Breakaway Angel

by

Nils Lofgren

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Nils Lofgren new album 'Break Away Angel' is a masterpiece in waiting. The muscianship on this album is supurb and along with the production make this an instant classic. Although not as heavy as his last album 'Damaged Goods', 'Breakaway Angel' has better crafted songs and a better atmosphere to it. Songs like 'I Found You', 'Tears Ain't Enough' and 'Without You' are songs you could class as being radio friendly, whilst songs like 'Driftin Man', 'Cryin Tonight' and 'Open Road' would be great in a live setting, especially in an acoustic form. 'Open Road' is very reminscent of the work Bruce Springsteen undertook on Nebraska, not only stylistically, but also in the production of it. Of the ballads 'Heavens Answer To Blue' could also be a hit at the moment as it is very similar to Dianna Kraull's 'Cry Me A River'. The lyrics on 'Break Away Angel' are full of the usual heart and spirit Nils Lofgren is famous for and show a man only getting better at his craft of song writing. Do yourself a favour by buying this album.

This album sounds unlike anything else Nils has ever made, and the results are mixed. He puts aside the electric guitar for the most part and concentrates on his acoustic playing, which is exceptional and makes for a nice change of pace for long-time fans like me. And although Nils mostly plays acoustic, the other instrumentation is quite diverse, employing both electric and acoustic instruments with often-creative approaches. More than half the tracks feature a harp, and no, I don't mean harmonica. The sound is refreshing, and it works wonderfully on the album's best track, the opener "Puttin' Out Fires". But the songwriting is inconsistent, and on several tracks the arrangements are overly sugary, as if he were trying to imitate Dan Fogelberg at his drippiest. Most glaring example: "Love A Child". I liked about half the cuts, but the ones I didn't like, I REALLY didn't like. Highlights include "Crying Tonight" (best soloing on the album), "Driftin' Man", "I Found You", and "Seize Love".