James Taylor
Hourglass

THE REVIEW

Platinum Grains from Taylor's Hourglass, 1997: "Hourglass" (Clessidra).

Yet another masterpiece of Taylor's mature composition after "Never Die Young" (1988), "New Moon Shine" (1991), and preceding the equally splendid "October Road" (2002). The Boston guitarist has been meticulous with his output of original works since the mid-eighties, offering a quality that is consistently very high. In fact, this is the only album of the '90s alongside "New Moon Shine"; this absence from the music scene probably also benefited the sales, as the album quickly topped the world charts and Taylor's popularity (already very high in the States) skyrocketed (enough to be represented in an episode of the animated series 'The Simpsons' from those years). The album opens with "Line 'Em Up," a soft ballad with an ironic and catchy refrain about the farewell of former U.S. President Richard Nixon from the White House in '74. A moment that is extremely moving for the American artist and is described with great regret: "I remember Richard Nixon back in '74, and the final scene at the White House door, and the staff lined up to say good-by, tiny tear in his shifty little eye... At that time my heart was all broke, I looked like ashes and smelled like smoke..."

The second track is stellar, with one of those 'beginnings' of guitar and voice that give goosebumps, the kind that only James can create. From this comes a bitter reflection on how everything continues to exist on earth, with cynical perseverance: "So the sun shines on this funeral, just the same as on a birth, the way it shines on everything that happens here on Earth..." It continues with one of the driving tracks of the album "Little More Time With You." A very rhythmical single featuring a special guest on his beloved harmonica: Stevie Wonder. (In reality, the James-Stevie collaboration, as bizarre as it may seem, is not new. The two had already duetted about thirty years earlier in 1976 on a track called "Don't Be Sad 'Cause Your Sun Is Down" from Taylor's album 'In The Pocket.'). The aforementioned track "Little More Time With You" soon became famous for the stir caused by some of the lyrics, in which the singer-songwriter with clear self-irony admits to having been addicted in the past to various substances: Methadone (a drug used for detoxifying heroin addicts), cocaine, alcohol, and finally admits to having abandoned them to indulge in the smoking of 'Tobacco Jones'. A glimpse of text from this: "...I passed on the cocaine, said bye-bye to my methadone, put down the bottle for one more day and backing off of my Tobacco Jones..." Sweet and harmonious is the melody for the next "Gaia," a track with great atmosphere about the strength of nature, and a plea to the goddess of nature to save it from our own continuous assaults; Saving nature is saving ourselves, wise Mr. Taylor sings to us. This is followed by two more 'easy' and immediate tracks, less important but equally catchy: "Ananas" and "Jump Up Behind Me," the latter with a particularly catchy and beautiful chorus. It also contains another illustrious duet with Sting on vocals in the 'Chorus.' The seventh track is one of the expressive cores of the album, a piece of extreme sweetness and sensitivity that touches the deepest strings of the soul, at the rhythm with which Taylor plucks those of his classical guitar, inevitably inducing me to a second listen every time. The subsequent tracks are also very beautiful, maintaining a very high level, although the musical strength of the album has already been largely unleashed in the previous part of the record. Returning for the closure is a Taylor gem, it is the concluding piece "Walking My Baby Back Home," a typical Taylorian romantic ballad. Also noteworthy is the extremely country ghost track "Hangnail." A worldwide success (to which James Taylor is not always accustomed) and Grammy for Best Pop Album in 1998.

Listen while allowing yourself to be relaxed by the magnificent melodies traced by the author's notes, but also paying attention to the beautiful lyrics, which account for more than half of the album's beauty.