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John Doe
Forever Hasn't Happened Yet
(Yep Roc)
The Music Box's #8 album of 2005
First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2005, Volume 12, #5
Written by John Metzger
X stormed out of Los Angeles in the late 1970s and redefined American rock
’n‘ roll by casting a raging, punk-infused shadow upon the face of the format’s
old-time folk- and country-leaning roots. It certainly couldn’t have been much
of a surprise, then, when the band spawned an acoustic-driven offshoot of itself
in The Knitters or that its principal songwriter John Doe would continue to mine
similar traditionalist territory throughout his alt-country-inflected solo
career. His latest effort Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet continues this
trend, although this time he takes a slightly different approach by delving
further into blues-oriented fare than he ever has dared to go in the past.
Recorded in a mere two weeks and with a sketchy game plan at best, the album
exudes an urgency that long has been missing from Doe’s work, making the
11-track collection his most stirring outing in years.
Although it boasts an array of guest appearances by the likes of Neko Case,
Grant Lee Phillips, and Dave Alvin, to name a few, Forever Hasn’t Happened
Yet isn’t nearly as cluttered as most star-studded efforts tend to be.
Instead, the collaborations largely provide atmosphere and texture, thereby
serving to augment rather than supplant Doe’s sad-eyed reflectiveness. On
Twin Brother, for example, he walks a line that straddles Bruce Springsteen
in full folk regalia and Jim Morrison at his most haunting, but when Phillips
adds his voice to the mix, the duo invokes the bittersweet harmonic beauty of
the Everly Brothers. Despite its acoustic guitar-driven chug, Ready is
whipped into a furiously frothy frenzy that deals with both death and drug
addiction, and Kristen Hersh only amplifies its ominous ambience with her
untethered and violently trembling vocal accompaniment. On the heady, Wilco-meets-Roy
Orbison swirl of Your Parade, Cindy Lee Berryhill lurks quietly in the
background like a disconnected lover whose only response is to echo Doe’s
somber, heartbroken sentiments. Touching upon themes of sex, drugs, alienation,
and death, there’s little doubt that Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet has an
element of angered punk rock coursing through its veins. Yet, within the pained
memories of the past, there lies an aura of hope for the future, which explains
why the songs seem to pour from Doe as if his life depended upon them. 
Forever Hasn't Happened Yet is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
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Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005 The Music Box
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