Bruce Hornsby and the Range
The Way It Is

Wow, I thought, is there really no review of one of the most beautiful albums from the distant 1986? It's time to do justice to Bruce Hornsby, born in 1954, a Virginian by birth and Californian by adoption, an excellent pianist and composer who rose to musical fame with "The Way It Is," none other than the best album in the States that year and 3rd on the overseas sales charts.

At thirty, Bruce formed the group "The Range" and signed a contract with RCA, which produced this troubled yet successful album. In fact, the first version had an entirely different graphic design than the one later distributed worldwide. While the numbering of the tracks remained unchanged, differences in mixing occurred due to Bruce's relative dissatisfaction with their musicality. The reissue operation was also positive from a marketing standpoint, and given the results, it was undoubtedly a smart move.

Nevertheless, the product shines with its own light thanks to the excellent riff and the skillful syncopated use of the piano by Bruce, which stands out particularly in the famous title track, accompanying his warm and persuasive voice. A captivating track that maintains its freshness after three decades, precisely due to the undeniably valuable piano arrangement. The same can be said for the harmonic "The River Runs Low" interpreted by Bruce almost as a soloist. Other notable tracks include "Every Little Kiss" and the closing one, just to leave a decidedly positive impression on the listener, hitting the mark here as well.

The rest of the tracks on "The Way It Is" are essentially homogeneous and balanced, perhaps even too much, with a decidedly pronounced prevalence of Bruce, except for "The Long Race" where the presence of David Mansfield is noticeable, so much so that one does not note any individual talents in the Range that would allow Hornsby, the composer of all the tracks, to easily do without them in the future.......

Thirty years down the line, this typically "west" music product seems a bit aged and repetitive precisely because of the excessive predominance of the author, which limits my judgment to a scant four stars that I round up out of respect for what it once was. The good Bruce then continued his decent career with other peaks, among which it's worth mentioning "Harbour Lights," in addition to, of course, his collaboration with many greats of the era.