Blogcritics Author: Donald Gibson

Music Review: Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: The Bootleg Series, Volume 8 [Rare and Unreleased, 1989-2006]

Donald Gibson — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:26:56 EST

More than just an album, Tell Tale Signs is a revelation.
As the music released over the past twelve months is assessed, Bob Dylan’s Tell Tale Signs invariably emerges as one of the best albums of 2008. You won’t get any argument here that it ranks among the finest (if not the overall best) music released this year. Regarding it within the context of an album, though, strikes this writer as a...

Music DVD Review: Elton John - Tantrums & Tiaras

Donald Gibson — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:48:31 EST

Officially released on DVD, the film renders the conflicting realities of one of music�s enduring legends.
Unlike a lot of superstars, Elton John recognizes the contradictions between his admittedly insular, extravagant lifestyle and the comparatively average ones most others lead. So when in 1995 he allowed his partner, David Furnish, to record his day-to-day activities for a documentary, he likely knew that such unrestricted access would cast him in a...

Concert Review: Ray Davies with Locksley, 11/28/08 at Tampa Theatre, Tampa, FL

Donald Gibson — Mon, 1 Dec 2008 01:39:46 EST

Davies may very well be the Kinks� biggest fan. And who could blame him?
Ray Davies may very well be the Kinks’ biggest fan. Who could blame him, really, considering the catalog he gets to choose from in concert. That its songs derive from his pen doesn’t seem to humble the man in the slightest; to the contrary, such only adds to his pride in playing them. The audience inside the Tampa Theatre on Friday...

Music Review: Sheryl Crow - Home For Christmas

Donald Gibson — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:54:37 EST

Crow offers a worthy addition to any holiday music collection.
In past years, Sheryl Crow has contributed select performances to various holiday music compilations, most notably to the Special Olympics benefit series, A Very Special Christmas. This year, she has released her first full-length holiday album, Home For Christmas, which is available exclusively from Hallmark. Covering nine yuletide standards as...

Music Review: Beyonce - I Am... Sasha Fierce [Deluxe Edition]

Donald Gibson — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:06:44 EST

Beyonce is at her most creatively daring to date.
For all of the images introduced in various aliases or alter egos in the rock ‘n’ roll era — from David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust to Chan Marshall as Cat Power — what has ultimately mattered most is not so much a name as the quality of the music such personas represent.As for Beyonce, who on her latest album assumes the...

Music Review: Lucinda Williams - Little Honey

Donald Gibson — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:00:14 EDT

Williams renders a poignant, unvarnished portrait of someone just trying to emotionally survive in this world.
Even when she writes a happy song, Lucinda Williams can’t help but sing it as if she’s lived too long in the throes of sadness. It’s a signet of her sound, intuitively ingrained and imparted in her voice’s weathered drawl.So when she declares, “I’ve found the love I’ve been looking for/ It’s a real...

Music Review: Todd Rundgren - Arena

Donald Gibson — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:33:02 EDT

Rundgren rocks out with focus, consistency, and no shortage of testosterone.
Todd Rundgren is kind of like a Mensa member who gets inadvertently enrolled in remedial math. His expertise in the studio is so copious and his musical styles so varied that creating a pop or rock record has sometimes made him sound artistically stifled, sporadic, or flat-out bored. While he’s demonstrated time and again that he can dabble...

Music Review: Otis Redding - Live in London and Paris

Donald Gibson — Tue, 7 Oct 2008 12:35:27 EDT

With the Big O, you simply can�t have too much of a good thing.
Less than three months before his exultant appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival – and just nine months prior to his tragic death – Otis Redding toured Europe in the spring of 1967 as part of the Stax/Volt Revue, treating rapt audiences to his firebrand expressions of soul.Headlining a roster that included Sam & Dave, Carla...

Music Review: U2 - Under A Blood Red Sky (Remastered)

Donald Gibson — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:03:22 EDT

If the reissue is nothing but a duplicate of the original version, then what�s the point?
In reissuing a classic album – especially one still in print – the intent is to present the work in a fresh perspective. Usually that entails including previously unreleased material, like demos or outtakes or live cuts, which puts the album proper into sharper context. If the reissue is nothing but a duplicate of the original version,...

An Interview With Sonya Kitchell

Donald Gibson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:06:51 EDT

"It�s very important for me that songs make people feel."
Only when the topic turns to guys and their heartbreaking ways does Sonya Kitchell sound like any other nineteen-year-old girl. In all other respects, the Massachusetts-native singer/songwriter conveys a sense of purpose and self-awareness that belies her youth.She evoked aspects of that sophistication on her eloquent 2006 debut, Words Came Back To...