About this CD
- Recording: June - July 2006, Stratosphere Sound, New York, NY
- Release date: January 16, 2007
- Label: Burgundy / Sony
- Catalog number: 85749
- Produced by James Iha, Adam Schlesinger
- Musicians: Gerry Beckley (Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Electric Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, Background Vocals, Harmony Vocals, Wurlitzer), Dewey Bunnell (Acoustic Guitar, Guitar, Electric Guitar, Vocals, Background Vocals, Human Whistle, Snare Drums, Harmony Vocals), James Iha (Acoustic Guitar, Glockenspiel, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals, E-bow, Wind Chimes),Michael Woods (Guitar, Piano, Vocals), Rusty Young (Dobro, Mandolin, Pedal Steel Guitar, Slide Guitar), Matthew Caws (Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Background Vocals), Mark Rozzo (Acoustic Guitar), Jim James (Acoustic Guitar), Ryan Adams (Bass, Electric Guitar), Rich Campbell (Bass, Vocals), Ben Kweller (Harmonica, Piano, Wurlitzer), Russ Kunkel (Drums), Patrick Hallahan (Drums), Willie Leacox (Conga, Drums), Brian Young (Percussion, Drums), Ira Elliot (Percussion), Ronnie Buttacavoli (Flugelhorn)
Pros
- Bunnell's voice sounds much as it did in the old days, which adds to the nostalgia factor.
- The new material stands up well next to their catalog.
- No attempt is made at updating the group's sound, and their more modern covers work as America songs.
Cons
- There's nothing here vital for casual fans who enjoy America's radio hits.
- All the alt-rock worship doesn't mean much, in the end.
My review
And yet, you can sing "Horse With No Name" and "Lonely People" at the drop of a hat, can't you? And you like it. It's okay, we all do.
Yes, it's okay to like the work of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, provided you don't look too far past their expertly-crafted hits, which always put great sound over great craftmanship. And there's a generation (X) of alternative-rock artists who apparently have no problem with it -- folks like the Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha and Fountains of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, both of whom produced this latest studio CD, or Ben Kweller and the members of My Morning Jacket, Nada Surf, and Maplewood, who all contribute songs and/or backing tracks to the project. (Poco's Rusty Young and singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop, lite-rock contemporaries of America's, are in here somewhere as well.)
Worry not, America fans: there's nothing too modern here to disturb the Seventies sensibilities of the group's trademark sound, even as the duo take on an unusually heavy outside load -- four of the dozen songs here were written or co-written by others.
