Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Thursday September 2

I get the impression that all those people who fell in love with White Ladder didn’t buy any of Mr. Gray’s later albums. They’re missing out.

The later records have more “real” instrumentation instead of the drum machines (all those copies of White Ladder he sold allow him to hire real musicians he couldn’t afford before, presumably). So the music sounds less ghetto, but is also not quite as endearing, since it loses some of its uniqueness in the process.

I love the sad undertone to all the songs on Life In Slow Motion; poignant, but never depressing. Also, I enjoy how he writes songs that could be addressing a lover, friend, parent, or child (see Ain’t No Love); one can hear the message in any number of ways upon repeated listens.