Customer Reviews

Sings Greatest Palace Music

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like many people I know, I became interested in Will Oldham after hearing Johnny Cash's cover of Oldham's song "I See A Darkness." I went right out and bought the "I See A Darkness" album, as well as "Ease On Down The Road" and I loved them both.

When I explored a bit deeper into Oldham's back catalog, I found the presentation a bit more, um, "challenging." His brilliance as a songwriter is there, but his work prior to "I See A Darkness" is EXTREMELY (and I mean extremely) "lo-fi"--rambling, unfocused performances that sound like they were recorded underwater. I still own "Arise Therefore," "Days In The Wake," and "There Is No One..." but I can't say I listen to any of them very often.

So it was wonderful to hear this disc- the performances are tight and professional, and the greatness of the older songs really comes through. I *highly* recommend this to anyone interested in Will Oldham's music, especially if they find the sloppiness of his earlier albums off-putting.

Will Oldham is a genius. Period.

For what it's worth, not all country music is bad. Admittedly, though, this is something I've had to convince myself of over the years. But as someone who was forced to listen to country music as a child, I can honestly say it has never been my favorite form of artistic expression. In the early '90s, country artists, led mostly by Garth Brooks, began to suck the lifeblood out of what was truly known as "country" music and replaced it with something a little more pop-oriented. What has since remained is the same old cut-and-dry songs typified by boring storylines (which are not even remotely entertaining to the average intelligent person) and extremely basic instrumentation meant for mass-consumption. Only now it's been given the title "new" country (read: corporate country). Even the city folk are country now; all you need is some cowboy boots and an Alan Jackson CD and your instantly countrified. I'm lost.

Will Oldham, or Bonnie "Prince" Billy as he's called again this time around, has set out to create an album that attempts to rebirth songs from his early days of Palace Music. These new versions are decidedly more heavily produced than their predecessors and have taken on a completely new face. Be forewarned, this is 100% country music with zero "alt" added. Unfortunately, a large portion of the album could fit into the category of corporate sounding country music. Is it bad? Not necessarily. Additionally, the fact that Will Oldham has been hailed the quintessential alt-country artist may be the saving grace that will keep Greatest Palace Music firmly placed in the underground.

Recorded in Nashville with several session musicians, you have to admire Oldham for not holding back on the country. This is easily his safest recording to date and is miles away from the highly admired I See a Darkness. Because of this, don't expect to hear too much song-by-song analysis of this album from the critics. There's nothing groundbreaking about any of this album. Once into the first song, you'll have a pretty good idea of where you stand. For the most part, the scope is entirely the same throughout the entire album. In some ways, it parallels Beck's approach on Sea Change, where every sense of edginess has been removed to only highlight the purest form of music expression. It's also similar in the sense that it's the last direction you'd expect someone like Oldham to take. Or is it really just something that was inevitable from the beginning? Either way, it sounds as if it's the record he has always wanted to record.

If I had to be completely honest with you (which I do), I'd say that Greatest Palace Music is a pretty fantastic album. It accomplishes exactly what it has set out to do, and that's to be a country album that holds no surprises. Although it has a lot of things going against it, including the fact that Oldham's fans are not typically traditional country music lovers, it's pretty hard not to deny the fact that this is the type of album that will stand out in his catalogue for quite some time. It just misses in its impact too many times to truly be a great album.

This album is one of the most interesting takes that i've ever heard a performer take on his/her own songs. i love will oldham's work. he writes some of the most haunting, saddening songs ever. just beautiful folk music. now this album takes some of his best songs and turns them into traditional country songs. most of these songs originally use minimal instruments and the recordings are very low-fi. now this recording he uses traditional country instruments and the recording sounds very produced. this gives these songs a completely different feel. the original recordings are sad and simple. now they sound ornate and upbeat. these songs sound like they are completely different from their original recordings and this is a good thing. though they are not better than the originals, they give a new perspective that is nearly just as interesting to hear. if you want to hear will oldham for the first time i suggest "days of the wake," "lost blues," or "i see a darkness" (actually anything he's ever produced). if you already know will oldham and want to hear a new perspective on him, pick this album up with an open mind. it's different from anything else he's done, but definitely worth the purchase.

I disagree with Will Brown. Oldham has proven time and again that postmodern irony is the no-man's land that either reverts to an infantile esthetic stage or acts as a catalyst to a more advanced stage of religiousness. This little piece of tomfoolery will go down in history as the perfect joke on arrogant studio musicians and high school bands everywhere.

And furthermore, Donne was nothing but a two-bit hack who failed to achieve anything close to the heroic couplet required to be a poet,instead settling on yoking disingenuous ideas together by rhetorical violence. For a true song and dance man, look no further than George Herbert, country priest extrordinaire.

As many have noted, Bonnie Billy is into spurprises and flouting expectations. He's certainly done it here. Its a testament to the performance-artist edge to his music, and to his genius, plain and simple, that this album has the critics so confused. Its a bit wearisome, though, to read one after another of the official, critical reviews complaining that this sounds so melodic and well-produced that it must be some kind of meta-irony. While its certainly true that some of the songs lack something that the original's had (e.g. "I Am a Cinematographer" has lost a bit of its original playfully wistful aspect), the fact remains that this is more than just music worth listening to; its music worth listening to, and listening to again, and again. This album has done nothing to alter my not-altogether hyperbolic assessment of Oldham: he's the greatest singer-songwriter since John Donne.

I love this disc. Different from other reviewers who seem to know BPB's former works well, I do not--and therefore had no expections. I just think his voice is fantasticly rich, his lyrics very thought-provoking and his musicianship stunning. Mind you, I enjoy the Nashville sound-- and this disc does the genre well conjuring a haunting and beautiful sound without the bleek depression. If you like country, you'll love this. If you're taken by all BPB's other stuff, this may require an adjustment. For my taste, this music fits wonderfully in my livingroom on a regular basis.

Not a "bad" cd, but definitely not what one would expect from Mr. Oldham (or as I guess that's the point). From my selfish perspective, I always tend to pick up BPB's latest offering ready to have a completely NEW cd and music listening experience. In each new song on each new release, there always seems to be surprises, which keeps the music of BPB interesting. Sure on this offering there was the initial surprise of "holy!!! This is a straight Nashville country cd!!!", but the surprise wore thin quickly (i.e. not much a surprise after the 4th song with the same type of guitar in the background).

Not being a huge fan of Nashville based country, I didn't really get into this. Plus with the 100's of "alternate" versions of these songs already floating on the internet from live shows, was it necessary to "redo" them again? I think I would have rather seen a "formal" live release than this.

Not a bad CD, but I just can't see this cd getting as much "air time" in my cd player as his previous releases. I would highly recommend the Nicolai Dunger "Tranquil Isolation" CD if you're a completist of Will Oldham, and still haven't picked it up yet, rather than this.

This is a truly bizarre record. 'Viva Ultra' is totally, deeply magisterial. 'More Brother Rides' is a pile of tosh. 'Pushkin' is... well, 'Pushkin' is out of control, really.

Most of the lyrics don't work so well in this setting; it's a testament to Oldham's musical ability that the words of his early work occasionally show up narrow and trashy in so heavily standardised a setting. The man writes and performs songs; he does not write and sell them. And this record shows why.
I can't listen to it all the way through without wanting to skip something or other, and I expect that's how it'll stay: a curiosity.

Let the critics say what they will about this record, it's nothing short of amazing. Will's bound to scare some fans with the production here, but one of the things I like about Will Oldham is that he just doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks. And I think this attitude shines through in his music. Most artists that create on their own terms, and don't look back, have to deal with fans getting lost in the process. This is a beautiful record from start to finish. In my opinion nothing was lost in the reworking of the songs. It sounds to me like Will had a lot of fun making these old songs sound new and fresh. I keep reading reviews complaining about the whole idea of re-recording old songs etc...The fact is these are Will Oldhams songs, and I think he should be able to do whatever he wants with them. As for how the record sounds; it has more of a straight forward country sound than his past records, but if you give it some time I think you'll find that this music's just as stirring as the original recordings. I highly recommend checking this out whether you're already a Will Oldham fan or not. He's an amazing songwriter, and he's at his best here.