Stony Road

Stony Road Artist: Chris Rea
Label: Wea International
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1
EAN: 5050466145826
ASIN: B00006ZAI7


Release Date: 2003-01-21

Stony Road


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Singer-Songwriters Singer-Songwriters
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Rock Rock
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Tracks:

  1. Changing Times
  2. Easy Rider
  3. Stony Road
  4. Dancing The Blues Away
  5. Burning Feet
  6. Mississippi 2
  7. Slow Dance
  8. When The Good Lord Talked To Jesus
  9. Heading For The City
  10. So Lonely
  11. Someday My Peace Will Come
  12. The Hustler
  13. Give That Girl A Diamond

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  1. King of the Beach
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Album Details

The Beloved Singer/Songwriter Has Miraculously Recovered from a Dibilitating Illness and this Album is the First Fruit of his Regenerated Vigor. Based in the Blues, it is the Style of Music He Originally Meant to Record Through his Career Until Pop Producers Took Him in an Opposite Direction. The Tracks Clearly Show He was Meant to Sing the Blues and Age and Experience Has Only Enhanced Singing Voice. The Lyrical Content is his Most Honest, Poetic and Affecting. Critics have Justly Hailed this Album as the Best of his Career. A Bonus for Fans is a Documentary of the Recording of this Album that was Lensed by Director Rob Payton.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars A STONEY AND LONELY ROAD.......2003-05-30

STONY ROAD may be considered Rea's best work. There are some remarkably painful and revealing lyrics, and his slide guitar work is nothing short of brilliant. The opening track is a tour de force; other songs are impeccably done, such as "When the Lord Talked to Jesus." Chris' brush with death is evidenced in the brutal honesty of the lyrics, and the musicianship all around is superb.
My only problem with the CD is the "sameness" in the mood and arrangements that somehow distract from what I think Rea was trying to say. The addition of four of his earlier songs is nice, to show how he has gone from the more pop sound to an out and out blues venue. He's good; his voice is craggy but melodic, unlike Leon Russell's whose is pretty craggy..period.
Anyway, this is a great CD.
RECOMMENDED.

2 out of 5 stars It's actually rather boring.......2003-05-15

Chris Rea has a deep, smooth and good voice. The songs can be described as slow blues, but not in the Robert Johnson way. But there's a big problem, and that is regarding the quality of the songs as well as the originality. Chris Rea is getting very boring to say the least, with these very slow numbers that lack melody. It's almost impossible to separate one from the other since they all sound more or less the same. If you have sleeping problems, this might be the solution. My advise is that you check out Omar & The Howlers instead - that would most certainly be a better choice.

5 out of 5 stars File Under Blues.......2002-12-15

Chris Rea is a big star in Europe but practically unknown in the U.S., which is perhaps why his appearance on Elton John's "Duets" album surprised no one over 'there' but everyone over 'here.' Most of his albums are suave 'n' roots, like a Bryan Ferry version of Dire Straits, except that Rea has a gravelly voice (not unlike Waylon Jennings) and plays lots of bottleneck slide guitar (a la Muddy Waters and Blind Willie Johnson). There's been a progression in his songwriting and performing, in my opinion, from his most contemporary-radio material (1979-1984) to his mature, memorable material (1985 on). The watershed album is "Shamrock Diaries" (1985), in which he connected with (maybe even established) his roots in rock, blues, and soul.

"Dancing Down the Stony Road" is a remarkable record by most standards, perhaps even those of classic blues. These are songs of pain, performed with a great deal of expression -- true blue blues. He voices the agony and the love of life and music he experienced while recovering from a potentially terminal illness. It's his first blues album (and deserves W.C. Handy Awards for every "crossover" category), but it sounds like he's been playing blues all his life.

Rea dedicates this album to Charley Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Rea's always had a knack for interesting, strong rhythms, so Patton might not come as a surprise, and his slide playing has obvious ties to Johnson's death meditations, but it's great to hear the songs influenced by Tharpe's fierce gospel drive. I'd like to think these artists would be proud to see their names associated with this album.

Rea has written songs suggesting bewilderment and sorrow before (cf. 'Nothing to Fear' or 'Gone Fishing'), but nothing so direct as these songs, in my opinion. I cried when I first heard 'Easy Rider'--the pain in the lyrics, the voice, and especially the slide guitar solo. I wasn't prepared for it, and I'm still startled by every song on the album. Perhaps the lyrics sometimes try a little too hard, making leaps I can't quite follow (i.e., looking for sugar to take away the gray). But they do convey an intensely personal experience, much like Van Morrison's lyrics do.

It's also a great album with which to consider his other albums, just like "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance" for Van's recordings. If all Rea's roads lead to "Dancing," they're not one-way streets, and I can go back and check them out. I realize that I love "King of the Beach" (one of the great summer albums of all time) and "God's Great Banana Skin" because their hearts beat to the blues you hear in "Dancing Down the Stony Road." Other albums don't, however, like "The Road to Hell, Part 2," which seems like a cynical statement about techno-rock.

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  2. Dog Eared Dream ~ Willy Porter
  3. One More Song ~ Randy Meisner
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  5. Live: Summer 2003 ~ Robbie Williams
  6. Best of Symfo Rock ~ Various Artists
  7. Surfacing/Solace ~ Sarah McLachlan
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In the New Orleans Brass Band Tradition ~ Ambrosia Brass Band

Jazz Years, Vol. 2 ~ Woody Herman

Some o' This and Some o' That ~ Roger Kellaway & Putte Wickman

Rionegro & Solimões: Sound and Vision ~ Rionegro & Solimoes

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Ailleurs Land ~ Florent Pagny

Whale ~ Various Artists

Oscar Calle ~ Oscar Calle