Verve Forecast
2006
Riverside Battle Songs
About This Album
Ollabelle's second album, Riverside Battle Songs, arrives on the heels of 2004's self-titled debut, one of the more celebrated Americana releases of the new millennium. That album combined classic gospel material with T-Bone Burnett's sparkling production and a fresh vocal approach featuring five gifted singers who could shine both individually and collectively. Where the debut album was skewed toward traditional songs with a smattering of originals, Riverside Battle Songs reverses the ratio. Nine of the 13 songs are Ollabelle originals. The traditional songs fare best here. Namesake Ola Belle Reed's "High on a Mountain" is given a spirited reading, while the familiar spiritual "Down by the Riverside" is updated with ambient touches that recall Daniel Lanois' production work. The Appalachian gospel song "Gone Today" arrives via spine-tingling a cappella singing, departs via a fiddle and Dobro hoedown, and is one of the album's highlights. The originals are more problematic. The mournful "Everything Is Broken" is a starkly lovely ballad, while "Troubles of the World" offers an impressive and surprising raga-tinged coda on what is otherwise a standard gospel song.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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