Eliza Gilkyson - Paradise Hotel
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Eliza GilkysonEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2005-08-09
Music Label: Red House
Soundtracks:
- Borderline
- Paradise Hotel
- Man Of God
- Jedidiah 1777
- Bellarosa
- Think About You
- Is It Like Today
- Calm Before The Storm
- Requiem
- When You Walk On
Free Music Notes for Paradise Hotel
Free Music Review: Paradise, Indeed!
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree with another reviewer here who has noticed that Eliza Gilkyson just keeps getting better and better. I have loved her music ever since I first heard her sing "Calling All Angels" (not the Jane Siberry song, but a Gilkyson original with the same title) in the 1980's. With a voice somewhere between the velvet-smoothness of a Jennifer Warnes and the grittier edges of a Lucinda Williams, Ms. Gilkyson does few covers of other songwriters' work, since her own compositions are more than enough to carry an entire album. Having just said this, I'm particularly fond of the one song on this CD not at least co-written by Eliza, "Is It Like Today" (by Karl Wallinger and Edmond De Vere), with its addicting, melodic hook line, "...how could it come to this, yeah I really want to know about this..." However, this latest collection of songs may be Eliza Gilkyson's crowning achievement as a songwriter, thus far, and fans of great contemporary "folk" music who, for one reason or another have managed to miss ever hearing this artist (she certainly deserves greater fame), would do well to start with this latest CD. It's hard to pick favorites, as this is all so good. I love the tunes to "Borderline" and "Think About You." Now, with the horrible disaster of Hurricane Katrina, "Calm Before the Storm," already a strong piece, acquires even greater poignancy. Throughout this album, Gilkyson's band is spot on, and provides more than ample support for Eliza's expressive voice. What is perhaps Gilkyson's greatest strength is her ability to grab the listener with a strong melody first; then she moves in for the kill with devastating lyrics. Whether her words are political, as with the angry "Man Of God," or personal, as in "Think About You," repeated listenings reveal deeper layers of meaning. Throughout her career, Eliza's poetry has used lots of Christian imagery and symbolism, but she is no religious extremist. Her music is spiritual in the deepest sense, and her songs resonate with compassion, an understanding of the human condition, and a love for life. Do you like Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch or Dar Williams? Buy this record. You will not be disappointed! For further listening, seek out the CD "Pilgrims," which may be out of print, and 1997's "Redemption Road." "Pilgrims" is lovely, but it also reveals how far Eliza Gilkyson has come since then; her poetry was like that of a talented schoolgirl, as compared with the artistry of the world-wise woman of today. "Redemption Road" is my second-favorite album by this artist (the latest being my pick for The Best), closely followed by her Red House CD, "Hard Times In Babylon."
Paradise Hotel Poster
Paradise Hotel is Eliza Gilkyson's fourth release on the Red House label and follows her 2004 Grammy nominated and critically lauded "Land of Milk and Honey." Her most personal album to date, it features songs that artfully reveal the roots of her progressive patriotism, comment on the direction our world is headed and peel back the thin layers obscuring the heart of what matters in these complex times.One of the CD's most powerful tracks, "Jedidiah 1777," tells of Gilkyson's ancestral grandfather, Brigadier General Jedidiah Huntington, who fought alongside George Washington in the Revolutionary War. Based on a stirring collection of actual correspondence sent by General Huntington from the battlefield to his father and brothers (also enlisted in the army and equally committed to the cause), the song directly quotes the letters in its lyrics.
Shifting her focus from past to present, the song "Man of God" is a scathing indictment of the current administration's use of religion to manipulate the public. The song is driven by her brother Tony Gilkyson's (of L.A. punk band "X") rattlesnake of a guitar solo and a chorus of vocal support from an all-star Austin cast including Ray Wylie Hubbard, Slaid Cleaves, Marcia Ball, Shawn Colvin, Anna Egge, Jeff Plankenhorn and others.
The title track, "Paradise Hotel," is an atmospheric journey down the winding roads of human experience led by Mike Hardwick's haunting guitar. Other highlights include an infectious cover of World Party's "Is It Like Today," a honky-tonk duet with Shawn Colvin on "Calm Before The Storm," and "Requiem," a soothing invocation of compassion that was written in response to the 2004 tsunami devastation.
Warm reflections, strong convictions, and spiritual grace inform the veteran Texas-based troubadour Eliza Gilkyson's latest, Paradise Hotel. Offerings are even more eclectic than usual, with the Spanish-sung border balladry of "Bellarosa," a surprise cover of World Party's "Is It Like Today," and the hymn-like original "Requiem" extending Gilkyson's interpretive range. She sticks closer to straightforward country on "Calm Before the Storm" (with vocal harmony from Shawn Colvin) and the album-opening "Borderline," while returning to her folk roots on "Jedidiah 1777" and the title track (though the latter finds her humming a coda that evokes Bach or Procol Harum, depending on the listener's frame of reference). The album's most powerful track, "Man of God," represents Gilkyson's strongest political statement to date, an indictment of religious hypocrisy that uses Christianity to justify war, with Colvin, Marcia Ball, Slaid Cleaves, and Ray Wylie Hubbard among those offering chorus support. --Don McLeese
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