. One afternoon my roommate had queued up a particular artist that I hadn't heard before. Within minutes I was hooked and inquired my roommate of the artist. I was informed that the infectious live rhythms were from a band called From Good Homes. Unfortunately, that was the last time I had heard From Good Homes. At the time I was under such enormous stress that I'd forgotten the listening experience days later.
Then, recently while using Furthur, I was looking around for some good shows to download when I noticed that one of the bands listed in the Furthur database was "From Good Homes". When I saw those words I was taken aback and wondered why. I found the official FGH site and streamed a song to realize the long lost love I had forgotten. Then, I immediately ordered their latest CD entitled Take Enough Home.
FGH brings "rock, jazz, folk, Celtic and jam-band influences" into one timeless mold. Take Enough Home paints FGH's warm, groovy, simple, good times personality. This is the kind of album that you can listen to when living it up or kicking back. The versatility and uniqueness of its sound makes FGH one of those albums that I would want if stranded on a deserted isle along with one of my favorite Beatles and Radiohead albums (with electricity and a stereo system of course).
To my deepest disappointment I've learned that Take Enough Home is selected highlights of their farewell show performed on June 14 1999. Sadly, I will never be able to fully experience a FGH show! Although, we are able to feel some of the vibes through Todd Sheaffer's solo recordings and work with Railroad Earth.

I just want you to know that I love FGH. I saw them 5 or 6 times. I was at the show 2 hours early so I could be up front. I brought all my friends and had a bash! I'd been waiting for this CD for a while, due to the rumors I heard about it's existance.

1. The musicianship is great and the sound quality is phenomenal.

2. The added new song is such a fun treasure. It actually shows where Todd was going musically (i.e. Railroad Earth)

3. The problem though is the choice of songs. This absolutely should have been released as a double CD. The show had a such a strong flow that when you jump and skip from song to song you don't get the true feel of it all. Todd, Pat and Brady sang a sound a capella and that's not on here, so you miss out on some of the true gems.
Yes, the Cd has the big guns, "Charlie Loves our band", "The Giving Tree", "Scudders Lane" and "Head", but the 3 minute drum solo and the end of Head should've been phased out and a shorter song added. The longer songs have a tendency to drag the album down a bit.

4. I am very pleased with the album and am glad that I own it. I'll recommend it to anyone, but keep in mind this is just a small slice of what the concert was truly like.

-Pete Kramer