| A Blazing Grace | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1995 | |||
| Studio | Castle | |||
| Label | Mammoth | |||
| Producer | Jason & the Scorchers | |||
| Jason & the Scorchers chronology | ||||
| ||||
A Blazing Grace is an album by the American band Jason & the Scorchers, released in 1995 on Mammoth Records. [1] [2] The initial album title was Men and Women, War and Peace. [3] The band supported the album with a North American tour. [4] The first single, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", was a modest radio hit. [5]
The album marked a reunion of the band's original lineup; the band, in part, recorded the album as an excuse to play live and tour. [6] [7] Produced by the band, A Blazing Grace was recorded at Castle Recording Studio, in Nashville. [8] [9] All of the band members were struggling with personal issues, and regarded the offer of free studio time as a blessing. [10]
"Why Baby Why" is a cover of the George Jones song; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is a cover of the John Denver song. [11] [12] The band initially intended the cover songs to be b-sides. [13] "Somewhere Within" was Jason Ringenberg's favorite composition. [14]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |   [15] |
| The Indianapolis Star | [16] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |  [8] |
| Vancouver Sun | [17] |
Newsday wrote that "Ringenberg's high-lonesome tone has always lent itself to balladeering, and it might be a mark of age and experience that a couple of the album's best songs gear down to make breathing room for heartfelt expression." [18] The Indianapolis Star noted that "the Scorchers haven't lost one iota of supercharged twang." [16] The Washington Post determined that Ringenberg "attacks the [songs] as if he were leading the Ramones at the Grand Ole Opry." [19]
Don McLeese, of the Austin American-Statesman , opined: "Though I once considered the Scorchers the great lost American rock band of the '80s, the band has regrouped with a 1995 album that is arguably its best—and is likely to rank with the year's best as well." [20] Guitar Player deemed guitarist Warner Hodges "the Eddie Van Halen of country-punk." [21] The Vancouver Sun concluded that "there's nothing amusing about taking George Jones' sublime 'Why Baby Why' and subjecting it to sub-metal boogieization." [17]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cry by Night Operator" | |
| 2. | "200 Proof Lovin'" | |
| 3. | "Take Me Home, Country Roads" | |
| 4. | "Where Bridges Never Burn" | |
| 5. | "The Shadow of Night" | |
| 6. | "One More Day of Weekend" | |
| 7. | "Hell's Gates" | |
| 8. | "Why Baby Why" | |
| 9. | "Somewhere Within" | |
| 10. | "American Legion Party" |
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