ARTiST: Mark Erelli
ALBUM: Delivered
BiTRATE: 173kbps avg
QUALiTY: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.97 Final / -V2 --vbr-new / 44.100Khz
LABEL: Signature Sounds
GENRE: Folk/Rock
SiZE: 68.55 megs
PLAYTiME: 0h 52min 49sec total
RiP DATE: 2008-10-29
STORE DATE: 2008-09-16
Track List:
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01. Hope Dies Last 6:08
02. Baltimore 4:13
03. Shadowland 4:21
04. Volunteers 5:32
05. Five Beer Moon 4:13
06. Not Alone 5:02
07. Delivered 5:01
08. Man Of The Family 5:58
09. Once 3:51
10. Unravelled 3:19
11. Abraham 5:11
Release Notes:
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No need to read between the lines when singer-songwriter Mark Erelli vents on
"Delivered," railing against politics as usual or the war in Iraq or the Bush
adminstration's bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. The prolific New
England-based tunesmith makes his case with clarity and conviction.
Even listeners who don't share Erelli's views might find it difficult to dismiss
the quality of his songcraft or his ties to the likes of Bob Dylan and Woody
Guthrie. Take "Hope Dies Last," the album's opening track. It's not just a
broadside aimed at "politicians pointing fingers like they always do." The song
also concerns the unfairly distributed human costs of war.
Of course, Erelli isn't always preoccupied with headlines. "Man of the Family,"
a ballad about coming to grips with parenthood, is sentimental, sad and
comforting by turns, while "Abraham" caps the album on a hopeful, spiritual
note. Yet most of the tracks that stand out find Erelli trying to sort things
out, one way or another, occasionally with some success. On "Once," a love song,
he concludes: "The older I become I see it's all related/Pleasures they get more
simple and troubles get more complicated."
Crisply produced by Zack Hickman and accented by a curious assortment of
instruments (lots of guitars, banjo, bass clarinet, pump organ and toy piano,
among others), "Delivered" delivers.