Torched - 5985

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Amazon.com Torched is the album Michael Hedges was reputedly working on when he was tragically taken from us in a car wreck in November 1997. It reveals Hedges exploring his ferven t desire to be a singer/songwriter, rather than the virtuoso guitarist who influenced a generation of string-pickers. Hedges played the whole guitar, not just the strings, turning it into a tribal orchestra that rendered his gorgeous and often quirky melodies. That Hedges is rarely heard on Torched. Instead Hedges's vocal side prevails. Torched is a scattered collection of nearly completed songs and rough tracks, all highlighting his spiritual search and romantic yearnings. As a singer/songwriter, Hedges was influenced by the 1960s and '70s Jackson Browne-James Taylor axis of earnest proclamations. He's even joined by '60s veterans David Crosby and Graham Nash, who added their harmonies to "Spring Buds" after Hedges passed. On the title track, he sings of spiritual transformation by fire, adding some distorted fuzz guitar to scorched effect. On "Promised Land" he waxes biblical. There are a few instrumentals as well, including "Fusion of the Five Elements," an early, triple-speed demo for the song that wound up as the title track to Oracle, Hedges's last official album. Other pieces like "Dream Beach," "Arrowhead," and "Ursa Major" would have fit comfortably on Oracle with their wistful melodies and arrangements that have Hedges playing flutes, percussion, and keyboards in addition to guitar. Posthumous albums are always problematic. We'll never know if Hedges actually wanted these tracks to be released, and over all the vocal songs don't match his more carefully articulated Road to Return vocal album from a few years back. With Torched we're left with embers from a musician who usually gave us bonfires of brilliance. --John Diliberto Product Description Torched by Michael Hedges Review Michael Hedges once told writer John Stropes, "If anyone wants to lock me into the guitar pigeonhole, I'll make like a pigeon and crap on their windowsill." While Hedges brought a new sonic architecture to the acoustic guitar that stunned even his fellow guitarists, he also loved to sing. The posthumously released Torched presents the late, much-loved musician in both roles, with moving results. In progress at the time of his 1997 death from a car accident, these tracks are largely unfinished home recordings of Hedges'. In many cases though, Torched presents realized compositions, not just promising sketches; a clarity of purpose is communicated that feels whole. Many of the 14 tunes reveal what must have been a tremendous amount of work on Hedges' part. There are beautiful, overdubbed vocal harmonies on "Rough Wind in Oklahoma" and "The Holy Flame," wonderful keyboard coloration on "Sapphire," and, on "Ursa Major," a mix of gentle chords, harmonics, and sampled wind that sounds like Redwood trees strung with guitar wires, resonating in the breeze. With the sinewy power of his guitar and the direct appeal of his singing, Hedges also put grit into a singer/songwriter genre (for lack of a better term, let's call it sensitive, mystical folk) that's often characterized by a fey superficiality. He had the ability to frame emotions so they glowed with both sophisticated intelligence and primal passion, and his lyrics offered a penetrating vision that struck at the heart of meaning. this guy was truly tuned into something else. --- JAZZIZ Magazine Copyright © 2000, Milor Entertainment, Inc. -- From JazzizASIN: B00000HZOKVSKU: GGV.B00000HZOK.LNCondition: Like NewAuthor/Artist:Michael HedgesBinding: Audio CD Show more