I got this as a reviewable press copy, and the album is flippin' AWESOME. My review hasn't went live yet, but woot...
Will Hoge – The Man Who Killed Love
Album Review for Sound The Sirens
Written by Trent Moore
You’ve heard it a thousand times, I’m sure: “Well, if you’d have just heard it live; you would understand!” Far too often, people defend bad albums, just because the artist puts on a good live show. I completely agree that live music can be a fantastic, live-changing experience; but it’s the album that people truly bond with. It’s the album that, after the millionth listen, that people make a connection with. If you can’t capture that intangible magic on tape; then it’s doomed to live on as nothing more than an ever-fading memory; drifting further from reality, and into nostalgia, with every passing day.
On his first two albums, Carousel and Blackbird On A Lonely Wire, Will Hoge proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that he was a talent to be reckoned with. Shattering conventions somewhere between folksy singer-songwriter, rockin’ Southern boy, and everything in-between; Will delivered two stellar studio albums. But, no matter how great those albums were, they never seemed to capture that something that you can only find by seeing him live. That swagger, that vibe that haunts the air both during and after his performance.
With last year’s release of Will’s first live album, During The Before and After, Will’s recordings seemed to have found something they had been missing. That spark, that live, loose feel that is so hard to recreate in the studio. That sound of every instrument meshing to the point that you could never even tell the difference between them all. You could tell there was something here, that wasn’t here before.
By taking a listen to his latest studio record The Man Who Killed Love, (the first since 2003’s Blackbird); it is obvious that Will heard it, too. For this first time in his career, Will Hoge has finally captured the passion and emotion of his unbeatable live performances in the studio. The feel of the band, the tapestry of songs; it all just feels so good.
Produced by Ken Coomer (Wilco) and Charlie Brocco (George Harrison), The Man Who Killed Love stands tall as one of the best records in the Will Hoge catalog (and, with such a high caliber back lot of music; that’s saying quite a lot). You can feel the strain of his voice, and feel the shaking of the club as you listen to this album.
Opening strong with the big-league record industry (they’ve been there, done that) kiss-off of “Pocket Full of Change,” things just heat up from there. The soulful “Love From A Scar,” the too sweet to be dirty “Wait ‘Til Your Daddy Get’s Home,” and the heartbreaking (in my opinion highlight of the album) “Woman, be Strong” opens the record stronger than you could ever expect. Things never stop, all the way through the rockin’ title track “The Man Who Killed Love,” and “Heart’s Are Gonna Roll.”
As with most of Will’s records, he closes it all out with a sweet, slowly pulsing ballad. On this record it comes as the haunting, piano-led “Lover Tonight.” Taking a welcome step forward in song-writing, this track is truly one of the best Will has ever penned. The similes and poeticism is truly quality stuff. Even coming out as early as February, I’d be hard pressed to find a better album in ’06 than what can be found here.