专辑简介

Ollabelle's second album, Riverside Battle Songs, arrives on the heels of 2004's self-titled debut, one of the more celebrated Americana releases of the new millennium. Where the debut album was skewed toward traditional songs with a smattering of originals, Riverside Battle Songs reverses the ratio. Nine of the 13 songs are Ollabelle originals. Namesake Ola Belle Reed's "High on a Mountain" is given a spirited reading, while the familiar spiritual "Down by the Riverside" is updated with ambient touches that recall Daniel Lanois' production work. The Appalachian gospel song "Gone Today" arrives via spine-tingling a cappella singing, departs via a fiddle and Dobro hoedown, and is one of the album's highlights. The originals are more problematic. The mournful "Everything Is Broken" is a starkly lovely ballad, while "Troubles of the World" offers an impressive and surprising raga-tinged coda on what is otherwise a standard gospel song.But Riverside Battle Songs, with slightly weaker material, is The Gospel According to NPR and PBS, and as such it will appeal mostly to fans who like their fire and brimstone diluted with a strong dose of slick professionalism and urbane refinement. Undeniably well crafted and well sung, and occasionally moving, Riverside Battle Songs is nevertheless something of a disappointment.