Big Swing Face (Bruce Hornsby album)

Last updated
Big Swing Face
Hornsby Swing.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 25, 2002
Genre Rock
Jazz
Label RCA
Producer David Bendeth
Bruce Hornsby chronology
Here Come The Noise Makers
(2000)
Big Swing Face
(2002)
Halcyon Days
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Big Swing Face is the eighth album by American singer and pianist Bruce Hornsby. It was Hornsby's first studio album with his touring band, the Noisemakers, and his last album for RCA Records.

Contents

The album was Hornsby's most experimental effort to date; the only album on which Hornsby barely plays any piano, it relied heavily on post-electronica beats, drum loops, Pro Tools editing, and dense synthesizer arrangements. [2] The album also boasts a "stream-of-consciousness wordplay" of lyrics that are in many ways more eccentric and humorous than previous work. [3]

The jazz fusion jam on "Cartoons & Candy" and the gesture towards Hornsby's jam band influence with Steve Kimock's extended guitar solo on "The Chill" highlighted some of the album's only familiar territory, [3] and Hornsby cites the opening track, "Sticks and Stones," as his partial homage to Radiohead's "Everything in its Right Place." [4]

Big Swing Face received mixed reviews, ranging from "a new and improved Bruce Hornsby" [5] to feeling as if "someone else is singing", to the album being called one of the "strangest records of 2002". [2] The album received little promotion from RCA Records, and sold poorly. Hornsby left RCA shortly afterward. [4]

Track listing

All songs by Bruce Hornsby, except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sticks & Stones" 3:19
2."Cartoons & Candy"Hornsby, McKinley Morganfield 3:52
3."The Chill" 4:06
4."Big Swing Face" 5:31
5."This Too Shall Pass" 4:56
6."Try Anything Once" David Bendeth, Hornsby3:33
7."Take Out the Trash" 4:54
8."The Good Life" 3:44
9."So Out" 3:13
10."No Home Training"Floyd Hill, Hornsby4:23
11."Place Under the Sun" 4:13
Japan bonus track
No.TitleLength
12."Sticks & Stones" (Acoustic Version)4:37

Musicians

Production

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References

  1. Big Swing Face at AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
  2. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Big Swing Face: Overview". All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  3. 1 2 Metzger, John (August 2002). "Bruce Hornsby: Big Swing Face". The Music Box. 9 (8). Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  4. 1 2 Hornsby, Bruce (2006). Liner notes from Intersections Box Set.
  5. Miller, Skyler. "Halcyon Days: Overview". All Media Guide, LLC. Retrieved 2007-05-04.