Search - Sally Rogers :: We'll Pass Them on

High On My List of 10 Albums To Take to a Desert Island

A. Bowdoin Vanriper | Marietta, GA USA | 09/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's beautiful music on this album ("Black Jack Davy" takes my breath away on a regular basis), but the words are just as good. Even after hearing "Mother Courage" or "Home Again" a dozen times, I *still* find myself putting down my pen or taking my fingers off the keyboard and wanting to just *listen* to them. There aren't that many truly great songs in the world about the kind of love that exists between people who've spent years sharing their lives with each other . . . those are two of them."Gone to the Dogs" is the obviously "political" song on the album, and it's great fun, but "In The Name of All of Our Children" and "Hard Work" are a bit more subtle and a lot more powerful as political statements because they're non-partisan. Sally Rogers comes across, on this album, as someone who deserves that much-abused (and -misused) title of "humanist." A deep love for both individual people (family, friends) and for people in general suffuses this album, and there's always room for more of that in this world."

Slick but good

David A. Bede | Singapore | 02/02/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My only real complaint about We'll Pass Them On is that it's uncharacteristically "modern" sounding. That's not really a bad thing. It's just that the crystal clear, echo-laden production takes away the wonderfully rustic quality of Sally Rogers' earlier albums. But then, she clearly wasn't aiming for the same sound here as there. It's obviously supposed to be more contemporary, and it is.



Not that she's abandoned the classics or anything. As usual, there's a nice serving of traditional fare, such as "Blackjack Davy" and the opening track, "Across The Blue Mountains." Among the originals, the lovely "Home Again" is definitely a standout, with "Mother Courage" a close second. Last but not least, the political songs with reworked traditional melodies are as unsubtle as ever. "Gone to the Dogs" is as timely as ever for a call to arms over the polarization of America, while "Hard Work" is an amusing look at a reformed male chauvinist who has suddenly found himself wearing the house dress in the family. (Some will surely accuse Rogers of hating men, but only if they don't really listen to all the words!)



Well crafted as usual. Just don't expect this one to sound like it was recorded in her living room (as her first album was!)."