Yellow Moon (Neville Brothers album)

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Yellow Moon
Yellow Moon (The Neville Brothers album) cover art.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1989
Recorded New Orleans
Genre New Orleans R&B, soul, funk
Length52:40
Label A&M [1]
Producer Daniel Lanois
The Neville Brothers chronology
Uptown
(1987)
Yellow Moon
(1989)
Brother's Keeper
(1990)

Yellow Moon is an album by the Neville Brothers, released in 1989. [2] [3] The track "Healing Chant" won best pop instrumental performance at the 32nd (1989) Grammy Awards. [4]

Contents

The album peaked at No. 66 on the Billboard 200. [5]

Production

Yellow Moon was produced by Daniel Lanois. [2] It was recorded in New Orleans, in a vacated apartment. [6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Robert Christgau A [8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Orlando Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Ottawa Citizen Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [6]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [12]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [14]

Robert Christgau wrote: "Whether isolating rhythm-makers, adding electronic atmosphere, or recontextualizing 'natural'-seeming instrumental effects ... Lanois isn't afraid to go for drama, and while drama does have a way of palling eventually, the songs are worth the risk." [8] Spin thought that "instead of running from the bayou backbeat ... the Nevilles let the funky rhythms flow where they may." [1] USA Today opined that "cynics will say that Lanois has thrown out the baby with the bathwater, but that ignores the fact that 'My Blood' and 'Wild Injun' rock with subtlety, and that Yellow Moon is an adventurous stretch for a band that can boogie in its sleep." [15]

Track listing

  1. "My Blood" (Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Willie Green, Charles Moore) – 4:11
  2. "Yellow Moon" (Aaron Neville) – 4:04
  3. "Fire and Brimstone" (Link Wray) – 3:57
  4. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) – 3:43
  5. "Sister Rosa" (Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Charles Moore) – 3:29
  6. "With God on Our Side" (Bob Dylan) – 6:37
  7. "Wake Up" (Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 3:21
  8. "Voodoo" (Aaron Neville, Daryl Johnson, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 4:26
  9. "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" (Bob Dylan) – 5:45
  10. "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" (A. P. Carter) – 5:16
  11. "Healing Chant" (Aaron Neville, Tony Hall, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 4:34
  12. "Wild Injuns" (Aaron Neville, Tony Hall, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, Willie Green) – 3:17

Personnel

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Spins". Spin. Spin Media LLC. May 4, 1989.
  2. 1 2 "Neville Brothers | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  3. "'Yellow Moon' Casts the Glow of Success on Neville Brothers". Los Angeles Times. January 6, 1990.
  4. "32nd Annual Grammy Awards (1989)". Grammy Awards. Recording Academy. 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  5. Whitburn, Joel (2001). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums, 1955-2001. Record Research. p. 627.
  6. 1 2 Erskine, Evelyn (April 14, 1989). "Neville Brothers shake off dust in spiritual revival". Ottawa Citizen. p. B6.
  7. AllMusic review
  8. 1 2 "The Neville Brothers: Yellow Moon". Robert Christgau.
  9. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 6. MUZE. p. 159.
  10. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 806.
  11. Fields, Curt (June 4, 1989). "Neville Brothers". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 6.
  12. Gill, Andy. "Heavenly" [Yellow Moon review]. Q. May 1989.
  13. "Rolling Stone review". Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
  14. (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 578.
  15. Milward, John (April 4, 1989). "The Listening Room". USA Today. p. 5D.