- Audio CD (27 Sep 1999)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Elektra
- ASIN: B00000K3GT
- Other Editions: Audio Cassette | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 96,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Important artists have grand ambitions but the best of them recognise the importance of not letting their majestic aspirations get the better of them. A couple of decades into an illustrious career that has seen her successfully stray from her folk roots into country and pop, Nanci Griffith tries to scale symphonic heights with The Dust Bowl Symphony, only to take an awkward tumble. The Dust Bowl Symphony finds the Lone Star soprano renovating some of her most popular tunes with backing by her regular unit, the Blue Moon Orchestra, as well as the London Symphony Orchestra. But extravagant arrangements smother these songs; it's hard not to listen to the likes of "It's A Hard Life (Wherever You Go)" and "Late Night Grande Hotel" and not long to hear the life-sized originals. --Steven Stolder
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Nanci Griffith is one of the finest singer/songwriters around. She writes with humour, vision, and human universality. While much country music can be intensely American and too self-referential for British/European tastes, Griffith has the ability to sing and write locally but communicate globally.
She communicates with extraordinary clarity ... though her diction and emotions could hardly be less rooted in Texas. This, as a 20 year retrospective of her work, could hardly be a more mature production. Taking a country / folk tradition and exposing it to the classical assertiveness and precision of the London Symphony Orchestra must have been an at times daunting experience. Griffith carries it off with aplomb and passion.
Her voice can sound quite subdued and intimate at times, but here she's in control - these are her words, her songs (mostly), and the orchestra can recognise a quality musician and forthright professional when it sees one.
Recorded at the Abbey Road studios, Griffith saw this as an opportunity to revisit the themes and emotions of growing up in the Texas dust bowl. Welding an orchestral score to her songs fulfils this vision by adding musical depth and expansiveness to her work, echoing that vast, overwhelming sense of place.
This is a superb recording, emphatic without being self-reverential, expansive without dissipating emotion, and a highly effective blend of musical styles and traditions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Having heard a couple of tracks from this albumn on the radio whilst going into work, I decided to go for the albumn despite never having heard of Nanci Griffiths until then. It was the best decision I have made in a long time as the music is exquisite. It simply flows over you as you sit and relax after a day at the office and I know that once I hace a CD player installed in the car, will be the most played albumn I own.
Format:Audio CD
I purchased this album when it was first released some years ago. The copy I purchased from Amazon was for a friends birthday, he'd listened to my copy playing in the car and was blown away with the beautiful arrangments.
This is one CD that always comes with us on our motorhome travels.
This is one CD that always comes with us on our motorhome travels.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Far Better Than It Deserves To Be
Consider the ingredients - the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the finest orchestras in the world, but not known for happy collaborations with artists of a more modern persuasion... Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2008 by Walter
Nanci Thrills and The Horse Chills!
I went to the Royal Albert Hall (in London) to experience the live concert. Though not "live", this album reflects that concert perfectly and is a must for any Nanci Griffith fan. Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2004 by The Horse in Stable One
Is this Nanci's Best
Thanks to Terry Wogan on BBC Radio 2 when I was in Houston I purchased this cd on listening to only 2 tracks. Read more
Published on 6 Jan 2003 by Gavin Dyer
An album for contemplation
Having followed Nanci through her folk roots to the present day, this album brings her music to a wider audience. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2000
Nanci Griffith re-interprets some old favourites
On her latest album, Ms Griffith is joined by the London Symphony Orchestra as she re-interprets some old favourites. Read more
Published on 5 Nov 1999 by Mr. N. A. Szczepaniak
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