Miles from Our Home [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Cowboy Junkies

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 30, 1998)
• Original Release Date: June 30, 1998
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000007S8J
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #43,030 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On their seventh album, the Cowboy Junkies hitch their pony to producer John Leckie (Radiohead, Verve) and inch closer toward the mainstream. As a result, Miles from Our Home's title track might be the group's most upbeat and infectious song ever. Unfortunately, it also means Miles is frequently too pretty and pleasant for its own good. Think more Sarah McLachlan, less Velvet Underground. Still, gloom reigns supreme. The atmospheric "Blue Guitar" and, presumably, the slow, shattered "At the End of the Rainbow" (a hidden track) mourn the late singer/songwriter and Junkie hero Townes Van Zandt. "Those Final Feet," a lilting, Band-like tune, marks the passing of the 94-year-old grandfather of the Timmins siblings, who comprise three fourths of the band. Translated through Margo Timmins's endlessly haunting vocals, such sentiments keep the Cowboy Junkies' cloudy mystique alive. --Neal Weiss

No Depression

The Junkies have made a career out of singing songs of love, loss and loneliness, and this album is no exception.... Miles From Our Home could prove to be a good litmus test for separating the longtime Junkies addict from the more recent convert.... You can still hear the band's somber, country-folk heart beating on this album, but it's well camouflaged at times.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A slightly different Cowboy Junkies, June 6, 2000

By	Jeff Williams "Jeff" (Schwenksville, PA) - See all my reviews

As a big Cowboy Junkies fan, I certainly agree that this album is a bit of a departure for the band. Influences by Townes Van Zandt, the band has always been a country-blues-rock band with quiet, gloomy and laid back rhythms and movements. Miles From Our Home puts much more emphasis on the rock and electric guitar than their past six or so albums, and may be a bit of a disapointment for fans raised and weaned on The Trinity Session through Lay it Down.

But there's really nothing wrong with this new style. Margo Timmins' voice is as strong as ever, although a bit more up tempo and upbeat. It sounds more like early October than late November if you ignore the seasonal metaphor. The lyrics are as cynical as ever, and the songs are certainly as good as any that the band has produced. "New Dawn Coming","Miles From Our Home","Good Friday" & "Darkling Days" are some of the best songs the CJ have ever recorded, and there's the usual tribute to Townes Van Zandt with "Blue Guitar."

I suppose if you were expecting the band to produce an exact replica of "Lay it Down" then you may be disapointed by this album. But if you've been a Cowboy Junkies fan for years and own all of their albums like I do, then you'll welcome this slight departure and change. I don't care if its not what you were expecting...its STILL one of the bands strongest albums. I, for one, listened to nothing but this album for a week straight. Heck, maybe the band NEEDED or WANTED to do something a little different. Its not like they put out a speed metal album or anything...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diehard Fans are Way Too Hard on this Release!!, June 4, 2003

By	Batmanbrb "batmansbrb" (Seymour, IN United States) - See all my reviews

Most Junkies' fans think "Trinity Sessions" was their best release, (I disagree - I think "Lay It Down" is their best) and most Junkies' fans think that with "Miles from our Home" that the Cowboy Junkies changed their sound too much and are playing music too loud and too hard. Well, granted, they DO shine the best with their acoustic ballads, but this CD isn't all that bad!! I actually was IMPRESSED that they could play this kind of music and it works!! While there are a few songs on this release that I don't listen to much, there are quite a few songs on this disc that are some of my all-time favorite Cowboy Junkie songs. "Miles from our Home" was probably a good single to release to radio, it's ok, but the 5-star songs are "Hollow as a Bone" and "Summer of Discontent". "No Birds Today", "Those Final Feet", and "Blue Guitar" are also excellent songs. Man, the piano in "Those Final Feet" is breath-takingly beautiful - wish they made sheet music for it so I could play it!! Yes, this release is a harder-sounding Cowboy Junkies (and let's face it, I'm sure GEFFEN RECORDS were putting pressure on CJ to make a release that was going to sell!), but they are such incredibly talented artists that they pull it off spendidly. This disc is worth buying even though I only listen to about half of the songs, but those half are very awesome!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A different style that works, December 7, 2003

By	William S. Beck (Sacramento, Ca. United States) - See all my reviews

This album differs from other Cowboy Junkies works in that musically it is much popier. It is far from mainstream pop in that the lyrics are some of their best yet, this is stuff you can think about. The music has a sharper edge than their previous works, but it is clean and interesting. The Cowboy Junkies had to grow and diversify, this album shows their wings starting to truly stretch.