New album: In The Lonely Hour
Artist: Sam Smith
Label: Capitol
Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
British crooner Sam Smith’s debut album is what one might expect if The Cure’s Robert Smith produced a Michael Buble’ album.
Blessed with a smooth voice and the saddest punam this side of a Sarah Mclachlan dog abuse advert, Smith’s debut long player is evoking the same sort of buzz that greeted Adele just a few years back.
How tepid mainstream pop must be if someone who just sings is seen as an anomaly.
While Smith’s pipes are impeccable, he’s only as good as the songs he’s singing. When the songs work (“Stay With Me,” “I’m Not The Only One”), Smith is untouchable in terms of current mainstream pop soul singers. However, Smith still sounds tame when compared to recent releases by soul revivalists Sharon Jones and Charles Bradley.
To be fair, Smith isn’t trying to be as gritty as Jones and Bradley because frankly there’s more money in his kinder, gentler version of soul. For the most part, “In The Lonely Hour” adequately showcases Smith’s five-star voice, although his tendency to fall into Chris Martin-isms grates a bit. This album’s inclusion of Smith’s pre-album single collaborations with Naughty Boys and Disclosure are great bonuses.
“In The Lonely Hour” is a good but not great collection of songs from an artist who’s voice will probably take him further than his songwriting.
Classic album: CSNY 1974
Artist: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Label: Atlantic/Rhino
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
A band trying to function with four leaders was bound to cause problems.
David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young hit the road in 1974 in the wake of an aborted album session. Between egos, managers and drugs it’s a wonder anything was accomplished.
The newly released “CSNY 1974” faithfully recreates the type of shows presented on the tour. Along with CSNY hits and decent slices of each member’s solo work, there are also a few unreleased songs and an acoustic set. Everything the band was known for — pristine vocal harmonies, great songs, epic Stills/Young guitar duels — is on the full display on “CSNY 1974” ... all three hours of it.
David Crosby’s phenomenal 1971 solo album “If I Could Only Remember My Name” was for some reason overlooked when the set list for this tour was written up, but most of what is here is great. “Wooden Ships” and “Ohio” are given tenacious, electrified readings, while “Love The One You’re With” doesn’t quite click without the wall of acoustic guitars featured on the studio version.
The acoustic set featuring the likes of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” and “Teach Your Children Well” is professionally executed but not overwhelmingly inspired.
Some of the songs performed on this tour had yet to be released, and Neil Young’s “Traces” which is included in this set was never included on an album. Another unreleased song in this set is “Goodbye Dick”, a warm sendoff to President Richard Nixon. While “Goodby Dick” is little more than a brief aside, “Traces” has been a hit on the bootleg circuit for years and a true gem for Neil Young completists.
As good as the song selection and some of the performances are, there is a prevailing feeling throughout “CSNY 1974” that everybody showed up because they were legally bound to do so. This release (available in multiple formats) is historically significant because of the participants and the songbook, but the performances seldom catch fire. This box set is for CSNY fanatics only.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Jon’s books are available at www.jondawson.com.