Bruce Cockburn ~ you can have only seven albums...which would you pick?

I saw him perform a few months ago as well. He's developed a hunched over posture that's seriously worrying. The performance was, as usual, impeccable.

 

I found Rumours of Glory an excellent read-by far, the best "rock star" memoir I've ever read. One of the pleasures of my life was chatting with him after a concert in Annapolis a couple years ago when he signed it. He did seem a little taken aback though when my wife and I told him that his music was one of the reasons we're together.

 

Pretty good list. While I didn’t put Christmas on mine, it is indeed a fantastic album. It is a beautiful piece of work.

 

Landed a cd of Inner City Front, and stumbled across an lp(!) of Dancing in the Dragons Jaws.

 

Stealing Fire - his breakthrough album in the USA
Dancing in the Dragon's Jaws - the other album with a hit; culmination of his 70s work; one of the most joyful albums ever
Humans - early 80s album that begins the transition of thematic material from religious to social issues
Big Circumstance - tremendous late 80s album; begins to integrate the social and religious themes that had before been somewhat separate
Nothing But A Burning Light - new label, new producer, new creativity
The Charity of Night - one of Bruce's personal favorites, very intense
In The Falling Dark - the best of his mid-70s acoustic albums; get the bonus edition with the extra tracks previously issued on Mummy Dust
Bone On Bone - the San Francisco album reflecting where Bruce is now

That gives you a good overview of his career in 8 albums - I couldn't get it down to 7. You can then proceed from whichever ones are favorites. If you like In The Falling Dark, get Night Vision next; if you like Stealing Fire, get The Trouble With Normal and World Of Wonders.

Have fun - you have many musical riches to explore!

 

This is a great compilation from West Germany, I think it is the first Cockburn CD released.

 

Which vinyl pressing? I have a scratched up True North... actually a promo copy from Toronto’s CFNY. I picked it up mostly for the beautiful gatefold sleeve. I also have a US pressing which is decent, but can’t compare to those 70s True North issues.

What a great album. Who else sings about petroglyphs?

 

This is the one I picked up for 4 bucks.

Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

 

I dont fancy any cockburn, sounds too painful!!!

 

Nice. I picked that one up in the US last year. If you’re ever in Canada, it’s worth an upgrade to this:
Bruce Cockburn - Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

An easy find under $10 in the Great White North.

 

I believe you're right. Pretty sure this was the first CD of his I ever owned.

 

A tough proposition to narrow things down to seven...but...

Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

Stealing Fire

Nothing But A Burning Light

Charity Of Night

Inner City Front

The Trouble With Normal

Humans


Honourable mentions...

Life Short Call Now

Big Circumstance

In The Falling Dark

World Of Wonders

 

High Winds White Sky
Sunwheel Dance
Night Vision
Salt, Sun and Time
Joy Will Find a Way
In the Falling Dark
Circles in the Stream

 

These are the albums I first listened to and fell in love with. If I have to choose, I'll go with acoustic guitar.

 

The only ones I have are
Dancin' in the jaws,
Humans
Inner City Front
Stealing Fire
Breakfast in new Orleans

Great records imo.

 

For those of you who love the early acoustic material, how do you receive his other eras? In particular, once he made it through the 80s he seems to have embraced a balanced, rootsy sound. Different from his 70s folk, but quite organic.

 

80s is my least favorite period. The album production is extremely dated, although many good songs were recorded. Stealing Fire is the only one I listen to after Humans, and I like only about half of Humans. I pretty much enjoy all of the 90s albums. It goes downhill after that, although You've Never Seen Everything is pretty decent, but I don't like the compressed sound. I haven't bothered with any subsequent releases.

 

Stealing Fire
The Charity of Night
Dart to the Heart
Nothing But a Burning Light
Further Adventures of
Bone on Bone
Christmas

 

IMHO Bruce's "golden" period was 1971 - 1984. After that it went downhill fast but he had a nice comeback period from 1988 - 1994. After that he lost his muse though as others have said most albums usually have 2 or 3 nice tracks but they don't come close to his classic songs. "The Charity of Night" and "You Never Seen Everything" have more than their usual quota of decent songs but his last three albums have been quite possibly his worst ever with his latest being almost unlistenable for me. Sadly he's now really lost his muse big time but his live shows are always excellent but could be so much better if he only embraced his "golden period" which he rarely wanders into and seems completely embarrassed with which I find very hard to understand.

 

I quite enjoy Bone on Bone. Good point about how he is reluctant to touch the old ones. I think the only I’ve heard him play is Foxglove.

One of my absolute favourites is All the Diamonds in the World.

 

Yeah, it feels very disorganized don't it.

 

The only recent album that I feel is great is the 2 CD live album Slice O Life. This is one is really good. The acoustic guitars sound fantastic, and Bruce is sounding and playing great.

 

YOU PAY YOUR MONEY AND YOU TAKE YOUR
CHANCE -- live album is the best!

Best versions of every song
Just listen to CALL IT DEMOCRACY
It kicks serious @ss! And you really get a sense of the venue in the recording.

Also BIRMINGHAM SHADOWS is awesome!
Bruce really plays "out" on that solo!
Really wish he played more in that vein

It's a short album but imho way better than his other live album, just because the vibe overall is more electrifying

 

He actually has four live albums, plus a few promos as well. All are great imo.

Circles in the Stream - double LP. A real capstone to the early folk period. Amazing guitar playing before he went electric.

Live - caps off the 80s. While there is still that glossy feel to it (in part due to the use of the Chapman Stick, but also Bruce’s electric tone), I feel this one gives a much better representation of his 80s material. No synthesizers and some great examples of how he uses delay so well to fill out his sound.

Pay Your Money - 90s with a band. I saw him on this tour and he was fantastic. This ep represents the tour well.

Slice O Life - a perfect representation of a Bruce solo show. Except for the annoying buzz the whole way through. Was he not grounded at every single show?

 

Yes forgot about CIRCLES....a really good one!

LIVE does sound a bit "glossy"
that's probably why it seems a tad lifeless to me

Wish they would release the 80's (85?)
Berlin tv live show! Great jazzy concert!