Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 12/20/1991
Run Time: 55:07
Bruce Hornsby's hardest-rocking album,
A Night on the Town announces that he is heading into a different direction in its first few notes.
John Mellencamp's producer
Don Gehman gives the sound, especially
John Molo's drums, a feel reminiscent of
Mellencamp's best work. The material here is among
Hornsby's best, and guest players include
Jerry Garcia, tenor saxman
Wayne Shorter, banjo virtuoso
Béla Fleck, vocalist
Shawn Colvin (before she was known), and
jazz bass legend
Charlie Haden. The arrangements still include the mix of synthesized and real percussion, and the trademark piano licks are sprinkled abundantly throughout, but the overall feel is much more
rock & roll than anything before or since. The songs are great, with a political edge to
"Fire on the Cross" and
"Barren Ground." The latter features
Garcia's lead guitar, the former a fine
Shorter sax solo.
"Stander on the Mountain" is a perceptive reflection on a former BMOC, straight out of
Hornsby's own attendance at a high school reunion, and
"Lost Soul" is one of the most profound
ballads he has composed, sung as a duet with
Colvin. The single,
"Across the River," is a powerful look at the pursuit of one's dreams in the face of local naysayers, and the subsequent return to one's hometown with the resultant "I-told-you-so's." With
A Night on the Town,
Bruce Hornsby achieves a mix of mostly up-tempo
rock music, adult lyrical themes, and crisp production values that has seldom been matched by other popular musicians of his generation. Though it only peaked at number 20 (his first two albums had reached the Top Five), it is an artistic high point.
~Jim Newsom, All Music Guide
;)
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