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COWBOY JUNKIES - CD REVIEW
This is a review which appeared on the Italian magazine "L'Ultimo Buscadero", No.206 October 1999. I translated this article in English, and I hope you will excuse the many mistakes I certainly made. For the original version in Italian click here. The publishing of this review has been authorised by the author, Paolo Carù. Both the picture of the cover of the magazine and the picture at the bottom of the article can be viewed in a larger size by clicking on them.

This is a collection of songs that we have written and recorded during the years, but failed to find a home on any of our previous albums. Some of them were recorded for special projects and ended up on soundtracks and tribute records. Some were recorded during the course of making an album, but failed to make the final cut. Some were written and recorded but never got past our rehearsal room's walls. Half of these recordings have never been heard by anyone but us and the other half are pretty near impossible to find, until now that is.
The only thing these songs have in common is that they're stories by us that we try to tell in the best way we know it. We hope you'll like them as much as we liked to tell them.
With these words the Cowboy Junkies explain the reason for this record, which is not their new record, but a collection of demos, rarities, previously unreleased songs and songs which only appeared on soundtracks or tribute albums.
This record, released last June, has been sold only through Internet and now it finds the way to the shops, at least here in Europe, thanks to Edel.
And it is an excellent and markedly unitary and enjoyable record, which puts to interest the best qualities of the Junkies: the cleverness of Michael Timmins and the splendid voice of Margo Timmins.
A rarefied and involving album, built up with night melodies, and with a shivering series of ballads, played with taste and sung with the usual inimitable voice of kind Margo.
The Junkies never had an easy life, and recently they have been dropped by that talent slicer which Universal, the multinational which absorbed Polygram and cut more bands and employees from their roster than all the other labels in the world, is becoming. So much the worse for them, since they prefer compilations to quality music, and since they keep on lowering the level of their catalogue, trying more and more to sell to kids than to those who really buy records.
Rarities, B Sides and Slow, Sad Waltzes (that "Slow, Sad Waltzes" in the album title is beautiful indeed) is therefore a collection, but the record, as already mentioned, sounds as a unitary one. Margo sings with her heart, and the band follows her consequently.
I Saw Your Shoes is an electrical, pulsating, vigorous song: quite anomalous for the band. Margo's voice is less bewitching than usual.
Five Room Love Story is a wonderful piano-based ballad. It is slow and involving, and with the intense voice of Margo and the soft piano of Spencer Evans laying down the law; it is one of those songs which made us love the band, and, even if we didn't know it, it is already in our heart.
 Sad To See The Season Go is again slow, pondered and sad: Margo sings wonderfully and the band is compact. Another little nocturne pearl. If You Gotta Go, Go Now is the cover of a well-known song written by Bob Dylan: a nice harmonica and the piano make this cover quite personal.
Love's Still There is another slow song, wher the band better attains to create emotions. The piano by Richard Bell, the mandolin by Jeff Bird and the accordion by Jaro Czerwinec, create a fascinating musical carpet, permeating it with strong Countrish connections (the song is from the Caution Horses period).
To Lay Me Down was already known to us: it is from Deadicated, the wonderful tribute to Grateful Dead. The song written by Hunter and Garcia is played in an absolutely personal way, further slowed, and almost plaintive. A Few Simple Words is again country oriented, as shown by the light rhythm and Michael's guitar: a beautiful and proud song.
River Waltz was in the soundtrack of a movie with Meryl Streep, but the Junkies have re-recorded it, giving it a waltz tempo and a bit of countrish flavour: bewitching, intense melody, becoming sweetier thanks to the accordion played by Czerwinec.
Leaving Normal is a solar song which stands between country and folk, and it is sung with a joyous voice, and played in a very clean way.
What we find really surprising from these songs is this unitarity we feel while listening to one after the other, as this album was conceived and recorded in a single session.
The last album is a cover of the tradional The Water is Wide, extremely slow, calmly sung and whispering played: a splendid and intense version which could not end the album in a better way. At the end, a ghost track (only Margo's voice): the touching cover of My Father's House (Springsteen). To end with a flourish.

Paolo Carù


Published on "L'Ultimo Buscadero" No.206 October 1999

The re-publishing of this review and of the pictures on this site has been authorised by the author.


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