Cowboy Junkies Album: “Lay It Down”

After THE TRINITY SESSION and BLACK EYED MAN, LAY IT DOWN is,in my opinion, the third Cowboy Junkies CD that deserves the 5 starsmark. Thirteen perfect songs, all composed by Michaël Timmins, inthis album with no weakness. Exit Ken Myhr, welcome guitarist JohnKeane as the fifth Cowboy Junkies. Margo Timmins does have thestrange faculty to keep her melancholic voice through different rythmsas if she was flying over the band music. This is peculiarly patent in" Speaking confidentially " ; the rythm of this song is oneof the quickest adopted by the band until then but Margo Timmin'svoice stays in a slow-motion rock'n roll rythm. Absolutelyamazing. You will also find a curiosity in LAY IT DOWN : twoversions of the same song " Come Calling " , the firstversion is supposed to be uttered by a boy ( though sung by Margo ),the second one being called " Come Calling (her song) ". Agreat moment of music. I listen to this CD at least 10 times a yearsince its release and am not tired of it. It's definitely, if like meyou long for quality bands, a CD for your library.

Peter Timmins may be the most under-appreciated songwriter of his generation. His songs are always graceful, poetic, elegiac contemplation of life, death and love unrequited. He manages to articulate the emotions felt at varying stages of a relationship with gentility and stunning acuity. On this album Timmins isn't just a songwriter he is a poet. The vivid cinematic imagery in "Bea's Song" is almost reminiscent of D.H Lawrence. Margo's voice is its usual seductive blend of smoke and butter-ripple . A voice at once distinctive yet evocative of the best torch singers that came before her. Her delivery is perfect punctuation for the heart-wrenching themes occurring in songs like "Something More Besides You", "Hold on to Me", and "Come Calling." I always felt that her timidity and the reluctance in her voice were the emotional center of Peter's songs. On this album she comes across as a wounded creature brandishing her scars. After "Pale Sun Crescent Moon", Lay It Down I feel is the Junkie's best album. The songs are all little jewels that reveal new and exciting shades and colors on repeat listening. As a songwriter Peter Timmins may not be receiving the accolades he so obviously deserves, but his songs speak to his ability and has an emotional resonance I haven't seen since Dillon.

No one would ever accuse the Cowboy Junkies of being a rock and roll band, but their first album for Geffen Records found them turning the volume up a degree or two. "Lay It Down" is the most electric of the CJ's many records, yet the truly amazing thing is that the band loses absolutely nothing of their original charms. While the music may be a little denser and a touch louder, Margo Timmins never lets the sonics intimidate her subtle manner of singing.

Nowhere is this more evident than "Lay It Down's" best known song, "Common Disaster." Moving at a near pop song clip, the blues bassline and somewhat distorted guitar offer a tasty hook over which Margo sings brother Michael's tale of revenge planning ("I cut the list to one and you're name's on top"). It's one of the strongest songs of the CJ's career. Through the course of the Junkies' albums, one of the most consistent factors has been Michael's writing and "Lay It Down" is no exception. The his and hers versions of "Come Calling" show his love of country irony, and "Bea's Song" is a gorgeous entry that should find its way into someone else's record someday. He is, without question, one of the most underrated songwriters of the past two decades. With "Lay it Down," the second best album from the Cowboy Junkies treasure chest of recordings, he and his band continue to prove why their cult remains as strong as ever.

I bought this album on a whim, after seeing the movie Niagara, Niagara a few times, i bought it because I thought I might like it, I was mistaken.

I don't like this album, I love it. No wait that's a atypical Anglo-Saxon statement that not even a Welshman should make. Look, this album is sincere and unblemished US brilliance, it sounds like country for the intellectual in all of us, the sweet voice and strongly expressive yet subtle voice, the enchanting and straight-forward lyrics, the smart and down-played arrangements. The love and compassion that exudes from this approachable album.

The track "Something More Besides You" is inventive as you can get without being a bore, and it's beautiful and enchanting too.

"Lonely sinking feeling" I think almost all of us wil identify with, the feeling you get when the ground under your feet is taken away.

"Musical Key" is so hi-art, that it's emotions become a part of you.

I love this album so much it's always on my car CD changer.

When a women tells you truths like this, sung like this, arranged like this, all I can do is acknowledge the brilliance of the message and the beauty of the delivery.

I'm well hooked onto the Cowboy Junkies!

Regards,

Martyn R Jones

I bought this CD 5 years ago because I'd heard "Come Calling (His Song)" on the radio a few times and really loved it. I subsequently got into it heavily, playing it hundreds (literally) of times, singing with it after learning the lyrics. It was the only CD I had with no weak songs. Then, somewhere along the line, I lost it, got involved in other things, and forgot about it for a while...long story short, I bought another copy today, and played it as soon as I got home --even more wonderful than I remember! It's like rain after a long drought...no words can possibly do this CD justice...it deserves 6 stars! So much enjoyment for so little money -- no value on earth like it!