Windham Hill
1988
Walking a Changing Line
About This Album
When PolyGram refused to release his 1983 record Shook in either the U.S. or England, Iain Matthews became disillusioned and decided to put his career on hold indefinitely. Following a stint as an A&R man for both Island and Windham Hill Records, he returned in 1988 with an album dedicated solely to the songs of Jules Shear. Issued by Windham Hill, Walking a Changing Line was the label's first vocal release, though it still retained touches of the label's trademark new age sound throughout. The opening track, Fred Simon's instrumental "Dream Sequence," which is the only non-Shear piece and seems to have been tossed in as the obligatory "Windham Hill" track, won't exactly get fans of either Matthews or Shear too excited about what's ahead, but the songs and performances are good enough to help you set aside whatever biases you may have about the electronic keyboards that permeate the otherwise acoustic sound. Matthews' voice has rarely sounded better, and his choice of songs is inspired, showcasing both the depth and beauty of Shear's writing while staying away from obvious choices. Over half of the compositions were either rare or unknown at the time -- even to many Shear aficionados -- including two songs from a hard-to-find Jules and the Polar Bears EP and two tracks from their then-unreleased Bad for Business album.
Track List

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