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Steve Winwood
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I'm Not There (Original Soundtrack)
Various Artists
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Neil Diamond
Toby Keith's 35 BIGGEST Hits
Toby Keith
It's A Shame About Ray (Collector's Edition)
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Loaded
Wood Brothers
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Wood Brothers
The Wood Brothers are in no particular hurry to impress you. They just take their time and hope that the music will eventually speak for itself. I knew virtually nothing about the Wood Brothers, so I first played “Loaded” with no expectations at all. One by one, the songs glided past, leaving the subtle impression that I wanted to hear it again. Since that first listen, I’ve played this CD numerous times, and it keeps growing on me in ways that I never would have expected. There’s no high-tech production, no musical gimmickry, no forced energy and no pandering to the audience anywhere on “Loaded.” Instead, the songs lope along at a casual pace, enveloping their own space until they seem to physically become a part of it.
“Loaded” is an album built from natural ingredients, with an earthy production built around traditional instrumentation. The songs are full of warmth and space, and benefit greatly from vocals that are expressive yet relaxed. “Postcards From Hell” paints a subtle portrait of a lifer-musician, a man who plays music simply because he must. Oliver Wood beautifully captures the essence of this character, singing “If you ask him how he sings the blues so well, he says ‘I got a soul that I won’t sell and I don’t read no postcards from hell.” Like most of the songs here, the image is poetic, but straightforward and honest. A similar moment occurs on the title track, which utilizes a few of the many interpretations of the word ‘loaded’. Accompanied by some brilliant steel guitar, Wood sings, “I was loaded, proud to say I was loaded. Sometimes the tip of my tongue is the barrel of a gun and it’s loaded.” Oliver’s brother Chris (whom you may know from Martin, Medeski & Wood) sings, too, and the brothers usually pair up to write these organic gems.
The album’s pace is well-defined in the chorus of “Fall Too Fast, where the Wood Brothers celebrate the entrapments of passion, singing “Don’t let me fall too fast. I want to fall slowly, I want my fall to last.”” The same can be said of “Loaded.” Sometimes you have to give a record a chance to work its magic. Most programmers will not consider “Loaded” to be ‘radio friendly’, so don’t expect to hear it that way. Even if you did, a single play of one song is not enough to convey the fullness of this album. If this review piques your curiosity, then you’ll need to take some time and check it out for yourself. As they sing in “Walk Away,” “Time used to make me wait, now time just makes me late.” So far, “Loaded” is my favorite ‘sleeper’ album of ’08.
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