Fretplay.com Gordon Lightfoot CD reviews Gordon Lightfoot guitar tabs Gordon Lightfoot CD reviews Gordon Lightfoot tabs Salute


Gordon Lightfoot - Salute Audio CD

A fair review of the Gordon Lightfoot "Salute" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Gordon Lightfoot reviews here, or go back to the Gordon Lightfoot tabs.

Gordon Lightfoot Band: Gordon Lightfoot
Title: Salute
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-08-20
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Salute (A Lot More Livin' to Do) 2: Gotta Get Away 3: Whispers of the North 4: Someone to Believe In 5: Romance 6: Knotty Pine 7: Biscuit City 8: Without You 9: Tattoo 10: Broken Dreams

Perfect
I looked high and low to find this CD in stores, to no avail, i have an old album that ive played for years, a friend told me that Amazon does music as well, ( always thought it was just books ) great communication, fast reliable service, my CD arrived in Perfect condition, i could not be happier, so,if you cant find what your looking for in stores, chances are, you can find it here. . thank you very much Amazon, i will be a return customer in the future.


One of his best
Salute seems to be the polished result of his new phase. Endless Wire seemed to be Gord's first experiment with an electric guitar and heavy production.

Whispers Of The North to me is one of his finest songs written about nature possibly since Pussywillows Cat Tails. The bass line just seems to put you on a sleigh as you adventure through a snow covered forest.

I thought I remembered Lightfoot saying at a concert that the album and title track were about his giving up the bottle. The lyric "You've got a lot more living to do" is one of his best advice-lines since the ones written in "The House You Live In" from his Summertime Dream album.

It's a different Lightfoot indeed from the troubador we know and love from Summertime Dream and before, but it's a good effort at rocking and shaking some dust off.


Good
Why? Was there some weight bearing security check on it during shipping?. This product came with the plastic cover broken.


Tough spell for Gordon - One excellent song, two okay ones
I will first state that Gordon Lightfoot is among my three all time favorite musical entities. This was a difficult review (opinion) to put on record, as I very much wanted to give this collection a better rating. Having said that, I believe this collection from 1983 and the the one that followed it in 1986, entitled "East of Midnight" were generally an artistic dry spell for Gordon. By comparison, both Bob Dylan and John Lennon went through comparable periods that lasted for years. Gordon came out of this diminished period of creativity in 1993 when he calmly roared back with the "Waiting for You" album.

I'll first state the positive - "Tattoo" is a excellent melody and set of lyrics that makes me wish I'd written something like it. Gordon is astonishingly good at combining regret and wistfulness with beauty, lessons learned and rays of hope. The melody is a haunting one that I think most Lightfoot fans and other casual listeners will enjoy.

The other positives - "Whispers of the North" is reminiscent in feel of an earlier Gordon masterpiece "Talking in your Sleep. " And "Knotty Pine" combines a traditional folk feel with a smooth electronic mood nicely. Both Knotty Pine and Whispers of the North are enjoyable but they are also ephemeral, i. e. they do not "stay with you and settle in" like the songs on his more inspired albums (of which there are a dozen plus).

Although I am open to change (and as stated - I believe that some of this collection works), I prefer the sometimes simple - sometimes more involved grace of his earlier (and later) recordings. By contast, "Salute" seems over-orchestrated with an unfortunate stock 80s sound that verges on upbeat easy listening. Another reviewer mentioned a production link to "St. Elmo's Fire" - and I unfortunately must second that I also can hear that. Most of the lyrics in this collection are diminished, and the vocals are undermined by the instrumental onslaught. If you read the lyrics for Salute by comparison to most of his other works it is clearly not up to his customary level of inspired poetry.

All this said - it's still Gordon. And since I know that in the future, from 1993 through his latest "Harmony" in 2004) he would write such masterpieces as "Restless, Waiting for You, Ringneck Loon, River of Light, Inspiration Lady" and others - I can make it through some of the far less inspiring selections on Salute.

As for the two stars - it's for the songs "Tattoo" (excellent) and "Whispers of the North" and "Knotty Pine" (an easygoing good). I have given Gordon five stars in my other reviews. In my opinion, he is certainly a genius - but went through a tough spell through the 80s after 1982's excellent "Shadows. ".


Not his best, but certainly respectable.
Lightfoot's studio albums from the Reprise era onward, and this album is no exception. I own & enjoy most of Mr. I had it on vinyl, and was delighted that Rhino released it on CD. I think four stars is just too high, so I gave it three, but 3. 5 would be about right.

On the plus side, there are two GREAT songs here -- Romance, which received a good bit of Toronto airplay, and the breathtaking Tattoo, which did not. For me, the album was worth purchasing for these two songs alone. The title track, Gotta Get Away, Whispers and Knotty Pine are also good or better.

I can do without the remaining four songs. Three strike me as uncharacteristically shallow & rock-oriented; Biscuit City I just find sappy. And I don't think that the slick 80's production has aged as well as his 1970's material.

Your mileage may vary, but if you're a Lightfoot fan, there's more than enough to enjoy here. If you're not a fan, Gord's Gold, If You Could Read My Mind (née Sit Down Young Stranger) and Summertime Dream should probably come first.
.


You can see a complete list of all Gordon Lightfoot discography, or go back to the Gordon Lightfoot tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]