Artist: Randy Newman
Album: Harps And Angels
Worth Buying: Yes, every song is good.
Tell Me More: So many are the artists whose work I've heard about, but whose music I've never really heard (aside from their radio hits). Such was the case for me with Randy Newman. I was certainly aware of his reputation as a singer songwriter. I had read about his incisive and unaplogetic sense of wit and satire. I was also aware of his other very lucrative 2nd career as one of Hollywoods top songwriters.
But in spite of this (and like a lot of other people) for the longest time, my only exposure to Randy Newman as a singer songwriter was through the 3 songs that radio used to play: It's Money That Matters
, I Love L.A., and of course the infamous Short People. I am happy to say that that has changed with Harps and Angels, his first album in ten years. Now that I've heard this album, I am sorry that it took me this long to actually delve past his radio hits.There is a line in one his songs (A Piece Of The Pie
) where he comments on the current growing divide between the rich and the poor. In it he has the frankness and humor to say. The rich are geting richer...I should know. Given that he has this lucrative career as one of Hollywood's top tune smiths, Harps and Angels is not music that he needs to do. It's the music that he wants to do. And that's just one of the many things that makes this album so special.Stylistically most of the songs on the album borrow a lot of from dixieland and jazz but this is just the stylistic foundation upon which the songs are built. Elements of blues, pop and musical theater pop in and out to serve the stories that these songs tell. Randy Newman is 65 years old, and lyrically these songs say and express more than I hear from most of the youngsters out there. This is a man who will not go quietly and who can balance wit, anger, sarcasm and honest sentimentality (sometimes in the same song) with a level of craft that more of those aforementioned youngsters out there could stand to learn a little bit more about. No where is this attention to craft more on display than on the deceptively simple Losing You
. This song is the only song on the album that sounds like it could have fit in with whatever recent Disney/Pixar film that me might be currently writing for without any changes. It's a real gem of a song that deals with regret and loss in a very honest and real way. Since anyone can relate to these feelings the song is smart enough to never be to specific. Is he singing about a lost love that he foolishly let slip from his grasp? or is he singing about a love who passed away? The songs brilliance lies in it's ability to be reinterpreted in numerous ways. On the other side of the coin, there is no way anyone could mis-interpret the lyics to the song Korean Parents, Where he basically lays it on the line about the current American work ethic.What about the packaging? The CD comes in a standard Jewell case but the jewell case does come in a slipcover which is nice since they use additional artwork for the slipcase. There is also a nice lyrics booklet for all the songs which is essential to catch all the nuances that lyrics like this contain.
listen to samples and buy in mp3 format here
CD Format
What if I am not ready to buy the whole album? Try downloading Losing You
. I would be hard pressed to find a better song, so honest in it's feeling about regret and loss that you wont find yourself identifing with it on some level or another.
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