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- Verified Buyer
I loved LIVING WITH THE LAW (1991), but I never did find another good Chris Whitley album until now. The two albums sound very different, but the common thread is Whitley's powerful voice, guitar, and vision. ROCKET HOUSE is the more optimistic of the two, with plenty of up-tempo numbers.Wow, this isn't just good, it's great! It seems to me that I read reviews of it when it came out in 2001 that were unimpressed with the electronics in the mix, and I gave it a pass. The only good thing when that happens with a good album is that you get to discover it later.I now declare this to be the Best Album of 2001. It is a strong set of songs, with standout tracks that include "Say Goodbye to Yesterday" and "Something Shines." DG Logic adds "turntables and electronic abstraction" to the basic band of Whitley on vocals, guitars, synth guitars, banjo and synth bass; producer Tony Mangurian on drums, bass, guitar, processing & programming; and Stephen Barber on keyboards, piano, synth bass, percussion, jaw harp, and programming. Whitley's daughter Trixie sings on "Chain" and "Serve You." Dave Matthews and Bruce Hornsby make appearances on the excellent ballad, "Radar."I find only a couple of places where the electronics go overboard, on the endings of "Solid Iron Heart," with something that sounds like ducks quacking, and "Something Shines" (before it kicks back in as a sort of hidden track), with what sounds like a loop of a processed sax lick. The graphic design is excellent, and I am particularly happy that the foldout insert includes all the lyrics.Chris Whitley is gone -- he died in 2005 at the age of 45. But he leaves us with some great music. Here's a line from "Say Goodbye":"You can kiss the past so longSay goodbye - it's already gone.Don't let these changes run you round,who could know tomorrow...Say goodbye and don't look down,just say goodbye to yesterday.All will be released,yesterday's deceased,all will be revealed,let yourself to feel."
