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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. American Gothic |
| 2. Love's Enough |
| 3. Ballad Of The Ship Of State |
| 4. One Night Stand |
| 5. Oh, California! |
| 6. Another Friday Night |
| 7. Family Band |
| 8. Midnight Carousel |
| 9. Waiting For The Moving Van |
| 10. Blues For Billy Whitecloud |
| 11. Montana Song |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I must admit to astonishment on seeing that there were not more reviews of this album. Having been suckered in to purchasing more than a few albums touted as `great lost classics' with subsequent let downs, I find I don't mind that much, because a discovery of this magnitude cancels out earlier disappointments.
The title gives a fairly strong indication of the albums content, as Ackles paints his colourful and darkly poetic portrait of America, but will not prepare you for the breathtaking quality of its realisation. Picture the blending of modern classical influences with gospel, blues, rock, folk, Weillian orchestral arrangements and giving it all an almost theatrical presentation and you may get an idea of what this album is like. At the centre of it all is the rich timbre of the artist's voice, its sound making me think of a mixture of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond on their Rick Rubin recordings.
The album is of a high standard throughout but the standout track is the epic 'Montana Song' which is one of those songs that will take you to another place and fill you with images and feelings that stay with you long after it has finished.
The album received rave reviews on release but has never gone beyond cult status, which I find strange because for all its unique characteristics there is nothing `difficult' about this album. This work is full of rich melodic themes and memorable lyrics that can be very humorous, cinematically descriptive and deeply moving.
This is an amazing work and is a must buy for anyone looking for music of the highest quality and doesn't mind trying something very different.
The title gives a fairly strong indication of the albums content, as Ackles paints his colourful and darkly poetic portrait of America, but will not prepare you for the breathtaking quality of its realisation. Picture the blending of modern classical influences with gospel, blues, rock, folk, Weillian orchestral arrangements and giving it all an almost theatrical presentation and you may get an idea of what this album is like. At the centre of it all is the rich timbre of the artist's voice, its sound making me think of a mixture of Johnny Cash and Neil Diamond on their Rick Rubin recordings.
The album is of a high standard throughout but the standout track is the epic 'Montana Song' which is one of those songs that will take you to another place and fill you with images and feelings that stay with you long after it has finished.
The album received rave reviews on release but has never gone beyond cult status, which I find strange because for all its unique characteristics there is nothing `difficult' about this album. This work is full of rich melodic themes and memorable lyrics that can be very humorous, cinematically descriptive and deeply moving.
This is an amazing work and is a must buy for anyone looking for music of the highest quality and doesn't mind trying something very different.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
David Ackles' third album written and recorded mostly in England is his finest work and one of the very best of the singer/songwriter genre.The album had rave reviews from Derek Jewell in The Sunday Times when issued and through that reached audiences who had not previously heard Ackles.
On this album he seems to bring together such a variety of elements from American music. Maybe something about living away from the USA made him more able to reflect on what was left behind. All of his gifts for narrative are here in developed form with incisive analysis (American Gothic) tender love song(Love's Enough)elegaic regret ( One night Stand) and memories of childhood family and faith (Family Band).But it is on the album's final and longest track (Montana Song) that all of Ackles virtues come together -an extended journey into the past with his expressive voice singing his poetic lyrics against an orchestral setting reminiscent of Copland.
I couldn't understand the absence of a review for this great music. Listen and enjoy.
On this album he seems to bring together such a variety of elements from American music. Maybe something about living away from the USA made him more able to reflect on what was left behind. All of his gifts for narrative are here in developed form with incisive analysis (American Gothic) tender love song(Love's Enough)elegaic regret ( One night Stand) and memories of childhood family and faith (Family Band).But it is on the album's final and longest track (Montana Song) that all of Ackles virtues come together -an extended journey into the past with his expressive voice singing his poetic lyrics against an orchestral setting reminiscent of Copland.
I couldn't understand the absence of a review for this great music. Listen and enjoy.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
By way of an antidote to his recent encounter with
Mike Oldfield's new album 'Music Of The Spheres'
and it's Amazonian defenders The Wolf has been thinking again,
(as being prompted by listening to something truly awful often will),
about another of those 'touchstone' albums in his collection
to which an occasional return delivers both extreme pleasure and the
reassurance that great and authentic music can make a healing contribution
to a troubled world in need of a little emotional sustenance and meaning.
Released in 1972 on WEA; recorded and produced in England by
Bernie Taupin; David Ackles' third album bears all the hallmarks
of a true original operating at the height of his creative powers.
With the conflict in Vietnam still raging and the shame of America's
continued involvement becoming more apparent in anti-war
demonstrations around the world, Mr Ackles' album is both a
sidestep and an ambivalent affirmation of once hoped for, idealistic
national moral and spiritual values.
From the rear sleeve photo echoing Grant Wood's iconic 1930
painting bearing the same name as the album's title, to the wide-open
musical horizons of the sublime closing track ('Montana Song'), Mr Ackles is
clearly attempting both to clear his head and heart and find a way (literally) back home.
In a wide ranging panoply of musical styles these eleven marvellous
songs manage to be politically incisive ('Ballad Of The Ship Of State';
'Billy Whitecloud'); bitterly satirical ('Family Band'; 'Oh, California')
and tenderly lyrical ('Love's Enough'; 'One Night Stand').
The singular narratives of 'American Gothic' and 'Midnight Carousel'
are extraordinarily vivid and disturbing.
The final visionary outpouring of 'Montana Song' points toward hope
and some kind of redemptive closure.
( The ghost of Aaron Copeland, as "Douglas" from Scotland
has already perceptively noted, watches, smiling, from the wings).
Mr. Ackles' incisive diction and rich baritone bless these performances
with an aura of total conviction and commitment.
The orchestral arrangements are never less than stunning.
'American Gothic' remains the inspired high point of Mr Ackles'
small but significant musical legacy.
A real gem.
Mike Oldfield's new album 'Music Of The Spheres'
and it's Amazonian defenders The Wolf has been thinking again,
(as being prompted by listening to something truly awful often will),
about another of those 'touchstone' albums in his collection
to which an occasional return delivers both extreme pleasure and the
reassurance that great and authentic music can make a healing contribution
to a troubled world in need of a little emotional sustenance and meaning.
Released in 1972 on WEA; recorded and produced in England by
Bernie Taupin; David Ackles' third album bears all the hallmarks
of a true original operating at the height of his creative powers.
With the conflict in Vietnam still raging and the shame of America's
continued involvement becoming more apparent in anti-war
demonstrations around the world, Mr Ackles' album is both a
sidestep and an ambivalent affirmation of once hoped for, idealistic
national moral and spiritual values.
From the rear sleeve photo echoing Grant Wood's iconic 1930
painting bearing the same name as the album's title, to the wide-open
musical horizons of the sublime closing track ('Montana Song'), Mr Ackles is
clearly attempting both to clear his head and heart and find a way (literally) back home.
In a wide ranging panoply of musical styles these eleven marvellous
songs manage to be politically incisive ('Ballad Of The Ship Of State';
'Billy Whitecloud'); bitterly satirical ('Family Band'; 'Oh, California')
and tenderly lyrical ('Love's Enough'; 'One Night Stand').
The singular narratives of 'American Gothic' and 'Midnight Carousel'
are extraordinarily vivid and disturbing.
The final visionary outpouring of 'Montana Song' points toward hope
and some kind of redemptive closure.
( The ghost of Aaron Copeland, as "Douglas" from Scotland
has already perceptively noted, watches, smiling, from the wings).
Mr. Ackles' incisive diction and rich baritone bless these performances
with an aura of total conviction and commitment.
The orchestral arrangements are never less than stunning.
'American Gothic' remains the inspired high point of Mr Ackles'
small but significant musical legacy.
A real gem.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Farthings
The cover of American Gothic is the house that David Ackles lived in while he was in England. The house was called "Farthings" and is situated just outside Wargrave-on-Thames, but... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2009 by Pilansberg pete
Drama in song
David Ackles was reputedly admired by Elton John and Bernie Taupin when the duo were in their early pomp. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2008 by D. J. H. Thorn
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