Black Letter Days

Frank Black & The Catholics - Black Letter Days

Black Letter Days
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CD Details

Artist: Frank Black & The Catholics
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2002-08-20
Music Label: Spin Art
Soundtracks:
  1. The Black Rider
  2. California Bound
  3. Chip Away Boy
  4. Cold Heart of Stone
  5. Black Letter Day
  6. Valentina & Garuda
  7. How You Went so Far
  8. End of Miles
  9. 1826
  10. The Farewell Bend
  11. Southbound Bevy
  12. I will run after you
  13. True Blue
  14. Jane the Queen of Love
  15. Jet Black River
  16. 21 Reasons
  17. Whispering Weeds
  18. Black Rider

Music reviews of Black Letter Days

Music Review: Solo just keeps on getting better with age
Rating: 5 Stars

Ok, I'll admit, I had both Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop a few months before their actual release date (and was first in line the day of their release as well). Truth is, I simply could not wait. I saw Frank perform in Louisville Ky. April 29 (I think that was the correct date), and throughout his long, and might I add, fantastic performance, I heard several songs that were new to me. Turns out those songs were "Cold Heart Of Stone", "21 Reasons", "Black Rider" and a couple more, I think maybe Whiskey In Your Shoes" from DW being one of them. I was totally blown away. "Cold Heart Of Stone" sounded amazing live and "21 Reasons" is one of the best songs ever written IMO. I simply could not wait until Sept. to hear the new material and eventually managed to track down advanced copies of both albums. Upon first listen the songs that totally blew me away were "Chip Away Boy", "Cold Heart Of Stone" and "21 Reasons". I could'nt seem to get over these three songs and I played them over and over.....

After a week or so, I began exploring the other material (and there's a lot of it here, and combined with DW, there's REALLY a lot of material to digest). Like all of Frank's albums, I knew that "Black Letter Days" would only get better and better with age. It was not long before the genius of the title track, "End Of Miles", "Jane the Queen Of Love" (what an amazing song) and "Southbound Bevy" revealed itself. Other tracks ("California Bound", "Jet Black River", "True Blue", "I Will Run After You") slowly crept into the pleasure center of my consciousness as well.

The only complaints I have about BLD is the overlong, monotonous "1826", and the 2nd version of the cover of "Black Rider". Make an exception for those two tracks and you have yourself as close to a perfect album as you're likely to get.

The album as a whole incorporates a very loose, reflective desert mentality. Some of it is quite bitter and angry (the title track, "Cold Heart Of Stone"), while tracks such as "Chip Away Boy" and "End Of Miles" were meant to be played while drivin' out old country roads at night or crusin' through the desert by day. I've heard some reviewers mention that this sounds like a "truck-stop" album. Not in my opinion. Much more like a pure desert-rock album. I've also heard several people mention the "alternative country" tag in relation to this record. Once I again, while there are definite country elements, I disagree. If one considers "Sticky Fingers" era Rolling Stones "alternative country" then so be it, but not I. And BLD makes a definitive nod toward that golden era of that classic band. The musicianship is superb (dear God, I absolutlely LOVE the steel Pedal guitar sound this album employs...sounds amazing), Frank's voice is in top form, and the album is simultaneously polished AND rough around the edges sounding, much the same way the classic 70's Stone's albums were.

Like one of the earlier reviewers stated, Frank could put a new album out every month and I would be the first one in line for it. I personally vote both BLD and DW the best albums of 2002. Unlike so many people seemingly stuck in the past, I don't miss the Pixies one iota, and can honestly say that ever since the first FB record, I've never looked back. Every album Frank has released has bettered anything the Pixies ever did IMO. And the man just keeps getting better and better with age.

Thanks to you Frank for giving the world such wonderful compositions. And please come to Louisville again soon. I promise I'll be the first one in the building just as I was last time.

More Black Letter Days free music reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6

Description of Black Letter Days

"I could make albums all day," boasts the rotund Frank Black in the cover letter accompanying Black Letter Days. He's not kidding. Like fellow '80s post-punk icons Paul Westerberg and Bob Mould, Black has relaxed his production values and become ridiculously prolific. Between this album and the simultaneously released Devil's Workshop, he's pushed out 29 fresh songs, with each session recorded live to a two-track tape amid minimal fuss. Much of the spark that once made the Pixies one of Kurt Cobain's most beloved bands has evaporated. But it has been replaced by an efficient, workmanlike approach that yields the kind of raw, rowdy rockers the Pixies were turning out in their early days. The pedal-steel-swathed "Valentine and Garuda" and brusque country rock of "Jet Black River" provide some of the most satisfying moments of Black's solo years. With a hard-nosed producer and some serious editing, there's no doubt that Black would have another classic album on his hands. In the meantime, Black Letter Days and Devil's Workshop will do. --Aidin Vaziri

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