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Dancing Down the Stony Road

Chris Rea - Dancing Down the Stony Road Audio CD

A fair review of the Chris Rea "Dancing Down the Stony Road" 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 Chris Rea reviews here, or go back to the Chris Rea tabs.

Band: Chris Rea
Title: Dancing Down the Stony Road
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-11-12
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Easy Rider 2: Stony Road 3: Dancing The Blues Away 4: Catfish Girl 5: Burning Feet 6: Slow Dance 7: Segway 8: Mississippi 9: So Lonely 10: Heading For The City 11: Ride On 12: When The Good Lord Talked To Jesus 13: Qualified 14: Sun Is Rising 15: Someday My Peace Will Come 16: Got To Be Moving On 17: Aint Going Down This Way 18: Changing Times 19: The Hustler 20: Give That Girl A Diamond

There's A Big Difference Between Good And Great
This is not a great CD or a great blues CD. First off I want to say i'm a fan of Chris Rea, but let's be honest here. I recently took a short trip and listened to this CD 5 times straight. I can say it is a good Chris Rea and a quite decent blues CD. I listen to a lot of music and blues is one of my passions. When I read some of the reviews that are posted here, it's clear these are not music connoisseurs. Chris Rea's voice is suited for the blues and his guitar playing is very tasty, but great slide playing? Maybe some of you should listen to Ry Cooder, Sonny Landreth and bluesman Roy Rogers, those are great blues slide players. I would put Rea's slide playing in the George Harrison camp - tasty playing that's just right for the song and that's not a bad thing. When I see words like great and awesome in a review I know I should be on my toes. Chris Rea has a good catalog of music and "Stony Road" will not disappoint if you've liked his earlier stuff. It is a mystery why he's not caught on in the States. Bruce Cockburn is another artist who has not caught on either, who in my opinion who is so vastly underrated it should be a crime. When reviewing CD's please be honest, there's a big difference between good and great.

Great Release
I'm very glad I did. I picked this up last week through the used CD means offered here at Amazon. This is Chris' best release since the original Road to Hell. If you like the blues then this is a must! Well produced, great audio quality and stellar playing. The version I picked up came with extra video material of Chris playing live. Too bad he doesn't get the air time in the USA like he deserves. He has a great voice and can play the blues on that guitar of his. Pick this one up-you will be glad you did.

He only gets better as he gets older! Highly Recommended
I was beginning to think that he had faded away after producing nothing new in years. This is one of the best Rea albums across his entire career. The first time I heard this, I was not too sure. But five days later, I think this guy's getting better just when you thought he couldn't be any better. It's the kind of reaction i had when I first hear Pink Floyd. . . it grows on you. This album is like Mark Knofpler's move over the years. . . only in the reverse direction. Highly recommended even though this is a darn expensive set! You won't regret it.

Brilliant album by CR!!!
yet he is more popular in Europe than here. I sometimes wonder why Chris Rea doesn't tour the US!! His music is so Bluesy and soulful that it captures the soul of the delta. This is a much awaited album from him. CR certainly doesn't disappoint you. I bought the import version. . so what if I had to fork out some extra cash there. But every song is worth more than that. The testimony to his music is that couple of my colleague's who have never heard his name before loved his music. This tells me that there is certainly a market in the US for his music. This is blues at best and CR does it in his own style. His guitaring, voice, the lyrics they all just seem to fall in place. I would say strong buy.

File Under Blues
S. Chris Rea is a big star in Europe but practically unknown in the U. , which is perhaps why his appearance on Elton John's "Duets" album surprised no one over 'there' but everyone over 'here. ' Most of his albums are suave 'n' roots, like a Bryan Ferry version of Dire Straits, except that Rea has a gravelly voice (not unlike Waylon Jennings) and plays lots of bottleneck slide guitar (a la Muddy Waters and Blind Willie Johnson). There's been a progression in his songwriting and performing, in my opinion, from his most contemporary-radio material (1979-1984) to his mature, memorable material (1985 on). The watershed album is "Shamrock Diaries" (1985), in which he connected with (maybe even established) his roots in rock, blues, and soul.

"Dancing Down the Stony Road" is a remarkable record by most standards, perhaps even those of classic blues. These are songs of pain, performed with a great deal of expression -- true blue blues. He voices the agony and the love of life and music he experienced while recovering from a potentially terminal illness. It's his first blues album (and deserves W. C. Handy Awards for every "crossover" category), but it sounds like he's been playing blues all his life.

Rea dedicates this album to Charley Patton, Blind Willie Johnson, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Rea's always had a knack for interesting, strong rhythms, so Patton might not come as a surprise, and his slide playing has obvious ties to Johnson's death meditations, but it's great to hear the songs influenced by Tharpe's fierce gospel drive. I'd like to think these artists would be proud to see their names associated with this album.

Rea has written songs suggesting bewilderment and sorrow before (cf. 'Nothing to Fear' or 'Gone Fishing'), but nothing so direct as these songs, in my opinion. I cried when I first heard 'Easy Rider'--the pain in the lyrics, the voice, and especially the slide guitar solo. I wasn't prepared for it, and I'm still startled by every song on the album. Perhaps the lyrics sometimes try a little too hard, making leaps I can't quite follow (i. e. , looking for sugar to take away the gray). But they do convey an intensely personal experience, much like Van Morrison's lyrics do.

It's also a great album with which to consider his other albums, just like "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance" for Van's recordings. If all Rea's roads lead to "Dancing," they're not one-way streets, and I can go back and check them out. I realize that I love "King of the Beach" (one of the great summer albums of all time) and "God's Great Banana Skin" because their hearts beat to the blues you hear in "Dancing Down the Stony Road. " Other albums don't, however, like "The Road to Hell, Part 2," which seems like a cynical statement about techno-rock.

Probably the most comparable recent album is Dylan's "Time Out Of Mind. " Both owe their life to near-death experiences and the blues. I like these albums about the same. I wish Rea the same success . . .

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