COWBOY POEMS FREE

4.5 stars. I have the remastered version and I do like the album cover better on this one too. When I first heard about this band several years ago I purchased "The End Is Beautiful" , "As The World" and "MEI" all around the same time. I figured I had a good cross section with these three albums. I started with "As The World" and soon found myself wondering why this band is so popular in the Prog world. It was just a difficult listen for me. Within a month I thought i'd move on to their latest thinking it was probably different, and it was and I loved it. I decided to hold off on "MEI" for fear it sounded like "As The World". In the meantime I became friends with Todd (the RPI guy) who had as his avatar "Cowboy Poems Free" and a five star review of that album. I noticed on other sites that this album wasn't held in as high esteem as "Suffocating The Bloom", "MEI" or "As The World" but knowing that Todd and I have very similar tastes in music I bought it and "Suffocating The Bloom". I reviewed the latter recently and thought it was incredible. "Cowboy Poems Free" is even better.Thanks Todd ! Interesting that the band had a hiatus after "As The World" as they all went off doing their thing in other bands.They returned for this one and promptly made a more accessible, song oriented album.This is powerful but the lyrics are even more powerful. Check out Epignosis' review as he explains really well the theme of this recording. This album just blows me away. It could not be more perfect.

"Texas Dust" opens with percussion before a full sound kicks in quickly. It's uptempo. A calm with vocals a minute in.This is moving stuff. The chorus is gorgeous. It picks up after 4 minutes with some excellent guitar.This is a top three for me. "Poem #1" is a short atmospheric piece. "Human Lottery" kicks in with guitar. Drums before it settles with vocals. It's full again as contrasts continue. Some killer bass and guitar at times. "Gray Flannel Suits" has a catchy beat with vocals. I like when they slow it down before 2 minutes and after 3 minutes. It turns powerful before 4 minutes. Nice. "Poem #2" is another soundscape piece. "High As Pride" features reserved vocals and piano to start as strummed guitar joins in. Drums and organ around 3 minutes.This song seems to get better as it plays out. "American Vacation" has this uptempo instrumental intro which impresses before vocals arrive around a minute. Spoken words before 3 1/2 minutes and a heavier sound follows. "Swingin' The Axe" is a passionate track and it's pretty heavy too.

"1729 Broadway" is another top three for me. Spacey sounds echo as a beat comes in. Vocals follow. Organ before 1 1/2 minutes. A moving track. Guitar 3 minutes in is great then he rips it up after 5 minutes for good measure. It blends into "Poem #3" another mellow piece. "67 Degrees" is the last top three song. Love the keyboard sounds to open. Drums then vocals come in. How good does this sound ! Those keys are back late to end it. Great track. Vocals arrive a minute in on "Brittany". This is such a feel good tune for me. It's right there with the top three. It gets fairly powerful at times. It's a blast. "Poem #4" has these loud percussion sounds and vocals.Cool. "Too Late For Everything" ends it in style. A relaxing but dark and meaningful song.

There are so many lines i'd like to quote from songs here. Just brilliant lyrics. Such a talented band. I see the light.