Tim O'Brien - Chameleon
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Free Music Notes for Chameleon
Free Music Review: Versatile and Talented - A Great CD!!
Hit: 4 Stars
With his first CD since his Grammy winning Fiddler's Green (Best Traditional Folk Album 2005) Tim O'Brien shows off his many talents penning (or co-penning) the 16 tracks, singing, playing guitar, fiddle, and mandolin.
As an accomplished bluegrass/folk musician for the last 30 years, O'Brien has compiled a vast repertoire of tunes and he shows his versatility on this CD. Right with the first listen I found myself immediately drawn to The Only Way to Never Hurt and Get Out There and Dance.
As with other reviewers I particularly enjoyed seeing the listing of the brand of instrument he was playing on each cut even though I will never be a musician. Those who are musicians should really appreciate having this detailed for them.
This is my kind of music - intelligently written, sometimes fun, sometimes serious, and always just plain good.
Imagine my pleasure to discover that he will be the main performer at our town's annual Festival of American Fiddle Tunes this year and I get to hear him perform most of these gems live less than a mile from my home!
Free Music Review: Extraordinary Performances of Less-Than-Ordinary Songs
Hit: 3 Stars
I've been a Tim O'Brien fan since his time with Hot Rize. He's an extraordinary singer, fiddler, and picker of a variety of instruments. I've admired his songs, as well, from "Late In the Day", and "Bending Blades" for Hot Rize, to "Lonely At the Top" and "Like I Used to Do" as a solo artist. I consider his CD "Odd Man In" to be a masterpiece.
Chameleon is, to be charitable, a disappointment. The singing is fine. The picking and fiddling is astonishing. The songs are frequently trivial and nearly always poorly-crafted. Let's take a verse from "Nothing to Say"
And Bob Geldof was right; he said "we are the world
It's you and it's me and it's that little girl.
We can wave one big flag. Now let's get it unfurled.
If we follow our hearts, we can fix up this world."
The only proper rhyme in that verse is "world" with "unfurled". The thought is worthy of a child of ten, but not of a man past fifty.
Tim has also decided to inject politics into his songs. That's something that a songwriter does at his peril. I think that Tom Paxton has done a better job of it than anybody else, but even most of his sound either silly or irrelevant today. And Tim O'Brien is no Tom Paxton. I offer a couple of verses from "World of Trouble":
Well, I voted once for Nader,
I voted once for Kerry, too,
For conscience and for compromise
But neither one came through.
It's Bush and then it's Clinton,
And then you push repeat.
Pass that bread and water, Ma,
I think it's time to eat.
This is sung to the accompaniment of a clawhammer banjo, which is, at least, extraordinarily well played.
I really thought that I'd heard the last of songs like this thirty years ago. I expect much better from Tim O'Brien.
Free Music Review: O'Brien on his own...and delightful.
Hit: 4 Stars
I've followed Tim O'Brien's career ever since Hot Rize, and am always amazed at the constant variety of his music and songwriting. This CD is no exception. O'Brien's a purely solo performer here, singing 16 original songs that are a delight from start to finish. He accompanies himself on a number of acoustic instruments, so that there's not a sameness from track to track, nor is there a sameness in the songs. There are lovely ballads like "The Only Way To Never Hurt," "The Garden," and "Safe In Your Arms," toe-tappers like "Get Out There & Dance" and "Hoss Race," and some pointedly satirical numbers: "This World Was Made For Everyone" (which makes fun of American "it's all for us" mentality) and "When In Rome." If you're new to O'Brien, this is a great introduction, and if you're already a follower, you'll love it.Free Music Review: Pick'n and a grin'n, with a splendid range of songs
Hit: 5 Stars
Tim O'Brien features his range of talents with stringed instruments in this crisp CD, Chameleon. In fact, it is the extraordinary mix of vocal and instrumental styles that truly makes this collection a "chameleon". Tim O'Brien is not a "one size fits all" singer and instrumentalist.
As you listen to this album, you will be struck with mental flashes of other accomplished musical artists: Gordon Lightfoot, Ricky Skaggs, Steven Fromholz, and even some Hawaiiana.
If you are not sure whether you are a fan of America folk, start with Chameleon.
Free Music Review: Emotional and Personal Pure Pickin' from Tim O'Brien
Hit: 4 Stars
There is no doubt that Tim O'Brien is a gifted Americana/Bluegrass musician. But, at times, I felt his albums to be dull and over-produced. In 2000, he released Real Time with Darrell Scott, and this was an inspired effort with real flair and emotion.
With his latest release, Chameleon, O'Brien has delivered a very personal and emotional album that mostly just features him and a stringed instrument in what seems like a quiet room where O'Brien is alone with the moving emotions that the music is stirring within him.
I can picture an evening of watching Tim O'Brien on a small stage such as McCabe's Guitar Shop and a small audience huddled below him as he submerges himself in these songs.
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A Guide to my Music Rating System:
1 star = Not worth the blood dripping from your ears/
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good music, but not life altering.
5 stars = This music changed my world in at least some small way.