| | Ray LaMontagne Trouble CD Ray LaMontagne Discography of CDs
 (14 Customer Reviews)
Every once in a while a singer/songwriter comes down the pike in the grand emotive tradition of Neil Young and Van Morrison. In the early 2000s, the quietly intense folk of Iron & Wine and the rootsy-experimental stylings of Sufjan Stevens continued that lineage. Ray LaMontagne, whose impressive 2004 debut, TROUBLE, draws on alt-country, roots rock, and progressive folk in a unique, strikingly sincere way, seems a likely candidate for the keeper of the flame.
The title track, which opens the album, introduces LaMontagne's deeply textured singing. Simultaneously raw, lilting, and expansive, LaMontagne's voice bristles with emotion, and immediately commands the listener's attention. Though the instrumentation on the album rarely changes--strummed acoustic guitar, tasteful string arrangements, bass, drums, and electric guitar for accents--the moods shift subtly from song to song. "Burn" is harrowingly intimate and hushed, while "How Come" works a shuffling groove and "Hold You in My Arms" has a wistful, waltz-like feel. LaMontagne's lyrics, strong on narrative detail and vivid imagery, are the crowning touch on these moving songs of love and loss. TROUBLE is so well realized, in fact, that it sometimes belies the truth that this is the artist's first effort.
Recording information: Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA.
Illustrator: Jason Holley.
Personnel: Ray LaMontagne (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Ray LaMontagne; Roger Wilke, Roger Wilkie (violin); Ethan Johns (guitar, piano, harmonium, bass guitar, drums, percussion); Mark Robertson , Julie Gigante, Phillipe Levy (violin); David Low (cello).
Audio Mixer: Ethan Johns.
Rolling Stone (p.177) - 3 stars out of 5 - "It has a dusky ambience that highlights his sandpaper croon and suggests songful possibility."
Uncut (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[Q]uietly magnificent."
Uncut (p.75) - Ranked #14 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "[A] gloriously uncontaminated record..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.96) - 3 stars out of 5 - "LaMontagne is blessed with a wood-smoky Paul Rodgers-meets-Norah Jones delivery, oozing the rough-hewn sensitivity of mid-'70s Marlboro ads and Kris Kristofferson movies....He's something special indeed." Ray LaMontagne Trouble Songs Trouble Music Review Average Rating: (4.6 out of 5 stars)   List All Reviews Quirky, soulful and unique.
I can't wait for his next album...
Submitted by anthonycascio (alameda, ca) 
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MUST HAVE!
Unaffected, true, moving, honest, truthful, heartfelt, each time you hear this album you will feel something in your soul. The most true album I have ever heard.
Submitted by Julie (Bay Area, California)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  HEART CAPTURING!!
This is just beautiful...his voice and his lyrics. It is much better than the album "till the sun turns black". I absolutely love this album. Its something to relax to and smile about...
Submitted by mandy (Littleton,CO)
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 Troubling but orth the effort
I istened to the first three tracks & you'll loved them all. The rest are amixed bag. Overall the album is an excellent 1st outing. His voice is amazing, the songs almost seeming to lack structure, everything being dictated by his voice & phrasing
Submitted by Andy (Newton Abbot, Devon, England)
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Different and refreshing
Will see ray live on friday the 26th of jan -07, brilliant and refreshing to say the least, cant wait, nothing further that i can add!
Submitted by aj (Liverpool)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No List All Reviews | Have you heard this album? |  |
Purchase Trouble CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | VH1 Presents The Corrs Live In Dublin CD (2002)
Trouble
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This audio document of The Corrs' Dublin homecoming concert has pretty much everything fans of Irish pop could wish for, including an appearance from Bono in his earthly incarnation, fresh from an audience with President George W. Bush. It's to the band's credit that the charismatic singer fails to steal the show, despite creditable efforts via an anthemized version of Ryan Adams' beautifully downtempo "When ...
| | Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning CD (2005)
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In early 2005, young indie icon Conor Oberst (AKA Bright Eyes) unveiled two full-length albums--I'M WIDE AWAKE, IT'S MORNING and DIGITAL ASH IN A DIGITAL URN. Whereas the latter proved to be a departure into electronic music, the former sticks to Oberst's established sound, which combines the urgency and heart-on-the-sleeve sentiment of emo-rock with twangy, down-home feel of alt-country and folk music.
I'M WIDE AWAKE begins with Oberst telling a story that morphs into "At the Bottom of Everything," a jangly, upbeat tune featuring My Morning Jacket's Jim James on backing vocals. Throughout the record, Oberst reaches ...
| | Amos Lee CD (2005)
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There's no denying that Norah Jones's name is thrown around a lot regarding her labelmate Amos Lee's Blue Note debut. Lee gained renown through touring with her, and Jones and her band are heard lending a hand on the album. Other than a tendency to keep things on the quiet side, though, the comparisons pretty much stop there. Where Jones's piano-based music draws heavily from her love of jazz standards, Lee is another story altogether. His combination of low-key folk-rock and old-school R&B positions him as something of a Bill Withers for the 21st century. Indeed, his silky/soulful voice and emotive, acoustic-guitar-based songs reveal a strong ...
| | John Prine Fair & Square CD (2005) Bonus Tracks
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FAIR & SQUARE's release was highly anticipated by John Prine fans, as the veteran singer/songwriter hadn't recorded an album of new songs in 10 years (the preceding IN SPITE OF OURSELVES was mostly cover tunes). Happily for both Prine and his contingent, FAIR & SQUARE represents that most coveted of phenomena, the Return to Form. Though 1995's LOST DOGS & MIXED BLESSINGS was not without its virtues, some tracks were marred by overproduction. Here, though, the arrangements are scaled back down to Prine's ...
| | Ray LaMontagne Till The Sun Turns Black CD (2006)
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| | Ray LaMontagne Gossip In The Grain CD (2008)
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| | Kalan Porter 219 Days CD (2005) Import
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| | Nils Lofgren Favorites 1990-2005 CD (2005)
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Nils Lofgren is a demon guitar player and he can knock out a good song every once in a while, although he's always shone brightest backing up the likes of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen. Favorites 1990-2005 is primarily drawn from Lofgren's two studio albums for Rykodisc, 1991's Silver Lining and 1992's Crooked Line, with some live tracks and unreleased demos filling out the set, and although the songs are of variable quality and Lofgren isn't an especially commanding singer on the evidence here, there a lot of great guitar playing on this disc. Only a fool would argue against Nils Lofgren's talent, and Favorites 1990-2005 makes it clear that his greatest gift is as a guitarist. ~ Mark Deming
Ever since the Beatles first gave folks the idea that a rock star is supposed to be able to sing, play, and write songs with equal skill, fans have expected musicians to be all-purpose point men (or women), but the sad truth is that not every talented person in rock & roll was cut out to be a bandleader. Nils Lofgren is a good example of this notion in action; Lofgren is a demon guitar player and he can knock out a good song every once in a while, but his singing is OK though not great and a long, hard look at his body of work confirms that he's always shone brighter backing up the likes of Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen than he has by his lonesome. Favorites 1990-2005 is primarily drawn from Lofgren's two studio albums for Rykodisc, 1991's Silver Lining and 1992's Crooked Line, with some live tracks and unreleased demos filling out the set, and ...
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| | Jesus Lizard Liar CD (1992) Bonus Tracks; Reissue; Remastered; Deluxe Edition; Digipak
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Imagine the musical equivalent of being scraped across the face with a broken bottle and liking it. Such is the Jesus Lizard's sound. The band's 1991 sophomore album is a study in how musical precision and unhinged aggression took punk to a new level, simultaneously elevating and obliterating all that came before it. The musical trio of Duane Denison, Mac McNeilly, and David Simms were capable of switching from one breakneck riff to another ("Boilermaker"), while at the same time recognizing the almighty ...
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