Randy Newman - Harps & Angels
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Free Music Notes for Harps & Angels
Free Music Review: Rave On, Randy!
Hit: 5 Stars
How does Randy Newman consistently do this? You know what I'm talking about, presenting the most complex artistry in the most easily accessible manner.
These three-minute verses project more weight than 90 percent of what Hollywood turns out in two-hour movies or musical styles than Broadway does in 90-minute soundtracks. How, indeed!
Let's start with the lyrics. Yes, Mr. Newman is truly music's poet laureate, the person who displays the most superb satirical wit being produced in any art form today. It'd be near-criminal to destroy the delicate -- albeit twisted -- lyric surprises present in "Harps And Angels," "Potholes," "Only A Girl," or "A Piece Of The Pie" by analyzing the content here. Simply know they're unsurpassed by anything in Mr. Newman's formidable career.
About the music: well, Mr. Newman's verse matches the musical rhythms precisely. Or is that vice versa? This stuff is an entirely new genre. Yes sir. It's blues; it's ragtime; it's Broadway; it's rock; it's imaginativeasallhell!
The only possible complaint will be the deceptively short length, about 35 minutes. My mama always told me the price of a masterpeice painting isn't determined by inches. Same here. Don't judge its value on the minutes, but rather the scope of talent that approaches infinity.
If you do that, your conclusion will be same as mine: this is the best CD of 2008 thus far and will be damn-difficult to beat in the last few months.
Rave on, Randy!
Free Music Review: The Mark Twain of Music Returns Triumphant!
Hit: 5 Stars
I really hope that "Harps and Angels" gets "album of the year". What else is out there but either decent composing without decent lyrics or the inverse of that... or worse, all the godawful hip-hop that has neither. I laughed and I cried listening to this album. I really did. What else could you want from something that could be called "great". The title track is so "Randy" that it made me smile as it started up. "Losing You" came in as a wonderful chaser to give you a gulp in your throat. Then the flow of comedy and biting wit rolls across the landscape of unfairness and tragedy... all seen through the thick glasses of this innocent bystander... who admittedly claims not to be so innocent.
OK, we're done. Right? No sir. He then punctuates the album with--not only one of his greatest songs ever--but one of ANYONE'S greatest songs ever: "Feels Like Home". I first heard this tune as an outtake demo on his box set almost 10 years ago (Bonnie Raitt sang it on his "Faust" album). You know the man is cynical--so when he DOES say something sweet--you tend to believe him more (Ben Folds is carrying this tradition forward). So I was thrilled to see him wear it on his sleeve finally; not hiding his most emotional outpouring behind the veil of another artist covering it.
I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong it that), but I love you Randy Newman. Thank you for all these wonderful songs. And when I compared you to the great genius Mark Twain, I meant it.
Free Music Review: Randy Newman's "Recessional"
Hit: 5 Stars
I as first drawn to Newman's music in the early 1970s, and I still highly value his brilliant concept album "Rednecks." As other reviewers have noted,this album is too brief, but the quality of the songs more than make up for it. "Harps and Angels" shows Newman at his wittiest, as he does little more than talk over a dixie-land jazz type background.But just listen to the instrumental scoring - it is absolutely wonderful, perfectly complenting Newman's well-phrased delivery. Newman has always been a magnificent ballad composer -remember "Marie" from the "Rednecks" album. Here he gives us "Losing You" and "Feels like Home," which rank among his best. "A Few Words in Defense of My Country" is a wonderful satirical exercise, perfectly skewering the gross incompetence of the Bush regime and the absurdity of the contrived hysteria of recent years: " A president once said, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself' - now we're supposed to be afraid - it's patriotic and color-coded. And what are we supposed to be afraid of ? Why, being afraid!" Well said, Randy. Kipling once wrote a poem "Recessional," acknowledging the end of the British Empire. This seems to be Newman's nod to that sentiment. Thanks for everything you've given us over a career of more than three decades.Free Music Review: 21st Century Piano Playing Mark Twain
Hit: 5 Stars
This one is one of the few albums that I find so rewarding that I can listen to it multiple times in one day. I'm usually too restless for that kind of repetition, but Harps and Angels is that good. I can't find a flaw in it. The arrangements are impeccably tasteful and occasionally quirky in a delightful way. Admittedly, he utilizes some old, familiar Randy Newman devices - e.g., stepwise movements with orchestral instruments that sound somewhere between Beethoven and ragtime - but as always, they fit perfectly with the material.
The range here is quite broad, covering everything from bitingly satirical glances at U.S. culture and politics, apparently on the downward side of its arc, to hysterical personal anecdotes that reflect a depth of understanding of human psychology behind the bite of the humor, to the expression of sweet, romantic gratitude, played so straight it initially had me sniffing around for the irony. And like the best writers, Randy puts forth all this material in a way that both maintains strong individualism and strikes a universal chord. His creative fire still burns brightly and his work reflects an ongoing deepening and maturation that make Harps and Angels one of the most satisfying records of the year. Most highly recommended!!!
Free Music Review: Randy's Tongue Still Stuck Firmly In His Cheek.
Hit: 5 Stars
There are still people out there that think the song "Short People" is making fun of short people, sadly they just don't understand Randy Newman,an intelligent and thought provoking songwriter who always gives you something to ponder.
The 10 tracks on this CD are all winners. From his near death encounter of the opening and title track Harps and Angels to the closing Feels Like Home, the record is a joy. I was fortunate to see Newman appear at Jazz Fest in New Orleans this year and heard track four, A Few Words In Defense Of Our Country for the first time, it is brilliant.Worth the price of the CD alone, have a listen. You may or may not agree with the lyrics but they will make you think.
A Piece of The Pie reflects on America being abandoned, "even Johnny Cougar who sang it's their country now" will "be singing for Toyota by fall" Bono's off to Africa but Jackson Brown still cares.
The CD contains, Angry Belgians,Happy Immigrants, Korean Parents, King Leopold of Belgium and other characters in the cast of this "Soundtrack" for a disaster movie about a crumbling empire.