hildy89 | They used to tell me I was building a dream... (Reply)

So I finished listening to "American Anthem", Gunn's debut recital album. Maybe it's those darned pop sensibilities but I much preferred the music of "Just Before Sunrise". This one was backed by a simple piano arrangement and focuses on American music of various stripes. The disk starts strong with traditional songs like "Shenandoah" and the Depression-era classic "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" and then wavers a little. Gene Scheer contribues four more songs, including the upbeat (and a little silly) "At Howard Hawks' House" and the blatantly patriotic "American Anthem". The second half of the cd switches to the more spiritual influence of American music. Like "Just Before Sunrise", I liked parts of the cd, but not the whole one. I don't think it showed Gunn's voice to full effect, although it sounded deeper in this cd. His voice sounded warmer in "Just Before Sunrise". The albums were recorded about eight years apart, which may account for some of it.

As Hildy in "On the Town" would say, at least I'm getting my culture...