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Never let it be said that Bruce Hornsby has had a predictable career. He very well could have followed one of two paths after his first two albums -- he could have continued turning out heartland rock, or slipped into adult contemporary balladeering. He chose a third path -- a restless, sometimes bewildering, foray into experimentation, heavy on jazz and improvisation; there was a reason he played with the Grateful Dead, after all. This led to a series of records that relied more on instrumentals than songs, culminating in 1998's sprawling double-disc set, Spirit Trail. By that point, only his hardcore fans were still paying attention, but even they could not have predicted the sharp change in direction on its follow-up, 2002's Big Swing Face. Nor could they have been prepared for this -- a record that is heavy on post-electronica beats, filled with drum loops, Pro Tools editing, and dense arrangements. It's not just that the music sounds different: Hornsby himself sings differently. For the first two tracks, it feels like somebody else is singing, so different is the phrasing and timbre of his performance. Though that shock begins to wear off a few tracks into the record, Big Swing Face never stops feeling utterly alien to anybody expecting a typical Bruce Hornsby record, whether it would be the Hornsby of The Way It Is or of Spirit Trail. Which is not to say that it's a bad record, because it's not -- it's very accomplished on its own terms, it succeeds more than the '90s albums where he seemed to drift into new age and, beneath all the busy surface, it boasts the tightest songs he's written in many a moon. It's hard to say who will hear this album -- it's too much of a departure for many of his fans, and it's unlikely to win him new listeners -- but it's some kind of an accomplishment all the same, one of the strangest records of 2002.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - John Seymour, Mixing Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Mixing Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - John Adler, 2nd Engineer
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - McKinley Morganfield, Composer - McKinley Morganfield, Lyricist - John Seymour, Engineer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Doug Derryberry, Guitar - Steve Kimock, Guitar - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - John Adler, 2nd Engineer
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Steve Kimock, Guitar - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Doug Derryberry, Background Vocal - Steve Kimock, Guitar - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass - John Adler, 2nd Engineer
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - John Seymour, Engineer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Arnold Geher, Engineer - David Bendeth, Composer - David Bendeth, Lyricist - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Mixing Engineer - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - Wayne Pooley, Engineer
(P) 2001 RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Wayne Pooley, Vocal - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Speaker - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Vocal - Arnold Geher, Engineer - Bobby Read, Bass Clarinet - John Seymour, Engineer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass - David Bendeth, Drums - David Bendeth, Producer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - John Adler, 2nd Engineer
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Bonny Bonaparte, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Doug Derryberry, Guitar - Joe Lee, Background Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - Jeff Juliano, Mixing Engineer - Arnold Geher, Engineer - John Seymour, Engineer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Michael Baker, Drums - Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Bonny Bonaparte, Drums - Dagle, Mixing Engineer - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - J.T. Thomas, Organ - John Seymour, Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Drums - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - Floyd Hill, Composer - Floyd Hill, Lyricist - Floyd Hill, Vocal
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Wayne Pooley, Engineer - Doug Derryberry, Guitar - Bruce Hornsby, Lyricist - Bruce Hornsby, Performer - Bruce Hornsby, Vocal - Bruce Hornsby, Keyboards - Bruce Hornsby, Composer - Taso Kotsas, Programmer - Jeff Juliano, Engineer - J.V. Collier, Acoustic Bass - Arnold Geher, Engineer - Bobby Read, Bass Clarinet - John Seymour, Engineer - John Seymour, Mixing Engineer - John Adler, 2nd Engineer - David Bendeth, Producer - David Bendeth, Engineer - David Bendeth, Mixing Engineer - David Bendeth, Guitar - David Bendeth, Organ - David Bendeth, Acoustic Bass
(P) 2001 BMG Music
Album review
Never let it be said that Bruce Hornsby has had a predictable career. He very well could have followed one of two paths after his first two albums -- he could have continued turning out heartland rock, or slipped into adult contemporary balladeering. He chose a third path -- a restless, sometimes bewildering, foray into experimentation, heavy on jazz and improvisation; there was a reason he played with the Grateful Dead, after all. This led to a series of records that relied more on instrumentals than songs, culminating in 1998's sprawling double-disc set, Spirit Trail. By that point, only his hardcore fans were still paying attention, but even they could not have predicted the sharp change in direction on its follow-up, 2002's Big Swing Face. Nor could they have been prepared for this -- a record that is heavy on post-electronica beats, filled with drum loops, Pro Tools editing, and dense arrangements. It's not just that the music sounds different: Hornsby himself sings differently. For the first two tracks, it feels like somebody else is singing, so different is the phrasing and timbre of his performance. Though that shock begins to wear off a few tracks into the record, Big Swing Face never stops feeling utterly alien to anybody expecting a typical Bruce Hornsby record, whether it would be the Hornsby of The Way It Is or of Spirit Trail. Which is not to say that it's a bad record, because it's not -- it's very accomplished on its own terms, it succeeds more than the '90s albums where he seemed to drift into new age and, beneath all the busy surface, it boasts the tightest songs he's written in many a moon. It's hard to say who will hear this album -- it's too much of a departure for many of his fans, and it's unlikely to win him new listeners -- but it's some kind of an accomplishment all the same, one of the strangest records of 2002.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:45:46
- Main artists: Bruce Hornsby
- Composer: Bruce Hornsby
- Label: RCA Records Label
- Genre: Pop/Rock
(P) 2002 BMG
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