A tale of two halves
3
By Ace Bailey
I picked up this album and popped it into the car on the way home. At first, I was extremely disappointed. The fist half of the album was filled with empty blues tunes. To play the blues effectively, the artist has to put a lot into it. We know that Cray can do this as well as anyone, but I didn't feel that the music was getting it done. When I got to 'Out of Eden,' however, it all changed. Great tune, even though it's quite long. You can tell he was a little more into it than the previous tracks. After that, the rest of the album was great. 'Cry for me baby' returns to the blues, but much more convincingly. 'Far away' and 'Help me forget' are beautiful. 'Renew Blues' leaves you wanting more, but I've come to savor its brevity. 'The twelve year old boy' finishes it off well by returning to the blues themes that he sets out in the less appealing side A.
