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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a little too smart for a big dumb town, July 30, 2004
Maybe you heard that song when BLACK DIAMOND came out in 1996. It sounded great on the radio, but few were left to play it by then -- the *adult alternative* format had bitten the dust, replaced by *alternative rock* as I recall. Stan had lost his major label contract, and wrote these songs based on his dreams in the summer of 1995 -- the album is "dedicated to all dreams and spirits everywhere." It was released on the tiny Birdcage Records, and it is great to see it reissued by New West. Located in between the uneven PARTYBALL (91) and the half-instrumental ANATOMY (99), this is Stan's masterpiece of the '90s. It may even be his best record ever, but of course it has serious competition from his '80s records for that claim.
"Big Dumb Town" is brilliant, and no matter how many times I listen to it, I still puzzle over the lyrics -- the main character is an immoral sleazeball, certainly not a hero, and yet the big dumb town is not exactly portrayed positively either. In fact, it's easy to imagine Ridgway thinking of himself as being too smart for the record-buying public, and you or I, who appreciate his intelligent music, may think of ourselves that way too. The ambiguity here is definitely not something Dubya or his fans would understand.
"Wild Bill Donovan" is not quite as ambiguous -- superficially an old-fashioned folk song extolling the founder of the CIA as a hero, the intent is clearly ironic. The idea of a mock-tribute to a quasi-mythical spy is typical Ridgway brilliance. "Man of Stone" follows directly, which is apropos as it is an espionage dream sequence. "Gone the Distance" and "Stranded" are powerful and tragic:
"Is it all a million miles from where you are?" (Gone the Distance)
"She was standin' hear the railroad track when she first flagged me down, I was drivin' outa town all alone. Her face held every feelin' in, but her eyes gave her away, one look and you would say, no way home..." (Stranded)
"Knife and Fork" and "Down the Coast Highway" are more twisted vignettes, the first a portrait of a kinky hedonist, and the second a cheerful story with a stunning surprise ending.
There is more, much more, including a hidden bonus track that shifts the mood of the ending of the album from tragic to resigned acceptance. Stan Ridgway, like Dylan (and BLACK DIAMOND includes a cover of "As I Went Out One Morning" from JOHN WESLEY HARDING), creates music with the same level of craft of the great poets. He deserves to be recognized as one of the great American songwriters of our time. BLACK DIAMOND alone should secure his reputation -- don't miss it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Experimental and eclectic Ridgway..., September 17, 2005
"Black Diamond" stands as one of Stan Ridgway's most adventurous albums. It presents a strange blend of electronic and acoustic music that, at first listen, may sound overly disparate and hacked together. But repeated listenings smooth out the transitions and reveal a deeper structure. The album actually explores very similar emotional themes within very different contexts. So yes, it's eclectic, somewhat intentionally non-commercial, and quite experimental as a whole. Consequently, it may not appeal to everyone.
The album opens with a bang and one of Ridgway's best songs, "Big Dumb Town". It paints a portrait of the worst sort of opportunist: someone who makes a profit off of selling firehoses to a city on fire. It wasn't a hit, but it sounds like a hit created by an ideal world (the grunge movement likely pushed it off the airways in the mid-late 90s). "Gone the Distance" abruptly changes the mood from electric to sparse acoustic. When Ridgway hits the high notes, his voice takes on a mellow Neil Young-ish timbre. The somewhat cryptic lyrics evoke loneliness, the void, and things that remain out of reach. Next arrives another in a series of abupt transitions and yet another of Ridgway's best songs, "Knife and Fork". An extremely addictive piano riff runs through this song about a nightmarish personal obsession in the second-person. "Down the Coast Highway" returns to acoustic land. A mood of nonchalance pervades the song. Even the semi-surprise ending "I blew him away" remains emotionally distant. Then the song fades out as if nothing really significant happened. The narrator seems unmoved. Indifference? Distance? A false sense of reality? The song raises more questions than it answers. "Luther Played Guitar" tips its country hat to (the now late) Johnny Cash and his late guitarist, Luther Perkins. "Stranded" dramatically explores helplessness and abandonment. Most people can probably identify with its chorus "You're Worn and Used" and with the allusion to the Myth of Sisyphus. We keep going despite the worst of circumstances.
The rest of the album takes some more surprising turns. "Wild Bill Donovan" returns to the country-ish mood of "Luther Played Guitar"; "Man of Stone" relies heavily on horn riffs for its groove that supports the detective-story lyrics; "Pink Parakeet" sounds like a sparse dance number - Ridgway's voice lurks in the background, bathed in reverb, while a rhythym track pounds away - it revisits "Knife and Fork's" obsessive themes; "Underneath the Big Green Tree" asks the question we all ask, namely, "where do I belong?" and revisits abandonment; Ridgway also takes on a Dylan cover: 1967's "As I Went Out One Morning" - it fits somewhat strangely and astonishingly within the mix; and then the tongue-in-cheek drunken almost-closer "Crystal Palace" - it further explores the illusions and barriers we set up between one another, and removes another layer of reality. Then, for those who don't turn off the CD, the 13th (but unlisted and uncounted) song begins. Its chorus contains the line "I Guess I'll just shutup and move along". Ridgway has stated that "Black Diamond" is his most "personal" album. Does the 13th song say "Ok, I'm done with that, I've made my statement, now let's move on to the next album"? Maybe. Maybe not.
Audiophiles may not appreciate this album. The production can get a little muddled in places (this is more obvious in headphones). But the sound never falls completely flat. In the end, the great songs usually rise above the less than ideal production. Regardless, 1995's "Black Diamond" holds lots of food for thought and great and unappreciated songs. It probably doesn't show Ridgway at his absolute pinnacle best. But it does show a unique side of one of America's least known and most versatile songwriters.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What Are You Waiting For? Buy This CD And Spread the Word, December 4, 2003
Stan Ridgway is one of those "special" artists -- you know, the ones nobody's quite sure they've heard of, but people familiar with him just kind of wink, saying: I've been there.SR is film, he's music, he's literature, he's Johnny Cash and Rod Serling and Ennio Morricone and all sorts of other things all rolled into one. If Harry Dean Stanton wrote tunes, he'd be Stan Ridgway. If L.A. Confidential were a person, he'd be Stan Ridgway. Every album Stan's done is the best album he's ever done. They're addictive, they're good driving music, and some stuff, particularly on this CD and on the Drywall: Work the Dumb Oracle CD, will make you feel just a little uncomfortable to be living in this day and age. Underneath it all, Stan is a stunningly original talent. This is a fantastic CD. Okay? Buy it. Just buy it. If you don't like it, who knows? Maybe you're not living on the right planet (or maybe you are, and you just don't know it yet).
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