Yellow Moon

Neville Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: March 14, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002GIF
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,896 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

The Neville Brothers are a New Orleans institution. Their voices glide freely and harmonize into a rich texture. For Yellow Moon, they enlisted the help of producer Daniel Lanois to meld their voices and rhythms with his swampy dreamscapes. The percussion is subtle, the guitars melt into the background, and the voices puncture the placid night sky, as if providing the soundtrack to an old western. Two protest-era Dylan songs ("With God on Our Side" and "The Ballad of Hollis Brown") are recast as modern anthems for spiritual reconciliation. The Sam Cooke classic "A Change is Gonna Come" remains an envied promise, while the original material (the title track; "Sister Rosa," about Rosa Parks) is among their finest. Not a return to form, but rather a welcome break from tradition. --Rob O'Connor

Product Description

No Description Available.
Genre: Soul/R&B
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 13-MAR-1989

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Brothers be Movin' and Groovin', May 2, 2000

By	Steven H. Hulme "Idaho Spud" (Boise, ID USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Neville Brothers are an American Institution, and at least in my opinion, this CD is their best work. Aaron Neville has one of the most instantly-recognizable, and best, voices in pop music.

The Nevilles are unique in the many influences that can be heard in their music - Carribean/Reggae, Cajun, African, rock, even country and folk. On this outing, they get some NASTY rhythms going (title tune, "Fire and Brimstone," "Wild Injuns") - crank it up and GO! They also perform several "social commentary" songs - "Sister Rosa" is a tribute to Rosa Parks, who refused to give her bus seat to a white man. "With God on our Side" is about people justifying their lack of humanity by (falsely) claiming to aligned with God. "Ballad of Hollis Brown," written by Bob Dylan, is truly haunting, the story of a man who feels so desperate in his inability to care for his family that he kills them to ease their pain.

This recording is an emotional roller coaster.

If you are a seasoned Neville Brothers fan, I assume this CD is already part of your collection; if not, you could do much worse than this as an introduction.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crank it up and groove!, July 3, 2003

By	Doug Bennett (Huntsville, Alabama) - See all my reviews

Five stars doesn't even come close. Nothing makes me reach for the volume knob like "Yellow Moon". As one would expect, it's deeply funky. But there's another side to it that's ghostly, wistful, beautiful.

The record companies just don't know what to do with bands like the Nevilles; they seem to see the band as some cheesy New Orleans party band. The Nevilles are far, far more than that, and nothing has ever captured it like "Yellow Moon". Produced by Daniel Lanois during his residency in New Orleans, who saw them for what they really are: a living connection to the past, with threads of all the amazing stages of development in New Orleans music, from Congo Square straight back to Africa. His eerie, atmospheric production style has never had a better match. A stunning work, and possibly my favorite album of all time.

Millions of people visit New Orleans, but I'm not sure how many people truly "get" New Orleans. New Orleans is more than just Bourbon St. It's a place of magic and mystery, of ghosts and history, and it got under my skin like no place ever has. What an amazing accomplishment to capture this on record as Lanois has on Yellow Moon.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Jump up and down now, January 24, 2005

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This is a typically fine album by these New Orleans legends. It contains a good mix of originals and cover songs. Several of the songs are "message" songs, inluding great covers of Sam Cooke and Bob Dylan songs. Another great cover is the Carter Family's "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". This is an all-around solid album, and fans of the Brothers should enjoy it.