Description

It's time the reputation of Chris de Burgh had a bit of rehabilitation. In the days before "The Lady in Red" and its bundle of insipid follow-ups, Chris de Burgh was a songwriter with flair and originality. A modern-day descendant of the travelling minstrels of yesteryear, de Burgh perfected the art of storytelling in song, finding equal inspiration from the Celtic tradition and the era of flower power when being a folk singer was something to be proud of. "Spanish Train and Other Stories" was de Burgh's second album, and certainly his creative peak.The title track opens quietly but rapidly reachesmore… a demented crescendo with a crazy story of God and the Devil playing poker for souls. From here, the album meanders, erratically but with great charm, through some of his best tragic ballads ("Lonely Sky"), understated protest songs ("This Song for You") and drinking choruses ("Going Home" and "Patricia the Stripper"). Religious imagery abounds but from a refreshingly leftfield perspective, re-casting the Nativity angel as a visiting alien in the classic "A Spaceman Came Travelling" and re-telling the story of Jesus as a modern political agitator in the simply gorgeous "Just Another Poor Boy". "The Painter" is a half-crazed murder ballad which leaves you wondering just who was the victim and who the killer, while "The Tower" takes an enchanting step backwards into Celtic mythology to spin a breathtaking fairytale with a modern ecological message - a theme which de Burgh was to follow up in later acoustic albums such as "Crusader".There's a naive kind of daring about many of these songs. "Patricia" was one of my personal favourites on the sixth-form stereo in years gone by, and the religious imagery of "Spanish Train" and "Spaceman" must certainly have shocked in its day. But mostly these are just beautifully told stories with the catchiest tunes; even if their style has dated, the songs are as memorable as ever. This is one of the classic albums of the post-hippie era. Miss it at your peril.

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

Chris De Burgh - Spanish Train and Other Stories (1991) Retail CD

Part:

Back

Dimensions:

806 x 800 px

Size:

153 KB

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Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

10/04/07 by allcdcovers

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