| Healing Bones | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1994 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer | Peter Van Hooke, Rod Argent | |||
| Jules Shear chronology | ||||
| ||||
Healing Bones is an album by the American musician Jules Shear, released in 1994. [1] [2] The first single was "Listen to What She Says". [3] Shear supported the album with a North American tour that included Paula Cole as the opening act. [4]
The album was recorded in a barn in Bearsville, New York. [5] It was coproduced by Peter Van Hooke and Rod Argent; Argent also played keyboards. [6] [7] "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" is a cover of the Walker Brothers song. [8] The title track, cowritten by Rick Danko, describes the death of a woman due to a plowing mishap. [9] [6] "Two Friends" is about a person living with schizophrenia. [10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [6] |
| Calgary Herald | B− [11] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [12] |
| Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | [13] |
| Rolling Stone | [14] |
Guitar Player called Shear "one of few writers to compete with Elvis Costello's verbal virtuosity and unerring ear for hooks." [15] The News Tribune deemed the album "vibrant, electrified pop performed by an amazing band." [7] The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette determined that, "with a voice that at different times has an uncanny resemblance to Jackson Browne and Tom Petty, Shear brings feeling to his often-poignant lyrics." [13]
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch labeled Healing Bones a "generic collection of tepid retreads." [16] Rolling Stone wrote that "A Prayer (For Those Not Here)" "combines a Motown-catchy beat, Beach Boys-style backups and audacious rhymes (theoretically and phonetically) in pop that's as literate as it is melodic." [14] The Calgary Herald praised Shear's "weirdly engaging nasal voice." [11]
AllMusic wrote that "Shear and his crack four-piece band bring out both the charm and depth in the material, steering clear of the sort of production that has stamped a date on some of his recordings in the past." [6]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Listen to What She Says" | |
| 2. | "A Bird in That Cage" | |
| 3. | "Healing Bones" | |
| 4. | "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" | |
| 5. | "Over the Lane" | |
| 6. | "When You Finally Gonna Come Through" | |
| 7. | "Never Again or Forever" | |
| 8. | "Heaven/Hell" | |
| 9. | "Two Friends" | |
| 10. | "How Many Wheels" | |
| 11. | "A Prayer (For Those Not Here)" | |
| 12. | "By and By" |
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