Search - John Martyn :: Piece By Piece

Not one of his best

S. Campbell | Tallahassee, FL United States | 06/16/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That is unless you have a high tolerance or perhaps even an affinity for synthesizers circa 1986. John plays guitar synth, keyboardist Foster Patterson lays the synth pads on thick and programmed drum tracks abound. Yet, given this caveat, this disc is still much less dated sounding than some of the Phil Collins produced recordings preceding it. As limited as this recording is by the music technology of those years, it is guided by the unique production sensibilities of John Martyn and so it grooves and sounds musical throughout. John's voice swims in reverb but still sounds gorgeous and present. And `Piece by Piece' is the home of two great songs; the sublime and beautiful "Angeline" and the absurdly droll and aggressive "John Wayne", but both are given more passionate performances on the live album that followed - `Foundations'.

Oddly, my copy included (with no mention on the cover) Bob Dylan's "Tight Connection to My Heart" (obviously from the 'Piece by Piece' sessions) and the original recordings of "Solid Air", "One World" and "May You Never" - welcome additions but unexplained.

Five stars are deserved for "Angeline" alone, but start elsewhere if you are new to John Martyn (but do yourself a favor and do start!).

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