Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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158 of 164 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wow...a brilliant debut!, March 3, 2005
Most people can remember hearing Norah Jones' Come Away With Me for the first time. It was so fresh and so different from all the other noise filling the airways. Amos Lee's debut is like that. Upon listening to it straight through, you wonder why there is not more music like this and wonder what it will be like to hear him 25 years from now and remember your first listen.
I don't want to be overly reductionistic here, but the Norah Jones connection is certainly worth making, if only because all the NJ fans who read this review might snap up this record too. This cd does indeed have a certain "male Norah Jones" feel to it; and her distinctive up-octave piano playing can even be heard on two of the tracks. However, it should be made clear that Amos is talented enough in his own right to deserve a better classification than this. Nonetheless, if you don't get this impression I would be surprised.
There is not really a weak track on the cd; each is a distinct effort. But the overall work hangs together with a low-key excellence, which partnered with astute production and mixing generates that characteristic Blue Note sound that plays just as well in the background as it does for the savvy audiophile whose "tuned in" to every musical element. The instrumentation never overwhelms his vocals, and his vocals are never out in front so much that the cello, mandolin, and piano feel "filtered."
While I have certainly not exhausted the praise due to the musical crafstmanship of the album, I was also quite impressed with the lyrical depth of a songwriter so young. Each of the songs are penned by him, and while many are fun and peaceful, like the biblical prophet who shares his name, he is quite aware that there is something enormously wrong with this world we live in. Instead of offering trite solutions, he allows the listener to critically explore his perspective on this fallen world, without holding out a happy ending that is too easy to imagine or achieve. On one hand he cries out in biblical imagery for a savior, presumably a personal, knowable one, and then immediately asks for the sweet whiskey to take his cares away. This bit of irony points out that the apathetic certainly don't perceive any need for a savior, for they have no cares. But the one who sees something in himself in need of saving eventually realizes that whiskey only temporarily removes the pain from the brokenness that needs restoration. Perhaps I am reading my own experience into his writing, but hopefully this will demonstrate that there is enough depth in his writing to do what good art should do - invite the listener into a conversation.
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52 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive artist, impressive debut, March 11, 2005
I have not been this excited about a new artist in so long...maybe norah jones, but maybe not....Mr. Lee has released a wonderful debut cd. I read a review of the cd and thought I would give it a try...so glad I did. I cannot stop listening to it. I tried to explain his sound to someone, kind of Bob Dylan, kind of soul, a little country,a little folk, I'm not sure. He is very unique. And what a wonderful songwriter, I don't know his age, he looks young on the cd, which makes this all the more impressive. I expect to hear more great things from him, I look forward to it.
Buy this cd, you will not be disappointed.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not faux hip; real quality., June 1, 2005
You really do sort of want to hate Amos Lee. First, his album peers up at you from under the register of nearly every Starbucks in America; that's him right next to Antigone Rising and the four dollar gum. Then there's the Norah Jones connection; he opened for her, and they're both on Blue Note (which should generally a plus). And she plays on two songs here. And also, he's wearing a hat on the cover, and he sports a healthy dose of stubble. So yeah, the record has that "faux hip" aura all around it that generally makes me want to run for cover.
But the kid has the songs, and that makes up for a lot. The sound byte is, part James Taylor, part Donnie Hathoway; a hybrid of the seventies genres of folk rock and soul. I'm hearing an organic music; his core touring band is a quartet, with himself on guitar and vocals, plus another guitar, bass, and drums. The instrumentation on the album is similarly sparse, although many songs feature a keyboard part prominently. The songs have an easy, first-take quality that probably took endless takes to get exactly right. This is gentle music, both soulful and economical-- which is to say, nothing extra, nothing wasted.
Several songs feature the propulsion of David Greenwood's Wurlitzer or Hammond B3 to good advantage, although sadly he isn't listed on Lee's website as part of the touring band. The songs have beginnings and endings (as opposed to fades), and the album clocks in at a proper 35 minutes. I'm a big fan of albums that know when they're done; many of the classic records of my formative years had 18-minute sides, and better a tight piece of work that leaves you longing for more than an hour-long debut that has you looking at your watch after the 14th song. I've been listening to it as I've been writing, and I can't believe it just flew by. I'm tempted to play it through again.
This record has an unmistakable charm in the simplicity and directness of the songs, that bears up to repeated play. There's a difference between music that is easy to listen to, and "easy listening;" this is the former, and that is a high compliment. For nine bucks, you can't go wrong.
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