October Road - James Taylor (Popular) > Reviews > Taylor is Terrific

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Great CD, new tunes which are just as great as the old ones !
Disadvantages:	A couple of more boring tracks slipped in there .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Where to start......... I am a big fan. James Taylor's music is all great! Though there are obviously going to be better albums than others. The best by far is Sweet Baby James, so if you're looking for where to start, start there. However, this is a contender. Just because he's not in the hight of youth does not stop James from producing a great album which is even better (in my opinion) than the highly acclaimed "Hourglass", the previous album.

This album starts with the classic Jam"es Taylor fingerpicking technique and great songwrting of October Road" which has got to be the best song of the album. "September Grass" is not far off though the cover "Mean Old Man" is less of my cup of tea.

I'd say that this album ranks around fifth in my Taylor Collection. Preceed by "Sweet Baby James", "Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon", "JT" and "In the Pocket". If it had to draw in terms of greatness (If that made any sense) it would probably tie with "Walking Man".

I you're a new fan, you might prefer "Sweet Baby James", "Mud Slide Slim" or the greatest hits, though I would still recommend this CD alot! It's most suited to a collector and fan who has around 3 or 4 albums.

Overall, a great CD which is a little more upbeat than some recents CDs. Very much recommened.