Search - Jesse Colin Young :: Living in Paradise

Jesse's Beautiful Paradise

Carl Miller | Redway CA USA | 09/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe nobody's reviewed this yet. This is the most beautiful album Jesse Colin Young's done in a long time. I really liked last year's Walk the Talk, but this is a masterpiece. Okay, it doesn't have that many new JCY songs- Living in Paradise, You are the One, and Angel Mine, all excellent. Aloha E previously appeared only on the Beanbag JCY greatest hits. Two of them, Am I an Island, and Turning Point, appeared on 1992's Making It Real, but this album's versions sound so much better. The instrumentation is a subtle Hawaiian Folk Rock, with acoustic guitar, ukelele, and hand drums dominating. Jesse is such a brilliant guitarist, and gets melodies on his ukelele, an instrument I've only heard used for rhythm before this. The title song, for example, shows that Hawaii is a real place, where people have real problems, poverty. The verse about his unnamed friend's death particularly moved me. Like me, he's reached the age where this happens. If you haven't heard any JCY albums since his 1970's heyday, his voice may surprise you. It's dropped quite a bit, gotten breathy, but he uses what he has very effectively."