Trouble - Ray LaMontagne

Advantages: great voice to match a smooth and relaxed vibe
Disadvantages: May be a bit gentle for some listeners

...2004: - his debut album Trouble and the recent follow-up, Till the Sun Turns Back. Ray was born into a musical family in New Hampshire in 1974. His father who though a respected musician proved to have a violent temper showing his force against his children and wife before abandoning them when Ray was still a child. Because of his father's background in music, LaMontagne avoided all things musical instead focusing on reading and enveloping himself ...
...Records. ***Ray's success*** Trouble has sold over 500,000 copies world-wide since its release in 2004 and in 2006 it peaked as ~5 in the UK album charts. Ray's follow up album Till the Sun Turns Black sold 28,000 copies in its first week of release. Ray's credibility as an artist was further confirmed when he was awarded three Boston Music Awards for Trouble in 2005 including Best Male Singer/Songwriter. More awards followed, including accolades ... Read review

Advantages: Ray's voice, use of different song structures
Disadvantages: Has to be listened to with no distractions to fully appreciate

...music. -The Album- Trouble was re-recorded in two weeks at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles. To date it has sold over 400,000 copies worldwide. Trouble The album starts off energetically with acoustic guitar, rolling bass line and drums. Then the best thing about this album hits. Ray's voice lands and melts in your ears. As a songwriter, this is the kind of voice I wish for. Full of soul, and what sounds like more than a few cigarettes (though ...
...song is the phrasing. I still sit back in amazement at the amount of words he sometimes manages to fit into a line. And what a line at the end of the chorus. "I've been saved by a woman". Ain't we all! 'Trouble' is the perfect start to an album, happy with tinges of sadness, and enough to make you listen for more. Shelter 'Shelter' starts off a bit slower in almost a swing beat. Nice introduction, with some good use of seventh chords for a bit ... Read review

Advantages: A great introduction to Ray Lamontagne and a great set of songs.
Disadvantages: none

As written in my review of Till the sun Turns Black, i discovered Ray first on Later with Jools Holland and proceeded to discover Till the Sun Turns Black before working my way backwords to this album Trouble. With my initial reaction to Till the Sun Turns Black (read other review) i had huge expectations for this album. Perhaps it is not as much a complete work as Till the sun turns black it is still a collection of quite wonderful songs. there ...
...some acclaim as singles and as a first release from Ray Lamontagne the album is really a great success. The simple song structure, use of mainly acoustic guitar and drums is complimented perfectly by his gentle voice. songs such as 'Hold you in my arms' and 'Burn' show the depth of beautiful sadness in this mans songwriting. the subject matter of most of the songs being of lost love or lonliness. Others such as 'Jolene', 'Trouble' and 'How Come' ... Read review

Advantages: A classic, brooding album
Disadvantages: Can't think of any!

...Are you a fan of Damien Rice, James Blunt or David Gray? Then this is an album you simply must at least listen to. A modern classic that should be up there with the greats, Van Morrison, Damian Rice's "O" or James Blunt's Back to Bedlam. He has a fabulous voice and a raw talent for writing amazing songs, and he should be a huge star. Apparently the story of Ray LaMontagne discovery is a bit of a legend. Living in Maine, as a recluse in a log cabin, he underwent a sudden conversion to music. Armed with his guitar, off he travelled to California to make music, he met up with Ethan Johns, the amazing producer behing Kings of Leon and within a matter of months, Trouble was made. LaMontagne's songs are rewarding and have many layers, there's so many songs I love on this album, but it took a couple of listens to get really into it... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Soulful songs written with style and depth
Disadvantages: maybe a bit too melancholy for some peoples tastes

...you warm and relaxed. Songs like Trouble and Forever My Friend have an immediacy that will have you hooked in no time, but there's also an undercurrent of songs that although not exactly radio-friendly, have a depth and character all of their own. The album shares similarities with Bruce Springsteens "Nebraska" on some of it's more melancholy tracks which goes someway to describing it's rootsy feel. It's a real whiskey-sipping album with it's own time-zone and one which I've had nothing but positive comments from to the friends I have played it to. The strange thing is that for an album with a running time of 44 minutes, it feels like it's over too soon. Let's hope that Ray doesn't miss the reclusive life too much and trades the studio for his much-fabled log cabin.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: well written, wonderfully produced and perfectly sung, great to chill out to.
Disadvantages: Only 11 songs

...Background After such a beautiful debut; ‘Trouble’ I was hopeful as to the outcome of Ray LaMontagne’s second album ‘Till the Sun Turns Black’. It seems my hope wasn’t misplaced and after listening to the album (continuously) for a week I wholeheartedly believe that this album is just as good as the first. It seems that LaMontagne has branched off in many different directions from ‘Trouble’ to produce an array of tracks that individually seem very different to his first album yet still having a noticeably familiar sound. Notable Tracks The unhurried acoustic guitar combined with the whispered vocals and smooth strings in ‘Can I Stay’ is relaxing and romantic - I have listened to the track over and over. I equally enjoy the eighth track ‘Lesson Learned’ with its aggressive beginning and interesting and intelligent lyrics... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful