Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away...
Slaid Cleaves
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| Name | Artist | Time | Price | ||
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1 |
Cry | Slaid Cleaves | 3:51 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Hard to Believe | Slaid Cleaves | 3:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Beyond Love | Slaid Cleaves | 3:43 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Green Mountains and Me | Slaid Cleaves | 3:44 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Run Jolee Run | Slaid Cleaves | 4:05 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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Dreams | Slaid Cleaves | 4:14 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Black T-Shirt | Slaid Cleaves | 3:14 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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8 |
Tumbleweed Stew | Slaid Cleaves | 3:40 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Twistin' | Slaid Cleaves | 4:40 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Beautiful Thing | Slaid Cleaves | 3:16 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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11 |
Temporary | Slaid Cleaves | 3:02 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 11 Songs |
iTunes Review
Austin-based singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves’ ninth release contains political and topical folk songs that pack a quiet punch. These are well crafted, moving songs about hopes deferred, the death of innocence, and treachery and unfairness on scales both grand and intensely personal, as revealed in such lines as, “Here comes another blown up kid from over there/making the whole world safe for the millionaires.” These are stories about small American towns and their inhabitants, both struggling to survive, delivered in a warm, understated voice that nearly belies the dark themes and words of woe. Backed by a tight yet sparse band that complements the songwriting and adds much to the album’s feel, Cleaves displays a keen lyrical eye for details and a lot of compassion for those who find themselves on the ropes. As promised in the bleak title, these are not happy songs. They’re not hopeless either and that’s part of what makes the album so poignant. In the end, the songs are about people who, despite it all, “somehow still believe in the goodness of man.” Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away is an excellent addition to an already impressive body of work.
Customer Reviews
Devastating album of anguished folk, rock and country
Austin singer-songwriter Slaid Cleaves returns with an album of Americana whose quiet beauty belies lyrics of deep resignation. Just as Springsteen’s anthems can obscure his bite, Cleaves presents his songs with an offhandedness that, on the surface, offsets the despondency of his words. The angst of love’s vulnerability, the political, social and economic polarization of a new gilded age, and the human misery of war are just a few topics that lead Cleaves to close with the fatalistic proscription “live well and learn to die, soon in the dust you’ll lie, with everything you know / Cruel death will not spare, the wise the young or fair, let’s drain this cup of woe.” The album is titled Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, after all. Cleaves sings with a warmth that infuses an element of hope in the crushing blows he delivers. Is there hard-won pain or only a clever couplet in singing “Every man is a myth, every woman a dream / Watch your little heart get crushed when the truth gets in between”? Is there bitterness or repudiation in “Here comes another blown up kid from over there / Making the whole world safe for the millionaires”? Probably a bit of each. The deftness with which he explicates characters in a perfectly framed, heartbreaking moment is breathtaking; he highlights the comfort and torment memories create in a war widow with the lyric, “I lose a little bit of myself with each tear I wipe away,” and captures the humanity of hookers in their attempt to keep warm on a Christmas Eve stroll. Even when singing in the first person, Cleaves is more of an observer than a participant, and when he reports, it’s with a keen eye. His story of an old-time hanging, “Twistin’,” is an uncomfortably business-as-usual outing that connects to a devastatingly modern indictment. His quiet vocal lets the horrors speak for themselves, with corporal drum and moaning fiddle standing as characters. His cover of Ray Bonneville’s “Run Jolee Run” cycles from hunted to hunter and back to hunted, and the romantic of “Dreams” wonders “where do all your dreams go to, when it all starts to turn untrue / what is all your wishing for, when you don’t believe in dreams anymore?” The album winds down with a bitter critique of politicians, global industrialists and sleepwalking media, somehow managing to retain a belief in the goodness of man. The closer, “Temporary,” resigns itself to existential impermanence. The magic of this album is how appealing Cleaves and his producer, Gurf Morlix, make such downbeat material. The arrangements are spare and quiet, the tempos deliberate, and though Cleaves is in his mid-forties, his voice retains a youthful tone that’s slightly scratched at the top end of his range. This is the most absorbing album Cleaves has recorded so far, and a strong contender for album-of-the-year honors. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]
A great work, from an under appreciated artist
"Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away" is my pick for album of the year. It took a while, but to me at least, Slaid has re-found the magic of his earlier "Broke Down" album. Every song on this new collection is a keeper, full of heartfelt emotion, and raw unflinching observation. It baffles me how his music hasn't caught on with "the masses". A very talented singer, and songwriter who deserves more attention than he has recieved. Buy this record, you will not be disappointed...
Moving, soulful, beautiful
Slaid Cleaves is an extraordinary singer/songwriter who manages to honestly reflect deep, dark, meaningful issues in his lyrics while keeping sincerity and hope alive. Guitar is masterful and his voice melodic. Amazing album - best one yet.
Biography
Born: June 9, 1964 in Berwick, ME
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Years Active: '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs By Slaid Cleaves
| Name | Album | Time | Price | ||
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1 |
Drinkin' Days | Wishbones | 4:25 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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2 |
Broke Down | Broke Down | 3:10 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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3 |
Wishbones | Wishbones | 3:27 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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4 |
Horses and Divorces | Wishbones | 3:12 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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5 |
Cry | Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away... | 3:51 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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6 |
Breakfast In Hell | Broke Down | 5:50 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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7 |
Beautiful Thing | Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away... | 3:16 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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8 |
One Good Year | Broke Down | 4:26 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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9 |
Below | Wishbones | 4:57 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
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10 |
Horseshoe Lounge | Brewed In Texas | 3:01 | $0.99 | View In iTunes |
- $8.99
- Genres: Singer/Songwriter, Music, Rock, Country, Americana, Alternative Country, Alternative Folk
- Released: Apr 21, 2009
- ℗ 2009 Music Road
