Product description NEW Combo BLUWAVS CD and FLAC FILE .com The compelling and compulsively listenable Darrell Scott is that most unusual of Nashville creators--a songwriter who crafts commercial tunes for such mainstream acts as the Dixie Chicks ("Long Time Gone"), Patty Loveless ("You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive"), and Travis Tritt ("It's a Great Day to Be Alive") and a highly respected Americana recording artist on his own. Equal parts poet, philosopher, and confessor of dark truths, Scott blends wisdom, humor, and social satire, and marries them to jaunty or jaundiced melodies dressed with augmented acoustic instrumentation (mandolin, fiddle, guitar, electric guitar, upright bass) that often evokes an earlier age. The Invisible Man, his sixth record, is perhaps his most intense, emotional, and spiritually searching, but also his most satisfying. His one cover, Stuart Adamson's "Shattered Cross," proves unforgettable in its edgy warnings against a woman who will "empty your pockets and rip out your heart / and leave you the ruins of a life torn apart." But Scott's own restless soul-searching, particularly on "And the River Is Me" and "Hank Williams' Ghost," has a way of connecting to your own. The effect is something akin to meeting a stranger who not only knows your shadow self, but somehow already occupies a place in your heart. Don't be surprised if this witty yet harrowing backwoods muse brings you to your knees. -Alanna Nash
T**E
Overall, a good CD, but somewhat different than I was expecting.
This was a hard CD for me to review. I bought this about 4 months ago and have mixed feelings about it. First of all, I had never heard of Darrell Scott before hearing his "Do It or Die Trying" song one day. The music coupled with wonderfully interesting lyrics made me want to look deeper into his music. I got a chance to listen to "Hank Williams Ghost' next and was sold. So I purchased this CD.Upon listening to it, an interesting thing happened. Usually when I get a new CD I play it to death the first week or two, until I'm almost sick of it. That didn't happen here. With "The Invisible Man", I probably listened maybe a total of three times, then put it away. It's not the music, there is a great blend of songs here. I think it's more his writing. While he has a great way with words and lyrics, blending with the music nicely, I think his message here is almost depressing. He seems fixated with death and unhappiness. Again, solid writing but overall not always a enjoyable listen.I occasionally pull it out to listen but really not very often. It's won't be one of my staples. I would recommend this if you are a Darrell Scott fan but not sure about anyone else.
A**A
Hours of enjoyment and songs that I keep singing in my head for days.
First off, let me begin by saying this is an excellent CD. I don't know how a person could dislike it. One reviewer wrote that it was too depressing. While I would agree that it is a little dark, it is part of what makes it so poignant. It isn't the kind of depressing that makes you want to shoot yourself, it is just the kind that makes you go quiet inside. It's great music and good poetry and it is damn fun to sing along to on long drives in the desert. I'm a relatively new Darrell Scott fan. After hearing him for the first time at a free concert in Telluride, I bought a couple CDs at the show ("Invisible Man" and "Crooked Road"). Invisible Man is definitely my favorite album out of the two, though I'm looking forward to hearing a lot more of his work as I purchase more CDs. I'm glad Mr. Scott is willing to put himself out there so we have a chance, through music, to see the world with the same unique perspective he does.
B**L
Spiritual heft.
Darrell Scott picked up a guitar in Gruene Hall at the Fred Eaglesmith Texas weekend and brought the rowdy Texas audience to reverent silence. Mr. Scott squeezed as much passionate music out of his solo acoustic guitar as an entire band of guitar slingers. His performance was stunning. This album is a great example of his songwriting and playing skills.
G**L
Five Stars
Great tunes.
C**Y
Darrell Scott will hit you where you live
Man. I continue to be blown away by this guy. I'm a huge Tim O'Brien fan, and it was their dual album "Real Time" that got me turned onto Mr. Scott. I still don't know how you would classify his music. Country Artists do his songs but he's not really 'country'. I think his allusion to one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Hank Williams, in this new album, is a fitting comparison. Just like Mr. Williams, Darrell Scott seems to know how to put chords and words together in ways that seem too simple for the cumulative power they have. He creates poetry without affect, and he creates powerful music without pyrotechnics. When you see the chords to some of his best songs, you can't believe they are simple chords that most people know. How does he get that kind of emotional power out of those simple chords? His arrangements on this album do justice to the songs, as they pretty much always do on his albums. This album in particular seems to have more intensity. It's as though Mr. Scott has taken the measure of his soul with an unflinching eye (again), seen where he stands, and picks up a guitar to try to elevate himself. There is a power in this album that is above even the high watermark or his last couple of albums. I was so knocked out by the first song ("Hank William's Ghost") listening to it on the way to work that I wanted to stay on the train and call in sick. I felt like I'd been kicked in the solar plexus. He speaks to real matters of the heart, that real people experience: loss, temptation, being happy with where you are while not being able to lose sight of where you could be or could have been. I say clumsily what he says brilliantly, succinctly. If you like good music, I could not recommend this album strong enough.Hank Williams wrote songs that continue to be performed by artist of every stripe and genre. People like to record them and sing them because they are Good Songs. Darrell Scott is riding right alongside him.
H**M
Full-band blend of country, folk, rock, and jazz flavors
Scott is a busy, busy man: an in-demand Nashville string player, vocalist and songwriter whose own "Live in NC" CD accompanied his father's "This Weary Way" just last year, and whose melodies appear on John Cowan's latest release. Scott's music echoes the broad experience he's gained playing with country traditionalists Suzy Boguss and Randy Travis, outlaws Steve Earle and Jim Lauderdale, and progressive bluegrassers Sam Bush and Tim O'Brien. His latest retains the electric approach of 2003's "Theatre of the Unheard," sometimes rocking harder than his writing actually requires. The jazz underpinnings of his songs, so prevalent on his trio-based live CD, are occasionally lost amid this full-band context and attendant studio touches.Still, this is an intriguing blend of Scott's soulful vocals with country, folk, rock and Celtic flavors. The introspective "And the River is Me" pares back the electricity and stretches out to over six minutes, and the pairing of "There's a Stone Around My Belly" and "Shattered Cross" is emphatic in its picking and singing. Scott's lyrics interweave many biographical details, but his poetry often provides obtuse imagery rather than story or character study; more Dylan than Simon in many cases. The verbal impressionism is matched by the complexity of the arrangements, which may challenging for listeners who enjoy more straightforward exposition. [©2006 hyperbolium dot com]
M**E
Pure Beauty
Track 5 is SO beautiful, on proper listening - it brought tears of bliss to my eyes. Pure Beauty.
Trustpilot
5 days ago
1 week ago
