Search - Great Big Sea :: Fortune's Favour

A celebration of life through music

A. Gammill | West Point, MS United States | 07/08/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's something that should not only please long-time fans of Great Big Sea, but it just might win over a few newcomers. I've always felt the band's greatest strength was the ability to combine the traditional songs of their homeland of Newfoundland with modern pop/rock sensibilities. And FORTUNE'S FAVOUR fulfills that ambition flawlessly. Not since 1995's Up have I enjoyed a Great Big Sea album so completely.



Here's a breakdown of the tracks:



--LOVE ME TONIGHT & WALK ON THE MOON: Two near-perfect pop numbers that set the mood for an album's worth of life-affirming melodies



--ENGLAND finds Sean McCann in fine form in a traditional-sounding story song about finding one's fortune in Newfoundland



--HERE AND NOW is an up-tempo rocker in the same vein as "When I'm Up" and "Shines Right Through." Alan Doyle drives home his live-for-today philosophy with some evocative vocals



--LONG LOST LOVE: Sean McCann channels a reggae vibe for a fun, funny tune about pining for a lost love. This song has one of the album's best verses, as the singer talks of buying his intended a limousine: "But when you get out on the highway/Life is seldom as it seems/When the car breaks down/You'd start blaming me."



--OH YEAH: Alan Doyle's long-held aspiration of being a rock star come at you full-speed in this surprising song that's bound to sound fantastic in concert.



--DREAM TO LIVE: My favorite track at the moment. McCann again, telling another travelling song, over a driving beat. The chorus simply soars



--COMPANY OF FOOLS is Doyle again, playing around. Not my favorite song, but it's amusing and full of life



--HARD CASE and HEART OF STONE: Two more pop numbers which are growing on me. The latter features vocal assistance from the talented Jeen O'Brien



--DANCE DANCE is a classic Doyle theme: Trying to get the girl. "Before the band is done/Before your Daddy comes." A cute uptempo number



--STRAIGHT TO HELL is sure to be a concert highlight. It's a testament to Alan Doyle's songwriting skills that he can transplant the legendary Robert Johnson "crossroads" blues mythology and apply it to folk singers from Newfoundland. But it works, and it's a great way for the album to go out with a bang



What may not come through in reading those brief track descriptions is the often-brilliant musicianship of FORTUNE'S FAVOUR. The guys have literally never sounded better. The whole disc flows beautifully. And for those who prefer traditional songs to the pop stuff, no less than 4 songs on the disc feature references to the band's homeland. And although you may think you're hearing song traditional material, the band wrote every one of the tracks on the album.



And it's that last reason, more than anything else, that makes FORTUNE'S FAVOUR a classic. After 15 years of adapting traditional music to their own style, Great Big Sea is now making their OWN traditional music for future generations to enjoy.



Highly recommended.





"

"With Our Hearts as Big as Sails"

Tina MacKenzie | Nova Scotia | 07/30/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""With Our Hearts as Big as Sails"



You can't keep a good man down, never mind the trio that comprises Great Big Sea. It's no real surprise, after the salt-of-the-earthiness of The Hard and The Easy--an unapologetic excursion into the heart of Newfoundland acoustic traditional--that GBS is shooting sky high with this new release and going supersonic. Oh yeah!



Produced by a fearless Hawksley Workman, Fortune's Favour is the band's 9th studio album in 15 years. I'm honestly surprised and thrilled that GBS continues to conquer new frontiers with unflagging spirit, countless miles and a veritable World's Fair of cities behind them. I'm a loyal fan of 10 years, and if this is to be my review of the album, I figure what the hell's the point of pretending I'm impartial. I'm not. So, there you have it, my deep-rooted bias. The fact is I'm invested--time, money, heart, energy and friendships.



I've been listening to friends talk about Fortune's Favour this week, about cranking it on the open road--windows, sunroofs and hearts wide open. There's no question that with the opening bars of "Love Me Tonight" all hearts shout approval. The album's first single "Walk on the Moon" follows, and while it's not my favourite track, I appreciate and totally enjoy the unexpected treatment Workman gives it. Drifting back to earth for track three, I'm carried far away to McCann's "England", a truly lovely and straightforward nod to the wistful shantys of a sea faring culture, a nod to the forefathers. Now three songs in, and my mind is looking for sign posts. I wonder early on how this album is held together.



Doyle's soulful voice breaks in with "Here and Now". Song 4 has me completely. It's my early favourite--infectious and lyrically rich with an apt allusion to Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gently". Great Big Sea's signature harmonies and fierce male chorus are a sign post, and magic lets loose on the bridge, "walk a little further off the beaten path..." Sure. I'm with you lads.



Fronted by McCann, "Long Lost Love" shifts tempo and flavour again. It's groovy. For me, it's reminiscent of Blue Rodeo, but I've failed to convince anyone else. There's no time to dwell, however, when the unexpected rocker "Oh Yeah" shatters the speed of sound. It's lyrically interesting despite the title. I remember hearing it live several months ago, and, unlike some tunes in production, this one has definitely improved. My initial aversion is a growing appreciation. Truthfully, some of the vocals and lyrics are so cool, I want to jump in. I will be a part of that gang vocal yet.



Bringing up the weak middle position is song 7, the lone traditional track on this album, Banks of Newfoundland. I wish I liked it more. I want to. For me, however, it's a sore thumb. I wish Bob's lead vocals had been put to best use recording the Knack's "Good Girls Don't" instead because his cover is fierce. The vocals a worthy match for his always intense gaze.



Halfway through and I'm still looking for signposts. Two themes are emerging. First there is the explicit 'carpe diem' of songs fronted by Doyle offset by the wistful 'love lost, found & fought for' complexity of the McCann tracks.



Some large part of my gypsy soul grabs hold of song 8, "Dream to Live". It has that most compelling of Great Big Sea benchmarks--an irresistible chorus. I, at least, cannot resist it. It's followed by "Company of Fools", written by Doyle and Russel Crowe years ago when Doyle produced the latest TOFOG album. Crowe's loss is our gain. The other part of my gypsy soul is perfectly at home in this company.



Song 10 and hard at it, some of the lyrics to "Hard Case" puzzle me, but it still hits like a ton of bricks. I dig how the easy groove wraps around the troubled storyline, even if the meaning does leave me confounded. From comfortable confusion to regretful romance, "Rocks of Merasheen" is next. I must be in McCann territory. I am definitely at the mercy of another killer gang chorus.



Cut to 1980 something and "Dance Dance" lead by Doyle Doyle. For those who missed it the first few times, seize the moment, and don't let that lovely lady wander the rocky rocks alone forever...or something like that. I can't wait to enjoy this one live because I will happily do what the title commands and Sing Sing too. What can I say about the achingly beautiful strains of "Heart of Stone" and just how brilliant the bagpipes are in this arrangement? This one tugs hard and lets you live with the ache.



The album wraps unapologetically with "Straight to Hell". Although I don't subscribe to the fire and brimstone school of belief, this slightly apocalyptic return to the live-life-fully mantra works for me.



With Fortune's Favour aptly described in The Telegram as a "coalescence of the band's traditional roots influences, its uppity folk ballads and pop tendencies, injected with Workman's big-sound, big production propensity" some people may wonder how fans will accept the new offering. Idiosyncratic preferences aside, I see fans whole heartedly embracing the album "with our hearts as big as sails", a joyous parade of sail in fact."

Back in great form

Kelly T. Loucks | Laveen, AZ United States | 07/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Fortune's Favour is the first "pop" oriented album from Great Big Sea since 'Something Beautiful' in 2004 and I personally think it is even better. Four years of focusing on traditional music has done nothing to dampen the pop sensibilities of the band. 'Walk on the Moon' can be a radio hit in the US if there are stations brave enough to try something outside the typical offering. All of the songs are typical of the GBS philosophy, life is good and you better take advantage of life now. So buy the album, see them in a concert venue near you when they tour in the Fall, and get moving and live because you can't hold still when GBS is part of the soundtrack of your life."