I bought this album after the
Star One show in Hamburg earlier this year. Listening to
Damian Wilson singing live got me interested in his solo work. I had no idea what the music would sound like and I have to say right from the start: This is not metal music with heavy guitars or pounding drums. This music draws its power from other sources, and the final result is an album of true beauty.
The music is very laid back and relies mostly on Damians voice. And what a voice he has. Not since I listened to "Tori Amos - Little earthquakes" for the first time have I been so enamoured by a vocal performance. He has a quality that speaks directly to the soul.
Damian is accompanied perfectly by The City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. The orchestra paints a beautiful musical background with acoustic guitars, piano, violins, flutes and many other instruments. The way the orchestra plays along with Damians voice creates a world of varm and touching music.
The lyrics of the album deal with relationships in a family and Damian comes across with his own philosophy for living and surviving in this world. Some songs are very personal and touch on some deep issues. I like it when an artist is able to convey feelings such as these with success. I have not experienced much of what is described in the lyrics, but I still relate strongly to the feelings in them. The beauty of the whole thing is that the lyrics are written in such a way that they put the listener right into the mind of Damian and this makes them that much more powerful.
Describing the songs on this album is an area where I feel that my words are not quite sufficient. You have to hear them yourself. There is not one bad song on the album and every song has something important to say. If I tried to describe them all I'm afraid that I would be repeating myself endlessly, because they all are so good in their own way. The lyrics can be understood on several levels too. The way the orchestra playes along with Damians voice is sooo good on the whole album. I'll just try and emphasize on a few of my favourites.
Disciple opens the album and at once pulled me into this world of gentle music. It's a beautiful start to the album and I relate to the lyrics big time.
Brightest way is at the same time sad as well sending a positive message because no matter what there is always hope. This song has a great way of conveying those feelings.
Heavenly mine is another song where I love the multi faceted lyrics and overall feel.
The song that became my favourite right from the first time I heard it was
Never close the door.
Damian Wilson sings with so much feeling here that it pierces flesh and bone and goes straight for the soul. Even though I haven't experienced what he has the beauty of the song is that it is able to show you a believeable world from his eyes and pull you right into it.
I just love songs like
Nothing without you and
Part of me, which both are very personal with some good lyrics. Especially the lyrics to
Part of me are very special.
Adam's Child has a cool atmosphere where Damian is accompanied by beautiful flute and piano playing.
There are some very good reasons to buy the Limited double CD edition of this album. The digibook packaging is very nicely done and gives a bigger impression than the normal CD version. The real reason for getting the limited edition is of course the second disc, which contains some songs I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on for the world.
The highlight is the cover version of John Lennon's
Grow Old with me (This one is also included on the one disc version as the last song). Even though I'm a huge John Lennon and Beatles fan I have never heard the original, but this just feels right. This song has a timeless message and is a strong competitor for Enuff Z'nuff's
You and I in the field of "The song I want to be played when I get married". Not that it will happen any time soon, but it's good to have some choices :)
In a word has such a beautiful feeling. The way Damian sings here is amazing and the lyrics are so strong in their message about the relationship between father and son.
Damian wrote
Just the way it goes when he was a teenager and after I heard this song for the first time I loved it. There is a deep atmosphere to this song, both in the way it's sung but also in the instrumentation. The lyrics send across a feeling of one very determined man who does what he wants because he feels it's right and is content with doing so. It must be a blessing to have that kind of determination.
A monday night in March is a beautiful reminiscence of the young love between two, that once was, but for some reason was lost. On the other hand parts of the song could also be seen as a reminiscence about love that was once young but grew old and the way it changes through the years spent with the same person. Hhmmm, maybe I'm just rambling here...
Just the way it goes and
A monday night in March were also included on Cosmas, Damian's first solo album. I haven't yet listened enough to that album to make a fair comparison between the two versions.
The last song is hugely beautiful too, but I feel kind of drained right now, so I'll let you discover that one yourself.
Hhmmm, I guess that with trying to emphasize on a few favourites, it seems I managed to mention almost every song anyway... Oh, well...
The performance of the orchestra is in a sense, perfect. The orchestra is able to empasize the vocals but when concentrating on the music behind the voice many small details and beautiful melodies show themselves.
As you can probably see by now I have fallen completely in love with this album. Even after countless listens it still gets better and better as it becomes more and more familiar.
The booklet has a nice intro on how the album came about and Damians inspirations for making it.
I can only urge you to give this one a listen. The way I see it music is not all about style, it is about giving something to the listener and this album certainly delivers that in spades.
It might sound like this album is just about perfect and in it's own right I feel that this is pretty much the case. I have a hard time finding some points of critique here as the album is filled with what makes me love music so much. Feeling, honesty and the power to bring out real emotions. That being said I'm sure that not everybody will like this album as much as me. Some people might find the music too quiet and even boring, but if you don't give it a chance you might miss out on a real musical gem like I almost did.
I have just been informed that Disciple is only available to buy from
The Official Damian Wilson homepage
Written by
Steen Monday, December 2, 2002
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