Yep,
here 'tis... The preeminent effort of pop music's melancholy maestro.
This exquisitely sparse gem is a requirement for every serious student
of great songwriting, and my personal prescription for every single
solitary soul squeezed through the sieve of life. It and the Bible will
fix all your broken parts. And what Ten Easy Pieces can't mend, it will
make bearable. The opening strains of "Galveston" alone are worth the
ticket price. In his heartbreakingly beautiful introduction here, Webb
has poured [out] the landscape of a lifetime. Here again is innate
genius - - these songs may have once sounded "simple" at a glance, in
their lowest common denominator commercial presentation, but that
simplicity was deceptive. Here are ten "easy" pieces, not easy at all,
rich with the same intelligence which earmark the greatest musical
compositions in history; as Copland, Berlin, Gershwin, Thompson,
Bernstein, Bach, etc., full of soaring lines and aching, grinding
dissonances - - the stuff life is made of (and quite an accomplishment
for a mere teenager to have attained, once). Webb's melodic wisdom,
combined with an innate lyric sense, results in a subtly articulated
intelligence insinuated throughout the entire CD. Thank God he slowed
these cuts down from their previously hyper-sterilized commercial
formulaic homogeny. We can view those astonishing landscapes now, one
exquisite moment at a time. Other aural jewels here include "If These
Walls Could Speak","The Moon's A Harsh Mistress," his version of
"Highwayman" which I could write volumes on, alone, and "All I Know."
In fact, there isn't a note played or sung on this remarkable
collection anywhere which could be considered wasted. This IS the
quintessential Jimmy Webb collection; ten of his best-known songs,
performed in an achingly tender, intimate context, the way they should
be offered... by 'him what conceived them;' just him, and his piano.
This IS The Holy Grail of songwriting.
