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Closer to the Truth

Trout Fishing in America - Closer to the Truth Audio CD

A fair review of the Trout Fishing in America "Closer to the Truth" 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 Trout Fishing in America reviews here, or go back to the Trout Fishing in America tabs.

Band: Trout Fishing in America
Title: Closer to the Truth
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-10-26
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Dreaming 2: Old Things 3: Closer to the Truth 4: Keep It on the Positive Side 5: Dangerous 6: Big Boys in Bad Shape 7: Alberta Postcard 8: But I Do 9: There You Go 10: After You've Gone 11: Almost September 12: Would It Be So Bad? 13: Sun and Moon and Stars

Great band at their essential best
I don't know why I waited to buy this album, but one of the middle-year albums was over-produced and I got a bit fearful. I seem to be one of the few fans who first met this band in a live bar show, rather than catering to the kiddies, but their mix of humor with touching insight captured my love and has held it for almost 15 years. However, this really captures their original sensibility, and any fan will recognize the voices and harmonies that have always characterized this duo (with a couple guest instruments thrown in along the way). Here there are no joke songs or kid stuff, but just an excellent mix of swinging toe-tappers with poignant thoughtfulness.

Those who are used to the gentle humor of the kid music will enjoy the way that Keith and Ezra bring their big hearts and sunny outlooks to the general themes of good (adult) rock -- dreams about the future, getting through the hard times, love and relationships, etc. I never get tired of an album like this; these guys are operating down where real life is lived. Every song is very strong and this CD keeps finding its way back into my player.

All around talented team...
It was a rather intimate showing for my first time to see Trout. As I write this review, my husband and I just returned from seeing the notorious duet at a small venue in the country. I can only say wonderful things about these guys. They played for almost two hours straight, peppering the audience with songs from every genre. These guys know how to cover all the bases! They performed kids' songs, love songs, and even some rockin' good tunes.

I digress. . .

They played a good selection of the songs from Closer to the Truth during the show. I found the songs so entertaining and harmonious that I bought the cd directly after the show and listened the entire way back home. Now that I have witnessed them live, I cannot get enough Trout! This cd is an excellent example of the musical range this duo can cover. The tunes are all catchy and you will find yourself singing along.

These guys may win awards for their children's albums, but they can DEFINITELY win over adults as well.

Only Two Years To Go

This album is part of the reason why. For my twentieth wedding anniversary, I do not want jewelry; I want to go hear Trout play their grown-up music at a club-anywhere. As the mother of a lot of kids, I do love their kids' music, but this album lets me overcome my slight embarrassment at loving a kids' band and say "But, look they do make fabulous 'grown-up' music too.
(Whoever said they were "a parent's guilty pleasure" in a professional review is spot-on)

The elements that make their kids music so great are also present in their adult music. They are immensely listenable. Tuneful and lyrical in places, biting and funny in others. Their adult music also contains that wry wit that makes their kids' stuff so uproarious funny. The fact that they explore many styles of music means that there is a repeatability factor for their albums and they won't get boring.

"Dreaming", "Closer to the Truth", "Alberta Postcard" and "Almost September" paint pictures with both the words and the music. They are poetic and lovely. Then they turn around and give you a great catchy, funny song like "Dangerous" in a completely different style.

The wit shows through in "Old Things" and "After You've Gone" (which is one of my favorite Trout Songs). The first time I heard both, I laughed. The 200th time I heard both, I still got a chuckle, despite the fact that I knew what the punchline was.

Trout Fishing works very hard to make sure their finished product is of top-notch quality. That the songs are well-crafted (I use that phrase a lot when writing about them, but it's true), well-sung, well-played.

So, all in all, this is a great CD (do they make any other kind?)
I was a Trout fan from the moment I heard them play the first note-kids or adult stuff, they never disappoint.

{If you want to see how great their adult music sounds in concert and why I want this as my present, I suggest going to the Kerrville Folk Festival webpage and listening to the webcasts of them playing- they ROCK there}

.

Well Played Kid's Music
If you need a CD for your kids to listen to that won't drive you crazy, you have found it, but otherwise this is probably not a CD you want to own. Trout Fishing In America make kids music, they do it well, and the album probably will stand up to the death play the kids will give it, even with adults, although I highly doubt many adults will listen to it for it's own merits.

A return to early Trout
Every song on Closer to the Truth is a powerful emotion. Closer to the Truth is a cd that rekindles the emotional music of Trout Fishing in America that was prevelant in Truth is Stranger Than Fishing. There is no bad song on this cd. The albulm starts off with Dreaming which sets the listener into a daydreaming mood and goes straight into a remeniscing melody (Old Things). A light-hearted skeptical shortly follows (Dangerous). You will be humming the chorus all day after that song. Alberta Postcard will paint you a picture and make you want to visit Canada while There You Go will bring you back to the mortality of life. The icing on the cake is the finale (The Sun the Moon and Stars). This is their best song on the CD and will bring you to tears. It took Trout 10 years to match the quality of Truth is Stranger Than Fishing, but Closer to the Truth matches it and then surpasses it in their best Adult albulm to date.

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