Categories : Folk + Roots, Music Reviews.
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Rating: 3 / 5 Reviewer: Trent Depue |
Two years following the release of the highly anticipated and extremely well received The Shepard’s Dog, Sam Beam takes a bit of a break with a double album of b-sides and other unreleased material. With the reputation he possesses after releasing brilliant record after brilliant record, it could be looked at as a bit of a risk to let fly two discs of material that sounds this unpolished, and in some cases unfinished.
Given the nature of the record, expectations shouldn’t be particularly high, and with that in mind there are more than a few gems to be found here. What you’ll find is material that runs the gamut from ‘obvious why it didn’t make the cut’ to ‘average’ to ‘the best track Beam has released to date.’ The latter of course being the live performance and fan favorite, ‘The Trapeze Swinger’ (otherwise only seeing release on the 2004 soundtrack to In Good Company). Coming in at almost ten minutes long, the chorus-less eight verse track is nothing short of brilliant. Some highlights from the rawer and less polished first disc include, ‘Morning,’ ‘Swans and the Swimming’ and ‘Such Great Heights’ and the better edited second disc ‘Carried Home’ and ‘Kingdom of the Animals.’
In the end, you have to take Around the Well for what it is. There is more then enough good material here to justify the album’s release, and while there are a number of tracks that easily disappear into the background, there isn’t anything particularly detracting either.
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