CD-Charts Position 31
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Grace And Danger

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: John Martyn

Release Date November 02, 1989
Martyn is perhaps one of the most erratic recording artists, a reflection presumably of the ups and downs in his own life. As is well documented, 'Grace & Danger' corresponds with one of these troughs, and has resulted in an album which is staggeringly perfect in its artistic and musical execution. The mid-section 'denial' trio of songs beginning with 'Sweet Little Mystery' are ones I return to with depressing regularity. They are sublimely beautiful, and worth the price of the CD alone. Phil Collins and John Giblin are the most wonderfully intuitively rhythm section,so much so that I almost forgive Collins for being both in Genesis and writing Face Value, but nothing is quite that good. This record is far from depressing, but is both haunting ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 32
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Car Wheels On A Gravel Road

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Lucinda Williams

Release Date December 15, 2000
I'm new to this genre and I have got into Miranda Lambert and Gretchen Wilson and although I don't buy his political persuasion, Toby Keith.
I bought West and wasn't impressed but Car Wheels is something else. Maybe because I'm new to this brand of music I'm suckered but I really think that this is such a stand out CD that it merits huge praise. I've heard that it was a perfectionist effort - hence the Pet Sounds analogy - and if so it works. Right in Time and Joy -two very different pices are addictive. Maybe this is a one-off in which case play it to death.

CD-Charts Position 33
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Must I Paint You a Picture - The Essential Billy Bragg

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Billy Bragg

Release Date October 06, 2003
When I saw Billy Bragg on tour recently he described himself as a 'Marmite artist', ie, you either love him or hate him. I don't know that is necessarily true. My husband somewhat reluctantly bought this for me for Christmas a few years ago after I'd requested it on the strength of the handful of Bragg songs that I knew from my teens (Sexuality, New England, Waiting for the Great Leap Forward).
Neither myself or my hubby really knew enough about BB from those few songs to understand what an amazing artist he really is. I reckon that there are a few people out there who are in that same position and this review, like the album, is for you. This is a great place to start on your Bragg conversion because it will give you a taste of the diversity ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 34
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Nine Objects Of Desire

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Suzanne Vega

Release Date March 19, 2007
One of her two finest. AND I agree with all the other reviews here too.

CD-Charts Position 35
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Strange Weirdos: Music From And Inspired By The Film Knocked Up

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Loudon Wainwright III

Release Date June 04, 2007
Reading the review below you have to wonder how many Loudon Wainright III albums he's actually listened to. In his time LW III has written the two most resonant songs about the death of a parent - his father Loudon Wainwright Junior in 'Sometimes I Forget' (on the album History) and his mother in 'Homeless' (on the album Last Man On Earth). My advice? Wait until your mother dies. Listen to Homeless. And sob into you loudspeakers. I did.

Strange Weirdos is just wonderful, a huge range of songs, and for a welcome change, some arrangements that really let the songs shine their brightest.

Having amassed something like 20 Loudo albums, this is the one I've played the most repeatedly. Collaboration is obviously good for him.
'You ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 36
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The Very Best of Judy Collins

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Judy Collins

Release Date September 03, 2001
Judy, Joni or Joan? Who do you prefer? They were the essential North American songstesses of the sixties folk/protest movement. Joni Mitchell was clearly the best songwriter of the three (indeed, one of the best of her generation) and the most accomplished musician. Joan Baez had the best voice; the greatest range and clarity, and the most lyrical tonality. She also exhibited the warmest personality and, yes, she was the best-looking, a real beauty.

Judy Collins is somewhere in between. Her voice is clearer and surer than Joni's, but with not quite the range and tone qualities of Joan's. And her songwriting abilities (as evidenced by four tracks on this CD) are passable but unremarkable. But when she sings other writers' songs, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 37
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The Best of the Vanguard Years

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Joan Baez

Release Date January 31, 2005
By no means all the greatest early songs, this compilation does include her hits and well-known album tracks from the 1960s and early 1970s. It focuses on the later Vanguard years when she moved into pop and rock. Four Dylan tracks are included plus her greatest commercial success, The Band's The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, a lilting melodious song about the civil war, her big hit from 1971.

Farewell Angelina from the album of the same name is another gem, and then there's the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome. Other highlights include The Dangling Conversation (penned by Paul Simon), the bitter Love Is Just A Four Letter Word and the stirring There But For Fortune. Help Me Make It Through The Night and Let It Be must be two of the most covered compositions ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 38
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World Without Tears

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Lucinda Williams

Release Date April 07, 2003
god you wouldnt want to meet this old gal..sounding like tom waits meats keith richards at the throat cancer clinic after a crate of chevas regal..its pretty depressing album..but people who find the jools hollands later show exciting will lap it up..BUT why you should buy this album is the killer guitar sound on track 2..like neil young and J mascis..wicked...another example of a 2 or 3 track album with the rest plastic padding..you know ..all filler

CD-Charts Position 39
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The Times They Are a-Changin': Remastered

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Bob Dylan

Release Date June 20, 2005
'The Times They Are A-Changin'' doesn't progress from what Bob Dylan did on 'Freewheelin''. Rather, it broadens his protest-oriented repertoire. Perhaps the gloomiest of his albums, it seems to be the only one from which his sense of humour is entirely absent. There is a slight shift in emphasis from anti-war songs to the effects of social injustice and hardship. Nevertheless, 'With God On Our Side' would have fitted in with the dominant theme on his previous album. The lyric, and in particular, its closing verse, is brilliantly crafted, though Dylan's delivery is occasionally disjointed by sloppy tempo changes, perhaps an attempt to break up its seven minutes.

The title track is probably the best-known item on the album, in large part due to the status it gained as a slogan, a kind ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 40
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Shepherd Moons

CD-Charts > Music > Contemporary Folk
by: Enya

Release Date November 04, 1991
Yes as i said in title this is by far enya's best album, its truely beautiful music and to be honest this is the only enya cd i listen to the others dont come close, however enya's other works are very good too, and if you want to listen to alot of music like this then her other cd's i would recommend also.