Customer Reviews

Wrecking Ball

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Have you ever wanted to hear a near perfectly realized album, where each recorded song is compacted down to its absolute essence, & where any single subtraction/addition could destroy its fragile genius? Then reach straight for Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris & instrumentalist/jedi producer Daniel Lanois - a lushly ambient, experimental, American country music.

When it came out, many critics immediately threw it into the "Americana" category. & though I can understand that, I just can't sit comfortable with it. Harris/Lanois created something totally uncategorizable with their album - equally reminiscent of Eno's ambient stylings & equally country in spirit.

Wrecking Ball contains many imaginative & original versions of previous classic songs. Cover versions are not new to Emmylou's oervre, but what sets Wrecking Ball apart is that many of the original songwriters of the material she selected collaborate on her versions, inherently authorizing her takes: Steve Earl - "Goodbye," Neil Young - "Wrecking Ball," & Lucinda Williams - "Sweet Old World." If only Dylan could've sung background on "Every Grain Of Sand" or Hendrix's ghost on "May This Be Love," now that would be something! - the only possible flaws on the album. But like Dylan once said of Hendrix's take of "All Along The Watchtower," "Hendrix owns that song," one would have to argue with each of them if they couldn't similarly say the same about Harris' renditions. She not only totally owns both of those two tracks (the Dylan cover glides/swoons a bit more than the original; but, her Hendrix cover is possibly one of the most transcendent pieces of music ever recorded by mortals, to my ears - even surpassing the original utopian fury of Lord Jimi), but she also adds many new acres to each song's original plot, taking them just north of heaven. Wrecking Ball can't help but offer another argument for questioning who owns the original song, as it unconsciously throws off copyright laws like sparks, like so much refuse.

When I was first overpowered by Wrecking Ball, I tried in vain to find out the influences Harris/Lanois were drawing from .... I immediately found Gram Parsons at the center of Harris' primary influences: GP/Grievous Angel (Reprise,1973; 1974) which feature a young Emmylou on one of her premier backing vocal gigs. What Parsons claimed he was trying to do, that held the key for me, was to birth a "Cosmic American music." & though I now love Parsons for his genius, I never think he sonically attained that expansiveness. & now that I really love a lot of the older country stuff as well, I still have no idea where Wrecking Ball came from...other than in taking up the promise of Parson's "Cosmic American music" & delivering a fully conceived/actualized take of it.

& don't let me hear a whisper about Wrecking Ball being Emmylou's "crossover" album to the rock/pop mainstream - I might draw blood. With this album, there is no trace of her leaving her country roots behind (or her country audience, for that matter), descending into some kind of VH1 "contemporary pop" category to expand her vampirous market reach, like, say, Shania Twain or Faith Hill (two goddesses that should be seen but not heard). Rather, Harris, should be seen & heard for who she is, a beautiful artist who's depth & appreciation for the heart of soulful music places her outside of any territorialized marketing scheme, particularly one as creatively shackled as the "new country." Some of her head-scratchin' country audience should realize that she comes to fufill her old country roots not destroy them - despite what the title Wrecking Ball seems to imply. Her explorations beyond present country standards descend to the bottomless - not to the top of the haughty pop charts - that is, the bottomless depths of the human heart. Investigate some lyrics to the track "Deeper Well" to get my meaning:

I was ready for love I was ready for the money
Ready for the blood & ready for the honey
Ready for the winnin', ready for the bell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well
I found some love and I found some money
Found that blood would drip from the honey
Found I had a thirst that I could not quell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well

Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well
Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well

So, please don't question the integrity of her judgement again, especially about any "crossover"! If anything, Emmylou has crossed over the "new country" abyss to that lost American music & tapped its well, tuning into its watery chaos, & sweetly offering you a sip of the future as well. But the flavor wouldn't be so rich without Lanois' contribution - her choice to choose him for this album proves Harris'genius.

If much modern American country music could let go of its hokey wordiness & hyper-commerciality and plunge back into the mystery of the American countryside, instead of drawing inspiration from "big city" honky-tonks of the deep South, it could recapture its lost soul. I say let Wrecking Ball be the fountainhead, the blueprint for what comes next. . . .

I've been a huge fan of Emmylou since her days with Gram Parsons, and over the decades I think I've listened to just about everything she's ever put out. True, this album is not typical. With the benefit of ten years to reflect on it, I think that's because it's her masterpiece. It represents a perfect storm of her voice in full glorious pain; the best group of songs she ever collected in one place; and the studied Lanois production techniques of layered and slightly mysterious sound that is dead-on perfect for the material.

As the years go by this album just sounds better and better - a towering achievment by a great, great artist. If you only buy one Emmylou album (a sad thought), this is it.

No CD collection is complete without this marvellous venture by Harris, which includes breathtaking covers of numbers by stalwarts such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams among others. Giving the album its dark ambience and its almost primal percussions is Daniel Lanois, better known for his work with U2 or Peter Gabriel. And it shows.

I thought of Harris as primarily a country/folk singer, but here she breaks free from the conventions of cheatin', hurtin', pickup trucks and what not; her song-selection addresses real issues here. I highly recommend picking up Wrecking Ball, a work of exceptional grace, depth, and beauty. Noteworthy number: "Deeper Well".

I first heard "Deeper Well" which made me a true fan of Ms. Harris' music... I've since heard the whole album, "Deeper Well" still being my favorite song off of it... For it is achingly beautiful and a song of perfection lyric/vocal/music wise... I'll definitely pick up this cd of hers... - Savannah Skye...

Sadly, I am another music lover who did not buy Wrecking Ball when it was first released. A friend gave me the album for Christmas and I just got around to playing it this week on a road trip. I was moved. I played it at least five times in a row and can't get the haunting words, music and melodies out of my head. The stand out track for me is the title track. This is the most moving song Neil Young has written in my opinion. Each track has a similar feel musically which helps to keep things consistant but each song speaks of something new. I believe I may not have felt this way about this album had I first heard it in 1995. I may have been too young to appreicate it's artistic beauty. I encourage anyone looking for a "lifetime keeper" to make the investment and buy "Wrecking Ball."

Emmylou Harris has often called her 1995 album WRECKING BALL, her "weird album". When it was released, it was one of her best albums she had put out in a while, and she always puts out something exceptional. Working with U2's Daniel Lanois as producer, it's hard to categorize the music here. It's certainly not the country Harris fans have come to expect from her. It's a collection of cover songs, and they are inspired. The opening "Where Will I Be" (Daniel Lanois) sounds like it was written just for her, it's almost a signature song of her later career. Her version of Julie Miller's "All My Tears" is my favorite song here, her voice is haunting and ethereal. Other favorites include the title track, which is a cover of a Neil Young song, her version of Steve Earle's "Goodbye", and many others. One of her best and no collection is complete without this album!

I didn't buy this album for a very long time because so many reviewers said it was so different than "traditional" Harris that I wasn't sure I would like it. I didn't need to worry. Emmylou has such an incredible voice that I don't think it would matter what she sings; it would sound good. No particular song jumps out at me here. They all sound good. These are not "party jam" or "country swing" songs; they tend to have a dark, brooding, almost spiritual sound, but what a great sound it is. Emmylou never sounded better. I hope she continues to perform and expand the type of material she does. A must have for your complete "best of" music collection!

This album is not available here in the UK. I got it from amazon.com because the title track was on a "new country" compilation CD I bought on impulse - as soon as I heard it, I thought "Wow! I've got to hear more of this."

I want music to move me - in its mood, this album seems to me like a female version of Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" or "The Ghost of Tom Joad" - those albums move me, and so does this.

This is also one of those rare albums without a single dud track. If I had to pick one out, I guess "Goodbye" would be my favourite - and since this was written by Steve Earle, I daresay I'll be exploring his music in the near future as well.

I was first re-introduced to Emmylou Harris' music after buying "Cowgirl's Prayer"-drawn by the rock "High powered Love". I instantly fell in love with the record, the emotion, and the voice. Then came "Wrecking Ball" which just blew my mind--the haunting "Where Will I Be" sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it. "Goodbye" is almost too powerful to listen to. "All my Tears" is an instant classic--(check it out on SPYBOY-her live version of it is even better). "Goin' Back to Harlan" is an emotional journey. "Every Grain of Sand" just makes you appreciate the simple wonders of life. Most heartbreaking but sweet is the soulful "Sweet Old World" a song about suicide. Finally "Waltz Accross Texas" leaves you wanting more. Emmylou is one of the best all round recording artists of all time. She delivers every song with great emotion that reaches deep in your soul and touches you greatly. Don't deny yourself from this one...

Daniel Lanois' production on this record does seem to subvert Emmylou Harris' musical style a little to his own, but the Lanois sound is so gorgeous that it hardly matters. And Harris, the queen of the flawless lead vocal, finds a more careless, more ragged, but also highly dramatic vocal style here which seems informed by the writer of the album's namesake song "Wrecking Ball", Neil Young.

"Where Will I Be"'s engaging rhythm and spare, reverb-drenched guitars immediately sends the soundscape into a realm of superb beauty, and when Harris' voice kicks in with those lovely, occasional notes and that haunting chorus, it's magical. Steve Earl's "Goodbye" is one of the strongest songs on the album, and when Young joins in on Wrecking Ball, the album has fully blossomed in its sonic majesty, the marriage of Lanois' sublimely ambient production and Harris' peerless vocal prowess complete.

Very few records have been as immediately affecting to me as this one, and as much as I remain a disciple of her heavenly work with Gram Parsons, I'm now also a full-blown convert to Emmylou Harris' latter-day works.