Customer Reviews

Whisper Tames the Lion

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

 

 

I was stunned to just read a review stating Whisper Tames the Lion is "ok". Its dated from 2002, so that might justify the reviewer coming in post-D&C heyday in the Southeast where I was fortunate to see them in the early days. Any D&C listener from the start knows that Scarred but Smarter (preceding Whisper) was great and that Whisper Tames the Lion is magnificent, more mature, full bodied and thick - like a fine evening sitting on the cabin porch, sun about to set, feeling fine and your friends playing good music and singing. When Mystery Road hit, most D&C people I know wondered what was going on. Then Fly Me came along we realized what the big labels can make a good band do on record - homogenize and fizzle. Sounded like a ballon slowly loosing air. Whisper Tames the Lion is rich with melodic, smooth, pensive, rich, and rough and thoughtful...steel guitar, great chords and major hooks - its been one of my favorite recordings for almost 13 years. From the opening to closing notes - maybe its because I'm from the Blue Ridge (blue ridge ways, song 13), this is one of the few recordings I have that I cherish each and every song. This is one of the original, pre-whiskeytown / tupelo / blue mountain y'all-ternative recordings of all time. Get it.

This marks the last of the Drivin' n' Cryin' "old sound" that managed to peek out a few times in Mystery Road. When it's rocking, it's a bit more raw. When it's country, it's a bit more authentic.

This is a terrific Southern rock album, and it's easily D'n'C''s second best record. After this, their sound branched out into more commercial areas. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but the real sound stopped after this record. I still love all their records, but they never recovered the energy and sweetness of their first two records.

So you must get Scarred but Smarter and Whisper Tames the Lion!

It irks the heck out of me how Drivin'n'Cryin' has been written out of music history. Their combination of eloquent folk/bluegrass stylings alternating with screaming loud Southern metal leveled an entire generation down here where I live.

DNC's basic premise was pure genius: that there was nothing inherently wrong with the *concept* of Southern Rock; it simply failed in execution because the lyrics were at best cretinous and at worst racist. So DNC put literate, empathetic lyrics to it and voila: the blueprint of Americana, y'all.

"Whisper Tames the Lion" is a good starting point to get to know DNC. "Powerhouse" is one of their legendary showstoppers to this day, and "On A Clear Daze" and "The Friend Song" usually feature in singer Kevn Kinney's solo performances.

Eclectic, dramatic, exciting stuff, and no Americana fan should even think about missing this.

Atlanta based band Drivin' N' Cryin', released "Whisper Tames The Lion" #130, in 1987, is a big improvement over their debut "Scared But Smarter"(1986). This album combined rock-country and folk. The album starts off with blistering title track followed by other rockers on this disc, the dynimo rocker "Powerhouse", "Can't Promise You The World", the riff-rocker "On A Soul Road", "Livin' By The Book" and "Legal Gun". Their best country-folk tinged tunes on here are, "On A Clear Daze", "Catch The Wind", and "Good Day Every Day". The album was produced by Anton Fier who did their 2009 album "The Great American Bubble Factory".

The Band in 1987:
Kevin Kinney- guitars and vocals
Tim Nielsen - bass,mandolin,bgvocals
Jeff Sullivan- drums

I was in the studio while this album was being recorded and at the time I was worried. Producer Anton Fier had told me, "DNC has a great live sound. I want to give them a great studio sound." I remember thinking, "Uh oh." At the time the album seemed over-produced, replacing the raw live magic of the trio with organ fills. But I just picked up a new copy (what happened to mine???), and it sounds brilliant. Kevn's guitar playing on "Soul Road" and Tim's mado playing on "On a Clear Daze" are stellar. Every track is unique and stands on its own, the way rock albums sounded before the era of homogeneity/ (Can you imagine if every song on a Beatles album sounded the same?)

I used to have a bad feeling in my stomach about WHISPER TAMES THE LION in 1988 because it didn't turn out the way I thought it sounded in my mind. In 2010, it's brand new. This is the passion and creativity that is so lacking in music now. I lived this album back then, now I can just enjoy it. It may have taken me 22 years to appreciate Anton Fier's vision, but gotdamn this record is good!

Drivin n Cryin and Led Zeppelin are my two favorite bands ever. Whisper & Mystery Road are pretty equal.

Every song on here is amazing in its own way. This and Mystery Road include some of the best southern/bluegrass/folk/laid back music on the planet.

CATCH THE WIND
GOOD DAY, EVERY DAY
ON A CLEAR DAZE
FRIEND SONG
RIDIN ON THE SOUL ROAD

I'LL stop there because every song is great including the rocker POWERHOUSE.

drivin' n' cryin's second album sounds better today than it did in 1987, probably due to our (the public's) greater appreciation of bands that play both folk/country and punk rock. Lushly produced by Anton Fier, who adds steel guitar, strings, keyboards, etc. to the then-trio's sound, the record showcases both aspects of dnc's split personality, sometimes jarringly so: the rocker "Powerhouse" ends with a wall of feedback and the shout, "Power-f***in'-House" only to be followed by the sentimental "Friend Song." In 1988 this frightened critics and the recording industry, but today it seems natural enough. It's time folks began to understand dnc's role in this progression and this is a great place to begin. "Whisper Tames the Lion," which invokes Document-era rem, the power-pop "Can't Promise You the World" and the John Denver-influenced "Catch the Wind," "The Friend Song," and "Check Your Tears at the Door" stand out.

"The Whisper Tames the Lion" is a spotty but often interesting album from the Georgia rock/country/folk/blues outfit Drivin'n'Cryin. The sound is typical of the band, though the album itself is not quite up to the standards of "Mystery Road" and "Fly Me Courageous," their two best albums. The highlights inclue the excellent afterlife ballad "Check Your Tears at the Door" (a fine example of thier quirky side), "Good Day, Every Day" and "The Friend Song." The album suffers mainly from the inclusion of a number of less than stellar filler tracks.

Oveall, "Whisper" is a decent album for fans, but more casual listeners should start with the other albums I mentioned instead.