THE USE OF ASHES

1. "The Jeweler" (2:48) interesting lyrics but I am not a fan of this voice--and it's not just his lisp: it's his 'fragile' vibrato warble. I feel the influence/style of Jacques Brel in this song. (8.75/10)

2. "From the Movie of the Same Name" (2:21) an instrumental (despite multi-voiced vocalise throughout) sounds so 1960s (especially the recording and the presence of harpsichord). (4.333/5)

3. "Rocket Man" (3:06) beautiful compositional arrangement is detracted for the murky sound rendering.(8.75/10)

4. "God Save the Child" (3:08) an obviously emotional song is diminished by the dated quality of its sound. (8.66667/10)

5. "Song About a Rose" (2:21) (4.25/5)

6. "Tell Me Why" (3:43) gorgeous melodies with the wonderful Latin arrangement. By far my favorite song on the album. (10/10)

7. "Margery" (3:03) the worst recording of Tom's voice on the album--and not even a very good performance. Even the song and instrumental construction is poor. (8.3333/10)

8. "The Old Man" (3:16) another song that just overreaches: it feels so dated and naïve--especially in its design. (8.4/10) 9. "Riegal" (3:13) the highlight here, for me, is the appearance/presence of Tom's wife, Elisabeth in the lead vocalist role while Tom serves as the harmonizing background vocalist. The interplay is charming! Too bad it's not more interesting musically and melodically. (8.6667/10)

10. "When the War Began" (5:07) Another song that conjures up Jacques Brel comparisons--for its subject matter, treatment of its subject matter, tired, plaintive vocal delivery and very simple arrangement of its musical accompaniment. (8.666710)

Total time: 32:06

The sound engineering on this one is, sadly, murky--which detracts from the lovely multi-layered orchestra-laden arrangements throughout. Though I appreciate Tom Rapp's lyrical and compositional genius, I am not a fan of his voice. It's just a tad better than that of Richard Harris--and it's recorded poorly. Many of the songs just seem so affected and clichéd.

B/four stars; a nice listening experience for any Prog Folk-loving music collector but not really something I highly recommend as an addition to one's album collection. In fact, despite my high marks for its song-crafting, I would definitely categorize this as "good, but non-essential."

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