Customer Reviews

Way Back Home

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

 

 

I have over 25 of Phil's albums, and I consider this one to be his very best. Why? The music focuses on Phil's family, his faith, and is at once soothing and appealing. Especially notable are the songs that are taken from other writers' words. Great examples of this are "Could've Been Me", "In Every Need" and "Once I Prayed". Of course, Phil's excellent guitar work is evident in abundance throughout the album. Phil's voice has never sounded better. This work will appeal to anyone who enjoys songs that are meaningful, but can even be enjoyed as background music. A must have for Phil's fans.

With this 1994 reissue of his 1986 LP "Way Back Home," Phil violates a rule I wish I could impose on musicians: When putting out the only CD version of any given album, you can add bonus tracks, but otherwise DON'T MESS WITH IT! Here, Phil has heavily revised several of the songs from WBH, generally making them more stripped-down and, occasionally, shorter. The ONLY track that gets at all improved in the process is "Maker Of The Universe." The rest range from suffering slightly to getting downright ruined. A few songs don't seem to have been changed noticeably but these were generally relatively weak songs to begin with.

Of course, WBH was never Phil's best album in the first place. Part of this is because of a common weakness in Phil's output: songs whose lyrics delve too much into specific personal details.

The four new songs here are a mixed bag. The best is "It Could Have Been Me," although it doesn't fit the album's tone at all. "She's A Dancer" is McCartney-esque & OK, "Father-Daughter Harmony" is sappy in the extreme, and "The 50th," while fitting the "too-personal" criteria (it includes excerpts from a homemade vinyl recording of his grandparents' 50th anniversary celebration in 1948), is still musically pleasant and historically interesting. (BTW, Phil's ACOUSTIC SKETCHES has a version of this with the music only, minus the old record excerpts.)

Get it if you're a Phil fan, but first see if you can get someone to put the original vinyl to CD for you! (BTW, the original cover was a lot better too!)

Occasionally uneven collection but contains what is arguably Keaggy's greatest songwriting (his most underrated attribute): Maker of the Universe, Here and Now, Let Everything Else Go, Noah's Song. Maker of the Universe is worth the price of the CD alone. If you like Keaggy's songwriting and his mellow side, this is his best CD Other than the outstanding 2CD collection of his Jesus Freak period -- What a Day/Love Broke Through.

Too bad you can't see Keaggy play guitar -- I have -- and his body language and musicianship exhibits praise for his muse. Still you can listen, and his work here is buoyant. If you have moved away from where you grew up, and would like to rekindle sweet memories of your hometown, just listen once and let your mind wander back. If you are a parent of boy or girl, it doesn't matter, Keaggy's "Father Daughter Harmony" illustrates why contemporary children need not follow the suit of eye-rolling sitcom kids, who instead can feel the glee of being with their parents. And the final track, which Keaggy overlays with guitar work, is an old reel-to-reel recording of his grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, which took place in '49, a year before Keaggy's birth. It is what one would imagine if Studs Terkel provided sound tracks for his books. I gave my copy of this CD away, and didn't have the heart to ask for it back (they enjoyed it so much), so I bought two more (just in case I wanted to loan out another copy.)

This is a beautiful album, but some songs are "updates" of the originals from the first release of Way Back Home (which was never available on CD, unfortunately). I was disappointed with this, but I'll still buy this CD--I especially love "New Star" and "Olivia".

I grew up on THE MASTER AND THE MUSICIAN, PHL'P SIDE, TOWN to TOWN, PLAY THRU ME...etc and love them. I also love newer Keaggy like 220 and Acoustic Sketches. But this album just doesn't have the energy I expected. If this is the only Keaggy album you've heard, try others.

A complete celebration of the family. One of Phil Keaggy's best works. Realy makes you think.

This is one of the most moving celebrations of family you will ever hear. Keaggy writes beautifully about what means the most to him; his Lord, and his family. Highlights are "Way Back Home", "Let Everything else go", "Be in Time", and "the 50th" (in which Keaggy magically transports us to his grandparents 50th wedding anniversary, which occured before he was even born. How? I'll let you discover that for yourself.) The first Keaggy cd I owned, and still one of my favorites.

I have all but a couple of Phil's cds and this one was a disapointment. It has a sort of melancholy childhood effect to it, but I never listen to it. Find me in these fields, philip side, crimson and blue are far superior in all aspects. My opinion of course, some obviouly appreciate Back Home.