Patty Griffin Impossible Dream CD

Personnel: Patty Griffin (vocals, guitar, piano, background vocals); Patty Griffin; Craig Ross (baritone guitar, synthesizer, tambourine, percussion, background vocals); John Deaderick (organ, drums); Brian Beattie (field organ, pump organ, arco bass); Frank Swart (bass instrument); J.D. Foster (bass guitar, percussion); Jonathan Greene, Jon Greene (drums); J.A. Foster (percussion); Doug Lancio (guitar, mandolin); Lisa Germano (zither, violin); Michael Ramos (trumpet); Sumner Erickson (tuba); Ian McLagan (piano, electric piano); Rev. Brady Blade, Billy Beard (drums); Emmylou Harris, Julie Miller, Buddy Miller (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Robbie Adams.
Recording information: Kingsway, New Orleans, LA (10/2003); Small Festival Balls (10/2003); Wire Recording, Austin, TX (10/2003).
Photographer: Traci Goudie.
Impossible Dream retains the intimate, "live" recording quality of 2002's 1,000 Kisses, especially on tracks like "Florida," where you can almost smell the cigarette smoke Patty Griffin sings about. But it also emits a melancholy signal from somewhere deeper than live, a hazy place lined with the shelves of memory. "Mother of God" and "Kite" are spare, piano-led pieces recalling a life's decisions or a child's emotions on a single summer day. Griffin's gorgeous vocals make their atmosphere touchable. But Impossible Dream also benefits from the production of Austin pal Craig Ross. He deftly clarifies the album's stylistic contours, but is careful to cultivate them inside the album's overall pensiveness. "Standing" is a deconstructed gospel number that sidles into something a little more sultry, while "Love Throw a Line" starts Impossible Dream with a slight Texas shuffle. Guests like guitarist Doug Lancio and Emmylou Harris and Buddy and Julie Miller -- who contributed supporting vocals throughout -- also help shade the album's more robust material. Harris seems like Griffin's vocal muse for the folk build of "Useless Desires," which includes some lovely, swirling violin work from Lisa Germano. "Say goodbye to the old street that never cared much for you anyway," Griffin sings in bittersweet farewell to a hometown. And then, a little prescient joke. "Weekend Edition has this town way overrated." Germano returns for the quietly intense relationship meditation "Top of the World." As the song fades from its aching climax, it's replaced by a scratchy kitchen table recording of "Impossible Dream," performed with TLC by Griffin's parents. The moment intensifies the feeling that this LP is Griffin's greatest journey of personal reflection. Her memories, longing, regrets, and desires define an album that's as listenable as it is meaningful. ~ Johnny Loftus
Expanding on her 2002 all-acoustic outing, 1000 KISSES, Patty Griffin delivers a stellar, full-band sound on her masterful fourth album, IMPOSSIBLE DREAM. With support from producer/guitarist Craig Ross, as well as guest vocalists Buddy and Julie Miller and Emmylou Harris, Griffin serves up a hearty mix of Americana-flavored fare marinated in organic ambiance. Possessing a voice with a slight twang, reminiscent of Iris DeMent, Griffin belies her Boston roots with a wealth of Southern-flavored songs that include "Standing," a goose-bump-inducing tune with gospel overtones, and "Useless Desires," a high-lonesome tale with fiddle accompaniment by Lisa Germano. Diehard Griffin fans will be pleased to finally see the studio version of longtime concert favorite "Florida" and a handful of tracks inexplicably rejected by her prior label. Foremost among them is the seven-minute epic "Mother of God," a gorgeous, piano-laced composition that threads memories together in a manner that shifts the mood from melancholy to bright hope.Entertainment Weekly (No. 761, p.83) - "[Griffin] makes even gloomy folk ravishing." - Rating: B+
Uncut (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A] gem, full of wonderfully direct narrative songs in a classic folk-country-rock vein, plus a couple of gospel-tinged numbers."
Dirty Linen (pp.45-6) - "[T]he production is rich and crisp - a perfect setting for what may be Griffin's most poignant, exquisite set of tunes yet."