Search - Jim Cuddy :: Light That Guides You Home

A great solo album

Farmer | Vancouver, Canada | 12/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the second solo album that Jim Cuddy has put forth since his initial All in Time album. I loved the first album as a moderately moody and slower offering built with the same type of deft lyrics and great music that makes Blue Rodeo such a success in Canada. This second album picks up from where Jim has left off but with pieces that are more up tempo. The writing is terrific from this very seasoned song writer and guitar player. It's a little difficult to categorize the pieces contained within the album as you'll find things that range from rock to folk to blues/country. The songs Pull Me Through and Will I Be Waiting alone, in my opinion, make this album worth the price of admission. All I can say is that it's a great listen and a very welcome addition to my collection. Thanks Jim!!"

Bringing Us All Back Home

state | 04/22/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Jim Cuddy is one half of the songwriting team that forms the backbone of Blue Rodeo. This fact is instantly recognizable in the opening title track of The Light That Guides You Home, sounding like an outtake from Diamond Mind or Casino. This is so, largely because Greg Keelor's supporting guitar is replaced magnificently by co-producer Colin Cripps (formerly of the criminally underrated Crash Vegas).



True, the appearance of a Kathleen Edwards vocal on "Married Again" and the trumpet of Bryden Baird in "Pull Me Through" reveals a clear attempt to walk a different path from the Blue Rodeo sound. However, and this is not a complaint, the pairing of Cuddy's guitar with Colin Cripps gives this CD a full, lush sound that constantly invites comparison with the chestnuts of Blue Rodeo's back catalogue.



When Cripps was with Crash Vegas it was Greg Keelor who provided some of the best songwriting and some supporting guitar work (see for example "Inside Out" and "Bury Her" from Red Earth (1989)). The sound he co-produces here with Cuddy sounds very much as if he learned a great deal from the master songsmith/guitarplayer Greg Keelor. It is as if he wanted to restore the sound of joy to Cuddy's voice, noticebly absent in the last two Blue Rodeo offerings.



Kudos to Cripps. Cuddy can get maudlin with his singing and his lyrics (witness for example Blue Rodeo's Small Miracles (2007))and I am glad to report Cripps has Cuddy`s singing re-energized like a happy, furry, drum-smacking, sunglass-wearing bunny again.



"One Fine Day", "Countrywide Soul" and the title track are all 5-star songs that would fit into anyone's playlists. Overall, however, it is the fluid easygoing pace of the song sequence we get over all 12 songs: Hey, no filler! If you love Blue Rodeo`s earlier work you`ll want this. I rate it a solid 4 stars with an extra 1/2 star for the excellent production and sound: ****1/2

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