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Jon Dee Graham
Full
(Freedom)
First Appeared in The Music Box, May 2006, Volume 13, #5
Written by John Metzger
Coming in the wake of his epic 2004
masterstroke The Great Battle, Jon Dee Graham’s latest outing Full
can’t help but to feel a little less satisfying. Nevertheless, it also is hardly
a disappointment, even if it takes a little longer to get off the ground. Once
it does, Full inevitably proves to be filled with equally moving fare.
Not wanting to fix what wasn’t broken, Graham merely broadened his stylistic
range while pursuing a similar thematic strategy that utilizes his characters’
struggles for redemption from their lifelong strings of mistakes as a means of
exploring the fine line, but ultimately deep chasm, that separates winning from
losing. With a voice that is tarnished by whiskey and cigarettes, he frequently
sounds like a dead ringer for Tom Waits, and rather than run away from this
comparison, he has learned not only to embrace but also to control it. From the
clattering, junkyard blues of Tie a Knot to the fragile optimism of O
Dearest One to the sad-eyed resignation of Swept Away, Graham
transforms his gravelly articulations into an emotional springboard that exudes
an air of world-weary determination. Elsewhere, he allows the music to carry a
greater share of the load as he invokes John Hiatt on the roots-y Jubilee;
places a Southern spin upon the Rolling Stones during Holes; dabbles in
’70s-style crunchiness on Bonaparte; and seamlessly fuses the spiraling
guitars of Pearl Jam with the uplifting, gospel-infused drive of U2 on
Something Wonderful. Still, it’s his lyrics that matter most, and Graham
wisely saves his best song for last. Pondering the implications of being tossed
out of Eden, he imbues Beloved Garden with enough personal intimacy that
it neatly ties together the album’s loose strands. In doing so, Graham
effectively washes away Full’s few minor missteps, leaving behind a
potent reminder of mankind’s lonely place in an often cruel world.  ½
Full is available from Amazon.com.
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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 © 2006 The Music Box
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