Description:
James Taylor's been doing it for 30 years, but less than 30 seconds into October Road he's doing it again: sending shivers up the back of the neck, breaking the listener's features into a grin. Hard to say what it is--sublime voice, soft wise words, gorgeous guitar picking? Whatever--the package is inimitable, and it's a different class. He's never been one for style make-overs--when you deal in vintage claret, why go New World--but October Road has the customary subtle progressions of his best work. Reference points are Steve Gadd's clever drumming, which contrives to lift the tunes up while remaining entirely self-effacing, an
James Taylor's been doing it for 30 years, but less than 30 seconds into October Road he's doing it again: sending shivers up the back of the neck, breaking the listener's features into a grin. Hard to say what it is--sublime voice, soft wise words, gorgeous guitar picking? Whatever--the package is inimitable, and it's a different class. He's never been one for style make-overs--when you deal in vintage claret, why go New World--but October Road has the customary subtle progressions of his best work. Reference points are Steve Gadd's clever drumming, which contrives to lift the tunes up while remaining entirely self-effacing, and Russ Titelman's production, which applies a patina that brings out the natural hues of each song. Taylor himself--now in his mid-50s and far removed from the introverted singer-songwriter of his early fame--operates ever more elliptically now, both in terms of his lyrics and his vocal lines: try the distinctly jazzy "Mean Old Man" or "September Grass", the autumnal love song that opens the album and sends those shivers. --Brian Glasser
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Manufacturer: Columbia
Release date: 22 August 2002
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 5099750329221
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