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Melissa
Manchester - When I look Down That Road (Koch)
Released: April, 2004
Okay, here's the deal. I
happen to think that Melissa Manchester is one of the ten most intelligent
songwriters out there today - or anytime in my lifetime.
Her new CD, When I Look Down That Road, has the pedigree to kick
ass. Those intelligent lyrics are there - honed with help from people like
Beth Nielsen Chapman, Rupert Holmes, and Paul Williams.
It doesn't get much better than that.
That's the good news. Also good news if you're into the folk-sounding
stuff that sounds a little flat and mumbly. Not much difference between
this - Norah Jones, Mary Chapin Carpenter, or the new Diana Krall CD.
Oops.
I'm tipping my hand, I guess.
Ten years ago, Melissa Manchester hit the wall. I think we all knew it -
surely she knew it - she writes in the liner notes, "I had come to the end
of a road...music seemed to be getting louder. Technically more synthetic
and computerized. A soul could get easily lost."
Her stuff had become pedestrian, over-produced and slickly - too slickly -
commercialized.
This album is bare-bones. A minimalist effort, that I think has gone too
far the other way, and is (dare I say it?) perhaps cynically marketed to
cash in on the whole Norah Jones-style thing.
Bad news. I don't get to hear the smart lyrics much. Listen closer, and
they're there - in "After All This Time," the single on the CD, featuring
Keb' Mo' - "There ain't no easy path, no tree-lined boulevard, only a
one-way highway straight from the heart."
Yep. She's still got it. And "Lucky Break" is a real joy. ("Hey
baby, you're no saint. Even with a new coat of paint, you play the same
old game...")
Download that one - download "After All This time," and download "Crazy
Loving You."
Pass on the rest of the album. It'll sit on the shelf. Put these
three on a mix-disc somewhere. You'll like them.
Memo to Ms. Manchester - it's good to have you back. You've been away far
too long, and we've missed you.
Crank the "slick" back up a notch, and I think you'll have it.
 Two
microphones (out of four)
- Doug Boynton
(04/29/04) |
