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Bulldog · 04-07-2011, 02:44 PM

Kris Kristofferson
This Old Road
2006

genre: Americana, contemporary folk
1. This Old Road - 3:58
2. Pilgrim's Progress - 2:13
3. The Last Thing To Do - 2:58
4. Wild American - 2:25
5. In the News - 3:28
6. The Burden Of Freedom - 3:23
7. Chase the Feeling - 4:03
8. Holy Creation - 4:35
9. The Show Goes On - 3:17
10. Thank You For a Life - 3:41
11. Final Attraction - 2:56

Well, this album should be slightly easier to talk about than the Bitter:Sweet one I just covered, as there's actually something of a vague, personal connection between me and Mr Kristofferson here. There are three things Mr Kristofferson here did to stand out for me before I ever actually got hold of any of his albums and thus made any conscious effort to listen to his music. In order of appearance if you will; 1) I thought he was pretty badass in the first two (and therefore the good) Blade movies. 2) He did ok in the leading role of Heaven's Gate, lighting up a movie that was otherwise so dull I might as well have listened to Ingrid Michaelson for 4 hours.

Thirdly, there's a little song called April 5th which I just happen to love. It was 2 or 3 years ago that I started making an effort to hunt down Elvis Costello rarities and show them off in the Costello thread here in a bid to be that little bit more pretentious (which more often than not I'd just never get round to and make do with uploading some random bootleg and inexplicably call it 'the best live recording ever'). As I sifted through piles of interview recordings, 5 second-long demos and MP3s of Nick Lowe farting into a can, I saw this little April 5th ditty, written and recorded by the trio of Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson. At its full length it remains unreleased to this day since its recording on 2007 or 2008 (I forgot which one exactly), as the only version available is a 130 second excerpt downloadable from an nytimes.conm article. There's a live version recorded on Costello's Sundance Channel talkshow, but if truth be told it doesn't match what I saw as the sheer beauty of the studio version I've heard. Put simply, I'd give anything to see the Costello/Cash/Kristofferson trio record a full-length album together.

So then, back to reality...here lies the first album of new, original material from Kristofferson after an 11 year silence following the ok a Moment In Forever...almost anyway (there are a couple of re-recorded songs on this, but otherwise we're walking up New Song Street here). And...actually I should probably just say it now and get it done with - if you don't like country music of any sort, you probably shouldn't be reading this post.

There are several reasons you should probably listen to this album though. First of all, you might just be a bit curious about Americana in general and wondering which angle you want to approach it from. If you happen to be clinically insane and not like Sweetheart Of the Rodeo, Our Mother the Mountain or the Gilded Palace Of Sin, this here's a great place to get started as it shows off the diversity of Americana nicely, what with how it lacks any steel guitar (so if every one of those twangs feels like someone clawing one of your teeth out with their bare hands, this'll do for you nicely).

There's a lot more in common with good old-fashioned folk music here, as most of this album is the sound of Kristofferson with his acoustic guitar, a harmonica and the odd mandolin track to back him up. That leads me nicely onto my second reason you should listen to this, as it's the storytelling side of Americana at its finest, being a deeply introspective and fairly autobiographical album. It's about as far from pretentious as you can get though, being a very easygoing listening experience - at points you just feel like you're sat in a smoky bar with an endless supply of whiskey coming your way as one of the old-timers provides the musical entertainment for the night.

Third is that it's Kris Kristofferson for god's sake - what's not to like

While it's far from the Townes Van Zandt-esque sounds of his earliest work, it's definitely an absolutely golden album and one I've probably listened to about 50 times in the last 5 or 6 months since I've had it.

04-07-2011, 02:44 PM	#59 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Kris Kristofferson This Old Road 2006 genre: Americana, contemporary folk 1. This Old Road - 3:58 2. Pilgrim's Progress - 2:13 3. The Last Thing To Do - 2:58 4. Wild American - 2:25 5. In the News - 3:28 6. The Burden Of Freedom - 3:23 7. Chase the Feeling - 4:03 8. Holy Creation - 4:35 9. The Show Goes On - 3:17 10. Thank You For a Life - 3:41 11. Final Attraction - 2:56 Well, this album should be slightly easier to talk about than the Bitter:Sweet one I just covered, as there's actually something of a vague, personal connection between me and Mr Kristofferson here. There are three things Mr Kristofferson here did to stand out for me before I ever actually got hold of any of his albums and thus made any conscious effort to listen to his music. In order of appearance if you will; 1) I thought he was pretty badass in the first two (and therefore the good) Blade movies. 2) He did ok in the leading role of Heaven's Gate, lighting up a movie that was otherwise so dull I might as well have listened to Ingrid Michaelson for 4 hours. Thirdly, there's a little song called April 5th which I just happen to love. It was 2 or 3 years ago that I started making an effort to hunt down Elvis Costello rarities and show them off in the Costello thread here in a bid to be that little bit more pretentious (which more often than not I'd just never get round to and make do with uploading some random bootleg and inexplicably call it 'the best live recording ever'). As I sifted through piles of interview recordings, 5 second-long demos and MP3s of Nick Lowe farting into a can, I saw this little April 5th ditty, written and recorded by the trio of Elvis Costello, Rosanne Cash and Kris Kristofferson. At its full length it remains unreleased to this day since its recording on 2007 or 2008 (I forgot which one exactly), as the only version available is a 130 second excerpt downloadable from an nytimes.conm article. There's a live version recorded on Costello's Sundance Channel talkshow, but if truth be told it doesn't match what I saw as the sheer beauty of the studio version I've heard. Put simply, I'd give anything to see the Costello/Cash/Kristofferson trio record a full-length album together. So then, back to reality...here lies the first album of new, original material from Kristofferson after an 11 year silence following the ok a Moment In Forever...almost anyway (there are a couple of re-recorded songs on this, but otherwise we're walking up New Song Street here). And...actually I should probably just say it now and get it done with - if you don't like country music of any sort, you probably shouldn't be reading this post. There are several reasons you should probably listen to this album though. First of all, you might just be a bit curious about Americana in general and wondering which angle you want to approach it from. If you happen to be clinically insane and not like Sweetheart Of the Rodeo, Our Mother the Mountain or the Gilded Palace Of Sin, this here's a great place to get started as it shows off the diversity of Americana nicely, what with how it lacks any steel guitar (so if every one of those twangs feels like someone clawing one of your teeth out with their bare hands, this'll do for you nicely). There's a lot more in common with good old-fashioned folk music here, as most of this album is the sound of Kristofferson with his acoustic guitar, a harmonica and the odd mandolin track to back him up. That leads me nicely onto my second reason you should listen to this, as it's the storytelling side of Americana at its finest, being a deeply introspective and fairly autobiographical album. It's about as far from pretentious as you can get though, being a very easygoing listening experience - at points you just feel like you're sat in a smoky bar with an endless supply of whiskey coming your way as one of the old-timers provides the musical entertainment for the night. Third is that it's Kris Kristofferson for god's sake - what's not to like While it's far from the Townes Van Zandt-esque sounds of his earliest work, it's definitely an absolutely golden album and one I've probably listened to about 50 times in the last 5 or 6 months since I've had it. Last edited by Bulldog; 04-07-2011 at 07:11 PM.