****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I begin here not knowing how I can give this selection the proper reverence that it truly deserves. Who can tell me what beauty is? Or love? Or any of the elegant traits that you bestow upon us here? Words are used for lack of anything else. The true measure of this music is felt within and varies depending on how much emotion you let yourself feel. Yes, it's that incredible. And, to think it was your first effort. What a blessing that first one was, and still is Dan. The bliss and exhiliration I feel while listening is something I want always in my life. And, I'm sure everyone does. Stunning and beautiful.People should not look for these songs on a greatest hits collection. For they exist here, contained within their own gem-like world unto themselves. Pure and crystalline. Not many knew about you then Dan. I was a fortunate one. But, soon the world came around. How could they not? The music ability was always formidable and would have been recognized. But, what we got as a bonus was your heart. Pouring emotion and hurt, love and regret into your songs. But with a silken tenderness that soothed all our fears.You started out with fine acoustic guitar, soft piano lines and added pedal steel guitar, fiddle, cello to the selections whenever warranted. The landscape embraced the country air and thrived through the seasons. And, throughout it all, you taught us what it was to feel, to be human. We all, sometimes, need to be reminded of that.The first song my newborn son heard was "To the Morning". It probably is my most favorite of yours. The soft anticipation of the dawning of a new day. The grace of the keyboards conveying gradual awakening. This is the magic of nature in music.The delicate regret of seperation in the tender acoustic of "Stars" never falls into melancholy. You mourned but kept the passion. So well done Dan.Your pedal steel ode "More Than Ever" was the musical equivalent to the need for love. Country infused and not a false note.The sadness over the loss of love has never sounded as haunting and angelic as it does in "Be On Your Way". Slow, lilting acoustic and cello composition that eases the hurt. Throughout, you balance everything here. You give us upbeat, country-flavored tunes such as "Long Way Home" and "Anyway I Love You", which shows Nashville at it's finest production. You then, tone it down with the lovely acoustics of "Looking for a Lady" and "Wysteria", portaying the subjects with the correct nuance and feel of your vocals.You finally end with the emotional undertow of "The River". A serious rendering of how are lives are just like that river. We may try to escape it, but it will be with us forever. A journey of discovery. An inevitability. A soft insistence of sound that builds, seduces and engulfs the listener. Masterful.In closing Dan, thank-you for this music. My life certainly would have been poorer in many ways without it. But this, I feel, is your special one. God Bless You.Your own, Metamorpho ;)
