Jackson Browne [I'm Alive]
I've had this disc since 1993 when it first came out, and i must have played it dozens of times, it's my sixth most favourite disc of all time, and it's a treasure, plus it's appeared in my Blog twice before [6th May 2010 & 2nd July 2012], Browne here creates a lovely variety of songs, with deep feeling lyrics, and that extra sense of 'time stands still' on certain songs, plus there's a certain something about an album of songs that a greatest hits package can never re-create, and Browne just gets the feel of things right here, each song tells a little bit of the overall story, it's like ten jumbled up chapters of a book!
Jackson Browne is American, he's now 66, this album came out in 1993, it's hard to believe it's already over twenty years old, the front cover shot [by Bruce Weber] shows Browne up to his shoulders in the water, a black and white portrait, nice and sharp, out of focus foreground and background.
The tracks i liked the best were 1-3 & 9, and even though the first three are excellent, it's still this near last one that gets to me, it's my favourite Jackson Browne song,
9 Sky Blue And Black - It starts off a piano solo [0:00-0:11], i guess Browne composed this on the piano, in the credits it's him playing the piano, and the video link too, he starts off singing about a beach scene 'the cries of the seagulls circling the sand', i guess the California coast, and the city is Los Angeles, when the chorus comes in [1:19+], there's a flavour of a reggae guitar, and a sort of synth panpipes, Browne really does have a strong vocal, he sings with real passion, my favourite line 'there's a need to be separate, and a need to be one, and a struggle neither wins', Browne quietens the music down to sing [3:56+] with great effect, the outro is really effective [5:13+], the music takes on a certain coda-esque quality, Browne's piano gently brings things to a close, a phenomenal six minutes of music.
Jackson Browne is American, he's now 66, this album came out in 1993, it's hard to believe it's already over twenty years old, the front cover shot [by Bruce Weber] shows Browne up to his shoulders in the water, a black and white portrait, nice and sharp, out of focus foreground and background.
The tracks i liked the best were 1-3 & 9, and even though the first three are excellent, it's still this near last one that gets to me, it's my favourite Jackson Browne song,
9 Sky Blue And Black - It starts off a piano solo [0:00-0:11], i guess Browne composed this on the piano, in the credits it's him playing the piano, and the video link too, he starts off singing about a beach scene 'the cries of the seagulls circling the sand', i guess the California coast, and the city is Los Angeles, when the chorus comes in [1:19+], there's a flavour of a reggae guitar, and a sort of synth panpipes, Browne really does have a strong vocal, he sings with real passion, my favourite line 'there's a need to be separate, and a need to be one, and a struggle neither wins', Browne quietens the music down to sing [3:56+] with great effect, the outro is really effective [5:13+], the music takes on a certain coda-esque quality, Browne's piano gently brings things to a close, a phenomenal six minutes of music.
