Детали релиза : Bruce Hornsby - Intersections [1985-2005] (2006) [FLAC (tracks + .cue)]

Review by Jeff Tamarkin, AllMusic.com

The type of warm, sophisticated jazz-inflected pop/rock proffered by Bruce Hornsby & the Range was probably the last thing anyone expected to find at the top of the charts in the late '80s. Yet Hornsby, with his virtuosic piano playing and mature song craftsmanship, placed six consecutive singles into the Top 40 between 1986 and 1990, among them the number one "The Way It Is" and the equally solid "Mandolin Rain" and "The Valley Road," both of which reached the Top Five. Hornsby's career has taken many turns in the two decades since his first appearance, and while his commercial fortunes have dissipated, his willingness to grow as a musician, to dodge stagnation, has only expanded. That's what Intersections 1985-2005 is all about. With 2004's single-disc Greatest Radio Hits already out there for those who just want, well, the greatest radio hits, this four-CD/one-DVD kitchen-sink of a box set is intended for the true believer.

The CDs are divvied thematically. The first, titled "Top 90 Time," contains the hits, albeit rarely in their familiar studio versions. Most are previously unreleased live and alternate versions, sometimes performed faithfully to the hit renditions, other times warped beyond recognition. With the Range, Hornsby offers his own 2005 take on "The End of the Innocence," the song he wrote for Don Henley, while "The Way It Is" opens the collection in a solo piano version.

The second disc is easily the most interesting and eclectic. A mishmash of solo piano noodlings ushers it in, many of them simply assigned letters of the alphabet ("Song A," etc.) and released as album tracks over the years. There are collaborations with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (a bluegrass take on "The Valley Road") and jazz legend Ornette Coleman (an unreleased 1995 Coleman composition titled "Hop, Skip and Jump"), and covers of Elton John and Grateful Dead tunes (Hornsby served briefly as a member of the Dead during a transitional period for the band); there's yet another workup of "The Valley Road," one of many songs Hornsby penned with his brother John, which represents that side trip -- the live Dead version from 1990 makes a particularly convincing case for his contribution to that band. Various songs recorded for film soundtracks round out the disc. The third and fourth CDs were chosen "By Request," both Hornsby's and fans', and while the surprises are fewer here -- much of it consists of album tracks -- there are still a number of previously hidden little gems, both solo and in various group configurations, worth investigating.

A solo piano version of "Sticks & Stones," which opened up the largely electronic Big Swing Face album in 2002, is a totally unexpected reimagining, and if Hornsby's recent composition "Fortunate Son" (no relation to the Creedence Clearwater Revival classic) bears a resemblance to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," that's because Hornsby once dueted with that group's Roger Waters on said song and felt inspired to write this tribute. The actual video clip of the Waters collaboration is among the 22 tracks found on the accompanying DVD, which also includes an array of live performances, TV appearances, a handful of music videos (some Spike Lee-directed) and other odds and ends, even a duet with Branford Marsalis on "The Star-Spangled Banner," from the 1997 World Series. This box isn't the place to start a Bruce Hornsby collection, but those who've hung in there with him will find it amply rewarding.

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Review by Mat Brewster, BlogCritics.org:

“Brrrrooooooooooo…”

The crowd of several thousand standing in the Atlanta Fairground shouted into the bright, hot, southern sky.

“Are they saying ‘Bruce’ or ‘boo?” Juliana asked.

“It’s hard to tell,” I replied. “I, for one, am shouting ‘Bruce.’ How could you boo the spidery fingers of Bruce Hornsby? Especially during such a hot version of ‘The Way It Is!’”

“They must be yelling ‘Bruce.’”

And they were, as hundreds of thousands have yelled the same throughout Hornsby’s twenty year career.

That night Bruce was playing keys with the Other Ones – the first Grateful Dead reincarnation following Jerry Garcia’s death. It was but one of many collaborations in a career full of imaginative, incredible ensembles including Ricky Skaggs, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Pat Methany.

To say Bruce Hornsby is a multifaceted musician would be like calling Leonardo DaVinci a renaissance man – certainly it is true, but also rather superfluous and redundant.

With the release of the new boxed set, Intersections, Bruce Hornsby has shown just how multi-talented he really is – from piano based power-pop to bluegrass and century’s old fiddle tunes to improvisational jazz the songs covered in this set stretch across the American song book.

The bulk of the music presented here is culled form previously unreleased live cuts. This is not only good news for the hard core fan who already has all the studio tracks, but for the casual listener interested in understanding Hornsby’s work. As is the way for many of the artists I enjoy, Hornsby’s studio albums are often less than totally satisfying. In a live setting is where Bruce has always found his own, and performed nothing less than inspiring.

The set is separated into three categories spanning four disks. The first, “Top 90 Time” contains the hits and singles, albeit often live and in a different arrangement than what is found on the original album.

The second disk, labeled “Solo Piano, Tribute Records, Country-bluegrass, Movie Songs” contains just that. The first seven songs are instrumental piano numbers uniquely titles “Songs A-H”. The rest are songs Hornsby either played on for friends and co-conspirators, movie soundtracks, and tribute albums.

The remaining two disks, named “By Request” are fan favorites and personal selections.

Interestingly, Hornsby has elected to keep most of his up tempo numbers as the officially released studio version. It is on his slower ballads that he has brought unreleased liver versions to this set. This is perhaps because fans were treated to primo live versions of his faster songs on the 2000 release Here Come the Noisemakers. Or, perhaps it is because live, his up tempo numbers can stretch into double digits, minute wise, which would leave few spaces for more songs.

Whatever the reason, we are still left with a tremendous collections of songs showcasing one of the more talented musicians of the last 20 years.

The boxed set is encased in a lovely three fold binder and includes a 59 page booklet highlighting his career. It includes a personal note from Bruce about each of the songs, numerous photographs, an a tongue-in-cheek retrospective of the critical assessment of his albums (including a number of reviews completely panning his work).

Also included in the set is a DVD full of videos clips (ranging from super cheesy ready-for-MTV videos from the 80’s to highly stylized clips directed by Spike Lee to live performances with the Grateful Dead, Roger Waters and even the “Star Spangled Banner” performed with Branford Marsalis at the World Series.)

This is an excellent set, filled with enough new material to please the biggest fans, and yet so accessible as to find a few new fans along the way.


Review by Philip S. Wolfe, Amazon.com:

Bruce Hornsby has released this fantastic Box Set of 4 Audio CD's and 1 DVD and it is worthy of the great talent of this Incredable musician. If you haven't been grabbing up every CD he has released since 1985 it would not be a mistake to start here, there are versions of his hit tunes that have not seen the light of day before this Box such as "The Way It Is", "Mandolin Rain". "The Valley Road","Look Out Any Window" & "The End Of The Innocence" that will Floor-You...

For those of us that have been buying the Original CD's there is lot's of Un-Released Cuts and almost every tune we are already familar with is presented in a Brand New arrangement so that they sound Fresh & New in these new and / or Live Settings.

I Own over 60 Box Sets by a lot of Different Artists, but it is easy to tell you that "Intersections" would place in my Top Five of all the Sets because this Music is Timeless. The Talent of this Great Artist is a 10 on a 10 scale, Jazz, Rock, Bluegrass, Classical, Rag-Time it's all right here in Bruce"s fingertips. This is American Music in the sense that you can HEAR the sound of New Orleans, Wiiliamsburg, New York City, San Francisco and Detroit all in the course of one song and that is the POWER of this music.

From the Range to the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band to the Grateful Dead to Spike Lee, Bruce has covered lot's of ground and on these 4 CD's you get to enjoy the ride of the last 20 years of Music. The Fifth Disc is a DVD of Music Videos and Live Clips and it's packed with 23 cuts and adds extra value to an already Great Package.


Review by D. Sean Brickell, Amazon.com:

Fair disclosure: I've known Bruce Hornsby for 30 years but have never allowed that cloud my critical judgement of his work.

Saying such, let me be the first to state his box set is amongst the most articulate and honest career retrospective compendia in the history of music. Mr. Hornsby has never been one to play it safe and stay predictable. The familiar favorites -- and there are many! -- have been retooled and served freshly anew. This collection is filled with gems.

Millions of listeners prefer the comfort of knowing their music note-for-note. That's why the likes of Eagles, Paul Simon and Chicago continue to do so well; they're the same show-after-show, year-after-year. But for those of us who appreciate the high-wire challenges presented by Mr. Hornsby, the artistic rewards are breathtaking.

We all know what syncopation does for a song. And while it's true that Mr. Hornsby is masterful at shifting accents within a tune, it's also true that he's pulled off the remarkable feat of syncopating his entire body of work in this overview.

It's my judgement that only Van Morrison and Miles Davis have so continuously evolved their music whilst carrying the loyal to newer heights each time.

Asking me to pick a favorite cut, or CD for that matter, from the box set is sort of like picking your favorite child. Simply impossible. The level of performance and song selection never drops below excellence. Many times, these qualities are staggering. Not once will you hear a single note played for the sake of purely being clever, however. Mr. Hornsby is comfortable with his wide scope of aptitude, unconcerned about unnecessary emphasis, and always tasty in his delivery.

It all coheres.

The last CD that brought me this much joy was Randy Newman's "Songbook, Vol. 1," which was my selection for 2003 CD Of The Year. Mr. Newman rebooted standards in his earlier catalogue, then reintroduced the songs more fully realized to his fan base who also had matured. That's precisely the platform upon which Mr. Hornsby has so ably built his box set.

So here's my recommendation. Buy this for the plentiful rewards. Your appreciation for the songs herein will expand exponentially.

In short, you'll experience an artist at his zenith.