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This Old Road
EMAILPRINTby Kris Kristofferson
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: New West
Release Date: 07 March 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Country
Summary
This is the 70-year-old singer-songwriter's first studio album in nearly a dozen years.
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly
Everything... sounds struggled over, from his ruminative lyrics to that rode-hard-'n'-put-away-wet voice. [10 Mar 2006, p.68]
Mojo
For a studio album it sounds remarkably like a live one. [Mar 2006, p.90]
Q Magazine
A return to his best work. [Apr 2006, p.116]
Uncut
A quietly glorious affair. [Apr 2006, p.110]
Under The Radar
An album that is not only one of the very best in his career but likely one of the best you'll hear from any singer-songwriter this year. [#13, p.86]
All Music Guide
Kristofferson is dead-on here, razor-sharp, economical in his language, and to the bone in his insight.
Read Full Review >Billboard
As a singer, Kristofferson remains a hell of an actor, but there is a lot to love about this record. [11 Mar 2006]
Slant Magazine
If the delivery is occasionally lacking, the writing, as anyone would expect, is This Old Road's selling point, and in that regard the album is undoubtedly a success.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
One of the finest albums in his storied career. [9 Mar 2006, p.88]
Stylus Magazine
His wheels may not leave the traction marks they once did, but the evidence here suggests the ride isn’t over yet.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
So many of these 11 songs are variations on the title track's closing line ('Look at that old photograph, is that really you?') that this sentimental journey becomes one of just a few too many miles.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Though the spare, warts-and-all production does his ashy growl no favours, it underlines his authenticity on political songs like Burden of Freedom and Wild American.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
It’s great to have Kristofferson back writing songs again, although it still feels like he’s only half the way back.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Recall's Johnny Cash's recordings with Rick Rubin. [Apr/May 2006, p.111]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.8 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
Kris and his guitar. No fluff. Honest. Gruff. Music at its purest. Find out why Johnny Cash called him the best song writer in Nashville. Kristofferson shines and cements his status as a legend as he rides off into the sunset.
Alan gave it a9:
I have been an avid fan of KK's music for well over 30 years. I have enjoyed each (original) album, always considering, until now, "Kristofferson" to be his finest work. I have grown to appreciate that singer/songwriters of KK's calibre, should be presented in, what I call, an "intimate" environment. That is to say, a small venue where the performer and the audience can develop a "relationship". "This Old Road" does just that, by removing the "polish" of the fancy studio recordings and providing the listener the true emotion reflected in the voice and the music. I wonder how his earlier albums would have been received, if they had been presented in a similar fashion.
klass v gave it a9:
deep and moving as life
Lawrence H gave it an8:
While this work is so minimalist musically, bare bones spare in the songs' arrangements, the naked confessional voice of KK is haunting in its unabashed honesty. The lyrics fit the musical settings perfectly. There is an underlying theme to these songs, equating metaphorically the sense of powerlessness and vulnerability coming with aging and from the increasing intolerance and conservatism of our rulers and leaders. KK's bourbon-soaked voice is pitched just right for these songs. Perhaps the CD, already short could have been pruned a song or two to a 32 minute outing. The CD does become a tad monotonous 3/4 through, but the last song, albeit bordering on the corny, is a winner and fine closer to this excellent work.
Rustin T gave it a9:
The songs on This Old Road share the same structural simplicity as the classics he's wriitten and so many artists have covered, but Kristofferson is singing with such a deep authenticity, an austere growling intensity, that the effect is haunting and, at times, chilling. This is a masterful work, rich with rebellion, insight, and melancholy.
