River of Souls

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River of Souls
Dan Fogelberg - River of Souls.jpg
Studio album by
Dan Fogelberg
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1993
Recordedc.1993
Studio
    • Mountain Bird (Boulder, Colorado)
    • Sunset Sound, (Hollywood, California)
Genre Soft rock, folk, pop rock
Length52:28
Label Full Moon
Producer Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg chronology
Dan Fogelberg Live: Greetings from the West
(1991)		River of Souls
(1993)		 No Resemblance Whatsoever
(1995)
Singles from River of Souls
  1. "Magic Every Moment"
    Released: 1993
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

River of Souls is the twelfth album by American singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg, released in September 1993. The album features a variety of genres ranging from Celtic, Brazilian, country, and African soft rock. It received mostly positive reviews from fans and critics alike, praising the instrumentation and vocals. However, some of the song's topics, which included war and politics, were not well received.

Contents

Background

In a 1994 interview, Fogelberg remarked that "some people have said this album is really different from what I've done before, but to me it's just songwriting. I didn't set out to do world-beat music or anything like that. These songs just demanded a different treatment." [2]

Fogelberg described the album as "pessimism tempered with deeper spiritual optimism" [3] and "eclectic," and said his songwriting influences were Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn and South African Johnny Clegg, both of whom incorporated political concerns into their works. River of Souls addresses concerns about the environment in "Holy Road", and the homeless in "Faces of America", and war in "A Voice for Peace". [4]

Fogelberg said he tried to make it a "real musical album," and that for "The Minstrel," a song about sailing, he brought in penny whistles and a Celtic harp to give the song a British folk feel. He also noted that he wrote "Serengeti Moon" about 10 years ago, before Paul Simon's "Graceland" came out, and "thought, what am I going to do with this?" [4]

Fogelberg said he worked on the album for three years. [5] He recorded the album at Mountain Bird Studios in Colorado, and Sunset Sound Recorders in California. [2]

Track listing

All songs written by Dan Fogelberg.

  1. "Magic Every Moment" – 4:22
  2. "All There Is" – 4:34
  3. "The Minstrel" – 4:42
  4. "Faces of America" – 6:09
  5. "Holy Road" – 6:01
  6. "Serengeti Moon" – 4:45
  7. "Higher Ground" – 5:50
  8. "A Love Like This" – 3:57
  9. "River of Souls" – 6:11
  10. "A Voice for Peace" – 5:51

Personnel

Production

Charts

Chart (1993)Peak
position
US Billboard 200164

References

  1. ↑ River of Souls at AllMusic
  2. 1 2 Miller, Michael (April 1, 1994). "Fogelberg's been an acoustic hit longer than most". Cover Story. The State . Columbia, South Carolina. p. 52.
  3. ↑ Stewart, James A. (September 23, 1994). "Dan Fogelberg paints sound from solitude". Entertainment. Press Enterprise . Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. p. 46.
  4. 1 2 Kampert, Patrick (November 1, 1993). "'River Of Souls' New Album Takes Dan Fogelberg Into A New Phase As A Songwriter". Chicago Tribune . p. 3. ProQuest   283614701.
  5. ↑ Rife, Susan L. (September 7, 1994). "Fogelberg exploring the joyful side of life". Music. The Wichita Eagle . Wichita, Kansas. p. C1.
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