フォーマット |
CD |
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構成数 |
1 |
国内/輸入 |
輸入 (アメリカ盤) |
パッケージ仕様 |
- |
発売日 |
2017年04月28日 |
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規格品番 |
88985415732 |
レーベル |
|
SKU |
889854157326 |
カントリーをベースにクロスオーバーな活動を続け、多くのミュージシャンから尊敬を集めるシンガー・ソングライター、ウィリー・ネルソン。先ごろ発表された第59回グラミー賞では、2016年2月にリリースした『Summertime: Wille Nelson Sings Gershwin』で"最優秀トラディショナル・ポップ・ヴォーカル・アルバム賞"を受賞した。新作は、84回目の誕生日(4月29日)に合わせて発売される。アメリカの新大統領就任に触発されて書いたと思われる「Delete And Fastforward」、彼が死亡したという偽ニュースがネットで飛び交ったがそれへの回答「Still Not Dead」等、毒気や皮肉をユーモラスに歌い綴る作品を収録。タイトル曲に他界したレオン・ラッセル(最後の録音作品か?)が、ヴォーカルで参加し味わい深い出来となった。あらゆることの美しさや不条理に驚嘆しながら、死すべき運命を思索した素晴らしいアルバムが完成した。
構成数 | 1枚
合計収録時間 | 00:44:28
Personnel: Tony Joe White (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica); Bobby Terry (acoustic guitar, steel guitar); Buddy Cannon (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Ben Haggard (electric guitar, background vocals); James Mitchell (electric guitar); Mickey Raphael (harmonica, Jew's harp); Jim "Moose" Brown (piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Wurlitzer organ, synthesizer); Kevin Grantt, Barry Bales (upright bass); Fred Eltringham (drums, tambourine, percussion); Lonnie Wilson (drums); Alison Krauss, Melonie Cannon, Jamey Johnson (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Tony Castle. Recording information: Big Gassed Studio, Nashville, TN; Blackbird Recording Studios, Nashville, TN; Curb Studio B, Nashville, TN; Paia Town Recording Studio, Maui, HI; Pedernales Studio, Austin, TX; Sound Emporium Recording Studios, Nashville, TN; Sound Stage Studios, Nashville, TN; The Moose Lodge, Goodlettsville, TN. Photographer: James Minchin. Mortality hangs over God's Problem Child, Willie Nelson's first solo album of original songs since 2014's Band of Brothers. Since that record, Willie lost several friends and he's also been the subject of several death hoaxes, a subject he tackles with a grin on "Still Not Dead," one of seven originals Nelson co-wrote with his longtime producer, Buddy Cannon. "Still Not Dead" provides a gateway to the rest of God's Problem Child, where Willie looks at the world with a blend of bemusement and melancholy suiting a road warrior who is still going strong in his eighties. Nelson is in better voice than he was in 2016, when he released two tribute LPs, and his band has a relaxed gait that harks back to his classic outlaw records of the '70s but feels mellowed with age. Not that the album moves slowly. "Little House on the Hill" gets things off with a skip and the record regularly returns to a laid-back groove that's often punctuated by blues, honky tonk ballads, and lazy laments. Whenever Nelson looks at his twilight years, it's either with clear eyes or bemusement: he salutes his friends who have crossed over on the lovely "Old Timer" and admits that "It Gets Easier" when you get older because you can let your feelings fade, but he gets a kick that he's still around to experience it all. His sense of humor remains sharp -- "Delete and Fast Forward" is one of the best expressions of exasperation at the state of the world in the late 2010s -- and his sentiment isn't sticky; he salutes the late Leon Russell by leaving in his old friend's guest vocal on the title track and pays tribute to Merle Haggard with "He Won't Ever Be Gone." All these songs hang together -- they're songs about love, loss, memory, and mistakes -- but God's Problem Child isn't a song cycle, nor is it a major statement. It's simply an uncommonly strong latter-day record from Willie Nelson: there isn't a hint of fussiness and the songs and the performances are so understated, they only seem richer with repeated spins. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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1.[CD]
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1.Little House on the Hill
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2.Old Timer
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3.True Love
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4.Delete and Fast Forward
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5.Woman's Love, A
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6.Your Memory Has a Mind of Its Own
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7.Butterfly
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8.Still Not Dead
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9.God's Problem Child - (featuring Leon Russell/Tony Joe White/Jamey Johnson)
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10.It Gets Easier
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11.Lady Luck
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12.I Made a Mistake
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13.He Won't Ever Be Gone
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間もなく84歳を迎えるウィリーから半年のスパンで新作が到着した。近年はガーシュインやレイ・プライスのカヴァー集が続いていたが、今回はすべて書き下ろし。自身の死亡説が流れたことを受けての"Still Not Dead"やトランプ政権を皮肉ったナンバーほか、彼らしい毒気とユーモアが詰まったロッキンなカントリーを聴かせてくれる。なかでもレオン・ラッセル最期の録音と思われる表題曲のデュエットがダーティーでヤバイ!
bounce (C)赤瀧洋二タワーレコード (vol.402(2017年4月25日発行号)掲載)