James Mcmurtry - Saint Mary of the Woods

List Price: $17.98
Our Price: $11.38
You Save: $6.60 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.75 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases

Music CD Cover

Free Music Notes for Saint Mary of the Woods

Free Music Review: Excellent; Intellegent; Incredibly Rich
Hit: 5 Stars

Why am I telling you this, you may ask? Well, I picked up this album yesterday after hearing only "Valley Road", never having heard James McMurtry before then...and I must say that it was, quite honestly, worth the $$$. At first I thought I was listening to Bruce Cockburn's twin brother (which wouldn't be a bad thing in and of itself), but he's not as lofty [ephemeral] as Bruce can be at times, and really produces rich, eloquent, folk-driven tunes to accompany his soothing, eerily Cockburn-esque voice

"Valley Road" is undoubtedly the most "catchy" track, but that's not to say that it's not without it's deeper charms. However, some of the other tracks, such as the title track, seem to delve deeper into some personal stories or discontents. The satisfying escapism and seemingly self-righteous lambasting of urban culture of "Out Here In The Middle" goes just far enough as to make you retain respect for McMurtry (any further and he'd be tiptoing the line of "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" or some other such nonsense). The curious conflict of self-righteousness and self-criticism are enough to make you crack a smile. Yet, the overriding feature that I notice throughout this collection of tonally satisfying and solid tracks is his songwriting ability; I seem to sense a modern Dylan-esque storytelling-in-song trend throughout, which is such a wonderful breath of fresh air in an era when certain "songwriters" feel the need to inform us that they need to purchase 2 pairs of sneakers in case one gets dirty. That's not to say that there aren't great singer/songwriters around, but that McMurtry simply accels in this arena.

Overall, this album is a fantastic success. The incredibly vivid imagery in the lyrics, something that mustn't be overlooked, seems divinely created for the instrumental feed that each one accompanies. What an album! The complexity and richness of both the lyrics and the music behind leave little to be desired...if anything, you'd love to see him hit the heavy riffs of "Out Here In The Middle" a couple more times...

Folk Music CDs

• Music > Styles
• Pop
• Rock