Album Review: Randy Newman—Harps and Angels

300 WINS: Randy Johnson salutes the crowd on June 4 after beating the Washington Nationals and reaching that all-important pitching milestone in one of baseball's memorable moments of the season so far. (Greg Fiume/Getty Images)

This one from a much-loved veteran of multi-genre exploration is flat overall, lacking true elevation into the depths of the blues that are its main focus. Lapsing into thin ragtime a la Alan Price and fairground cacophony on ‘A Piece of the Pie’, Harps and Angels shows arrhythmia just doesn’t work and leaves us still on the runway.

However take off does eventually come on ‘Losing You’ and ‘Feels Like Home’ which are both rendered with compelling Tom Waits-alike vocals and redeeming the album simply because they are from the heart. Patently about what Newman really feels, not what he feels about something else, they dissolve the album’s identity crisis.

[etRating value=“ 3.5”]