friday, february 1, 2008
Review: Brother Dan Palmer -
Nothin' Better Than This
Nothin' Better Than This
Brother Dan Palmer - Nothin' Better Than This
Listening to Nothin' Better Than This is like sitting down to a drink with an old friend you haven't seen in a few years. By the end of the CD you'll feel like you've known Brother Dan Palmer forever, and you wonder where the time went.
A veteran singer/songwriter who's seen the wars, Brother Dan boasts a songbook of over 1,000 cover tunes that he has acquired over the years. On Nothin' Better Than This he offers up ten original songs that deserve your attention. The songwriting is honest and clean, and there are few finer guitar players out there.
Brother Dan is difficult to pigeonhole. There are times he reminds me of Trout Fishing in America, such as on "Meant For You", but comparisons to the like of James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg are not out of the question.
Listening to Nothin' Better Than This is like sitting down to a drink with an old friend you haven't seen in a few years. By the end of the CD you'll feel like you've known Brother Dan Palmer forever, and you wonder where the time went.
A veteran singer/songwriter who's seen the wars, Brother Dan boasts a songbook of over 1,000 cover tunes that he has acquired over the years. On Nothin' Better Than This he offers up ten original songs that deserve your attention. The songwriting is honest and clean, and there are few finer guitar players out there.
Brother Dan is difficult to pigeonhole. There are times he reminds me of Trout Fishing in America, such as on "Meant For You", but comparisons to the like of James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg are not out of the question.
A prime example is "He Said Nothin'"; a rueful remembrance of how fear of loss can become self-fulfilling, and is this reviewer's favorite song on the album.
Brother Dan holds nothing back, as displayed on tunes like "Time Keeps Tickin' Away", and "Out the Door". The latter is a comical confrontation of a former lover/spouse who insists on drawing mutual friends into the maelstrom of personal attacks that can accompany a relationship post-mortem. This is how Brother Dan closes out the album, with a wink, a nod, and a kick in the pants.
Don't pass Brother Dan by. You'll probably never hear him on top-40 radio, but that says more about the sorry state of radio than about this fine recording.
Rating: Buy it Now!
Brother Dan holds nothing back, as displayed on tunes like "Time Keeps Tickin' Away", and "Out the Door". The latter is a comical confrontation of a former lover/spouse who insists on drawing mutual friends into the maelstrom of personal attacks that can accompany a relationship post-mortem. This is how Brother Dan closes out the album, with a wink, a nod, and a kick in the pants.
Don't pass Brother Dan by. You'll probably never hear him on top-40 radio, but that says more about the sorry state of radio than about this fine recording.
Rating: Buy it Now!
