Search - Nicolai Dunger :: Soul Rush

Not a Straight Through Listen...

swwightman | Monrovia, CA United States | 01/07/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When I previewed the first five songs on Nicolai Dunger's "Soul Rush," I was immediately excited about his blend of bar room rock and country twangs (even though he's Swedish - go figure) and promptly ordered this album. Upon receiving it, I spent a couple hours listening to the whole album and afterwards, realized that during the last half of the album, I had been praying for each song to end as soon as possible. The whole second half of the album is bogged down with long, drawn-out ballads about love and loss (mostly), only each seems to go on and on without purpose. Don't get me wrong, I like ballads as much as the next person, but these ballads are almost too whiny and self-indulgent to be endured. I don't know what happened to the energy of "Something New" or the creative instrumentation of "Dr. Zhivago's Train" or the country-folk guitar on "I'd Rather Die," but all these elements somehow fade on the second half of the album. And it's a shame, because the first half of the album is so dynamic, so catchy and so fresh.Nicolai Dunger probably deserves more credit than I'm giving him for this album, but for me, this album has more songs to skip than enjoy. It seems that he was trying out a bunch of different styles and musical formats; hopefully, on his next offering, he will ditch the drowning ballads and produce an album that is alive and breathing, and doesn't need the aid of the "skip" button."

Really good music

J. Toth | New York, NY USA | 11/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is really quite something. Of all of the musicians who have been influenced by Van Morrison, Dunger seems to be the one to whom it comes most naturally and whose music is able to make it the furthest out of the shadows of the great musician. There is also quite a bit of Dylan and Tom Waits to be heard in the album as well. Nevertheless, the originality of the music is not compromised at all because of the overwhelming origionality of many of the pieces. It truly is a wild album and despite the attempt at self-sabotage in the middle of the album (the Tom Waits tinkering and pan-banging provides some sublime moments but not too many coherent songs) but the five or six outstanding tunes on the album speak for themselves. Among them, the first five tunes are really masterworks culminating in the absolutely stunning track "Dr. Zhivago's Train." This is a great album and has grown immeasurably after several trips through the player."

A complicated piece of genius

Alphamonkey | Kansas City, MO | 12/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Soul Rush is an album that asks a lot of it's listeners, but gives so much in return. The opening track "I'd Rather Die" is a heartbreakingly beautiful song that is meticulously layered with a wide array of sounds (a technique that is used liberally throughout the album, especially so on "Doctor Zhivago's Train"). While on some speaker sets, the album can sound muddied and bogged down, headphones are a perfect way to hear just how nuanced and beautiful the arrangements truly are.



With a firm grasp of Van Morrison-esque blue eyed soul, Dunger does an amazing job utilizing a jazz band to play country flavored R&B. All in all, this album is very reminisce of an Astral Weeks period Morrison, and the comparison is justified on songs like "Something New" and the title track, "Soul Rush", with joyous and explosive vocals over sweeping melodies.



A must have album from an amazingly talented songwriter."