Country-folk singer/songwriter Fred J. Eaglesmith was one of nine children born to a farming family in rural southern Ontario. Often employing his difficult upbringing as raw material for his heartland narratives, he issued his self-titled debut LP in 1980. Eaglesmith gradually became an underground favorite in his native Canada, thanks largely to a relentless touring schedule.
L**G
Run Against the Sky
Fred Eaglesmith's "Tambourine" is a great addition to this masterful singer's long catalog. The opening track "What It Takes" delivers a strong vocal performance with Fred's voice urgent to the point of desperation plus a lovely melody and lyric, "I'll face the wind; I'll fight the rain just to hold you in my arms again; I'll run against the sky until it breaks." "Can't Dance" has a retro feel with a bass line not too far off from "Secret Agent Man" and Fred's vocals celebrating the joy of performance, "I love my electric guitar; I love when I play it way too loud." "Nobody Gets Everything" rocks to a midtempo beat with Scott Merritt's keyboards deliciously framing the melody, "Nobody gets everything; and I guess I don't get you." "Sally Green" slowly burns about a guy in love with an unfaithful girl. "Tambourine" is a strong set by one of Canada's best. Enjoy!
M**S
BEST IN A WHILE
Perhaps my favorite Fred album is Lipstick, Lies....... next to that is 50 Odd Dollars, I like Fred best when herocks although I do love some of his aching ballads--Your Sister Cried etc. Some of his recent albumsdid not quite live up to those stellar albums but Fred still gets an A for not stagnating--Tinderbox soundeda bit like he was trying too hard to be Tom Waits as a country preacher, still not a "bad" album and6 Volts had a few great moments like the Johnny Cash song and that murder ballad Katie(?),but even with it's more "garage-y" sound it did not overcome the repetition of some of the songs soundingtoo much like songs from Drive In Movie and Millie's Cafe--again not a "bad" album.Cha Cha Cha is for my tastes the best of his recent work, an album that will get under your skinif you listen to it for a while and I find Tambourine to be along those lines, some great rockers, good balladsand a few soul songs for good measure. What Fred has done on this outing is to take the more "garage"aspects of 6 Volts and fuse them with the great song writing of Cha Cha Cha to create a new variation onFred at his best (imho). The song Train Wreck has become my new favorite FE song and other standoutsare whip A Dog, Engineer (do I detect a train theme running through Mr. Eaglesmith's songs? Duh!) andSally Green--but all the songs are keepers. Perhaps this CD will not break enough ground for someFred-Heads but this one is happy with it.
R**N
so I don't recommend you to rely heavily on my comments
I've only listened to this cd through random play with other recently purchased cds, so I don't recommend you to rely heavily on my comments. But the songs I've heard, and I'm not sure that I've heard them all, have been pretty much what I expect from Fred......if it's possible to expect anything in particular from Fred. Generally, I start liking his music more, the more I listen.
S**Y
Fred Eaglesmith Keeps Cranking Out Good Music
I recently caught a Fred Eaglesmith show and loved his new songs, so got the album. It's a great mix of Fred's rock'n roll guitar licks and some softer songs. Fred can write a song about the simplest things in life and make it a song you play over and over again. He's got that talent and it's evident on this album.
P**I
One of Fred's best.
Great record, not that Fred makes many bad ones. I actually like it better than 6 Volts - though that was great - and it continues in a similar lo-fi feel. Tell the Engineer (his second song with the name, and probably his twentieth involving trains) is an absolutely brilliant tune. If Fred was from Jersey instead of Ontario he would be as big as Bruce Springsteen.
G**D
Tambourine Shakes Up Americana Scene
Really love Fred...Great song writer and fun to see live...New CD seems to span a number of decades in it's style and flavor.
F**E
Fred goes soul.
I "found" Fred Eaglesmith wit "Lipstick, Lies and Gasoline" and have rarely been disappointed by him. This is Fred's soul album and while he'll never be mistaken for Marvin Gaye, think more Dan Penn and you're in the ball park. There's not a bad song on this album and it's worth anyone's money. Just wonderful.
J**Y
Excellent follow-up to "6 Volts"
I saw Fred in concert two nights ago and picked up a copy of "Tambourine" after the show. I've only had a chance to listen to it twice, but absolutely love it. I like "6 Volts" better, but his new one is excellent as well. It has a similar "low tech" (not quite lo-fi) feel it as his previous CD, lots of reverb on the guitar. If you like Fred Eaglesmith, this one is very much worthwhile picking up.
T**2
Great album Freddy.
Great album again Fred. Thank you v much
S**3
Fred Heads in the Right Direction.
Another wonderful Fred Eaglesmith album. A gritty, raw performance of great songs. This guy is definitely one of the best.
N**T
Four Stars
Everything went as espected.
D**S
Four Stars
You can never go wrong with more Fred.
User
Five Stars
great find and great service
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