Land of Milk and Honey

Artist: Eliza Gilkyson
Label: Red House
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 033651017424
EAN: 0033651017424
ASIN: B0001CNQFI

Release Date: 2004-03-23

Related Categories:

General

| Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

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| Folk | Styles | Music

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| Folk | Styles | Music

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| Pop | Styles | Music

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Listmania:

Music-Bitter Sweet- Sort of like the blues.
Introspective
Playlist March 2005
Albums Nominated for the 2005 Grammys: Folk
P3 Best of 2004 Part 3
My Favorite 2004 CDs
My Favorite Music
Best CDs of 2004 (So Far)
Best Country/Folk Albums

Tracks:

Hiway 9
Not Lonely
Dark Side of Town,
Tender Mercies,
Wonderland
Separated
Ballad of Yvonne Johnson
Runnin Away
Milk and Honey
Peace Call.

Similar Items:

Paradise Hotel
Lost and Found
Hard Times in Babylon
40 Days
These Times We're Living In, A Red House Anthology

Customer Reviews:

Upper-class airhead in new career move: racist politics........2006-10-23

The cover of the CD, which provided the inspiration for the album title and song according to the liner notes, shows an industrial wasteland created by communists in the former Soviet empire. The back cover shows a defaced billboard which mocks the United States of America and its position in the world. The contradiction provided by the juxtaposition of these images is lost on Gilkyson and shows the level of sophistication one might expect from someone with only a high school education like her. The opening song, "Hiway 9," uses the melody and tempo of a children's song to support a frivolous political commentary. This includes the racist attack that, Colin Powell, one of this country's greatest public servants, is "a white man hidden in a black man's skin." Charming, especially considering that Gilkyson's family comes from the Philadelphia Social Register. Things don't get much better from there with the usual puerile lyrics (Not Lonely, Wonderland, Separated) about longing for love and lust, which are getting a little odd coming from a 50 year old woman who has had more than her share of lovers. The third cut, "Dark Side of Town," is about one of her sister's innumerable boyfriends, a substance abuser who died recently of compications from Hep C. The album is dedicated to him at end of the liner notes. Great, that's inspiring to us all Eliza! The song Tender Mercies starts off with words of sympathy for a suicide bomber who kills Jews at an Israeli shopping mall. Once again, the deeper meaning of such an act is lost to Eliza. Elsewhere, the "Milk and Honey" track manages to be pompous and trite at the same time while attempting profundity, and a children's song from her father is included. The closing Woody Guthrie tune is far and away the best thing on the album. It harks back to a time when those on the political left and right in this country could unite to fight Woody's favorite enemy: facists. Too bad Gilkyson and her ilk don't even recognize the problem today, just like the isolationists in the 30s. As she says in "Milk and Honey" - "god's children....doomed to repeat history."

Social depth, maturity..........2006-09-08

I especially appreciate the social depth to Eliza's latest music. She started thinking and asking questions long before many of us. In one week she is playing in a historic barn in rural Minnesota - I'll be there, full of gratitude and respect. Maybe if we lstened to more music like Tender Mercies, the world would be a more tender place. Paradise Hotel is an excellent follow-up. And a plug for a related and excellent undiscovered single...Say Goodbye to That...Leslie Nuchow.

A Big Leap Forward.......2005-12-12

I've been following Eliza Gilkyson on and off since her Santa Fe days, and her abilities as a singer and songwriter have grown with each new release. But, for the longest time, I felt her Linda Ronstadt-ie vocal mannerisms kept her from being as good as she could be.

"Land of Milk and Honey," is a big leap forward. It's as if all her music and lyric writing to date were preparing her for this work. Every song is top notch and filled with emotional intelligence, and her backup, as always, is terrific. And, I couldn't detect a bit of Linda!

Thanks to "Folk Alley," for consistently playing her work. That's where I heard, "Peace Call," and jumped right to Amazon.com to buy the cd.

Looking forward to hearing, "Paradise Hotel," which looks to be selling very well.

Good on Eliza!

Ok I know her politics, but where's the music?.......2005-08-08

What a disappointment! I should have know there was something up with this album when Red House (her label) put together a recent anthology of their artists and picked a Gilkyson song from 1999 (by contrast, most other selections were from the artist's most recent album, e.g. Lucy Kaplansky's Thin Red Thread). This album just oozes her venom which might make her feel better when she's done, but doesn't make me feel good listening to it (even several times since I know some of my favorite music can be an 'acquired taste'). I suspect getting to like this album is like learning to enjoy drinking battery acid.

Want meaningful lyrics AND enjoyable listening? Buy Lucy Kaplansky - any of her albums is light years better than this one.

A voice of smoke and honey.......2005-07-27

Heard this one on the radio -- oddly, the track was "Ballad of Yvonne Johnson", and knew immediately I had to have it. It had all this aspects that are just what draws me in to a record -- it was rootsy, it was political, it told a story that had to be true (I totally "felt" Yvonne Johnson by the end), told fearlessly and unflinchingly, and it had this amazing, distinctive, absolutely perfect woman's voice. The CD is full of great songs, the standouts for me being "Hiway 9" "Dark Side Of Town" and "Wonderland", but I love everything here.

My tastes are eclectic -- just check out what I have reviewed to this point -- and I do enjoy good singer songwriter stuff. But my standard is Dylan, Townes, Guy Clark, stuff with some meat to it, stuff that has well - chosen words and, frankly, a bit of attitude. This record meets the standard. It also has that wonderful voice.

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