Tom Russell
Box Of Visions

The cover changes, but not the essence: after the formidable trilogy consisting of "Road To Bayamon" from 1988, "Poor Man's Dream" from 1990, and "Hurricane Season" from 1991, the name Tom Russell Band disappears, but it's just a marginal detail: the most stable and important member of the group, the guitarist Andrew Hardin, remains solidly by Tom Russell's side, and at least for one album, the sound continues the tradition of its predecessors. "Box Of Visions" from 1992 is indeed the most strictly rock album among those titled solely to Tom Russell; it isn't one of his best works in a strict sense but remains a highly enjoyable and interesting album; its most important characteristic is undoubtedly being Russell's most "international" work, significantly less tied to the American setting than its predecessors and, even more so, its successors.

The sound of "Box Of Visions" is markedly folk-rock, much more rock than folk, as can be understood from the start, from the undisputed and emblematic standout track of the album: "Angel Of Lyon", a song that speaks of visions, dreams, spirituality, but above all, an inner search, the need to fill an existential void that a wealthy life cannot quell. Among the many characters sung by Tom Russell, this self-imposed vagabond, this "crazy old fool for his angel of Lyon", is one of the most unique and suggestive, and this relentless and visionary midtempo, reaching its peak in Andrew Hardin's powerful solo, perfectly conveys the inner tension and noble yet desperate search of our anonymous character; this wonderful song has even captured the attention of a renowned Italian singer-songwriter, who honored it with a beautiful cover adapted to his unmistakable style. From one character to another, the thriving rock vein in the album continues with a vibrant and contrasting portrait of a young dancer who, chasing her dream, falls victim to her fragility, losing her innocence and freedom forever; this is the delightful, lively, and spirited "Annette", enriched by keyboards and Andrew Hardin's inspired guitar, more incisive and crucial than ever in what is, in all respects, "his" album, as also demonstrated in the classic, grounded, and gripping rock of "Hong Kong Boy", in "Waterloo", leaning more towards an ironic and American-style country-rock, with a prominently featured steel guitar, and in the tensest, most electric and impactful ballad of the album, the bitter "Manzanar", the story of a Japanese immigrant who, after the Pearl Harbor attack, is interned in a desert prison, along with many of his fellow countrymen for no reason, a dark and too often forgotten page of US history during WWII, recounted with the usual sensitivity and mastery, with an apparent sweetness that conceals the sense of helplessness and humiliation characterizing this intimate, poignant, and unique protest song.

Speaking of ballads, these are somewhat the cross and delight of "Box Of Visions": aside from "Manzanar", all others are more or less tied to love themes, but some of them are not entirely convincing, for instance, "Purgatory Road" is intriguing for its theme of religion and how it can negatively influence relationships, but musically it sounds like a fairly anonymous rock ballad, "Heart Of Hearts", enriched by a saxophone, and the semi-acoustic "Coney Island Moon" are sweet love songs, beautiful in their genre, but from someone like Tom Russell, one always expects more, a more personal touch, something like "Wedding Dress Mary", a wonderful and gentle waltz, dreamy, embellished by a splendidly visionary text and the soothing sound of a violin; the most strictly folk episode of the entire record along with another gem, no longer white but black and unsettling: "Blood Oranges"; another story, that of a researcher arriving in Morocco to study a nomadic tribe and meeting an unexpected fate. The song is entirely acoustic, with Russell and Hardin's arpeggios perfectly recreating a Middle Eastern atmosphere full of mystery and tension, the singing is sparse and suggestive, and it fascinates for the almost fierce detachment with which it recounts this story until its tragic and ironic ending.

To put the definitive seal on this album is "Box Of Visions" (here in a beautiful duet with Iris DeMent dated 1997), another acoustic episode, almost a sweet lullaby dedicated to his son Shannon, distinguished not only for its candid and absolute simplicity but also for a poetic text full of visions: "A song is just a box of visions, you can't unlock it with a key, a message rolled into a bottle and dropped into the salty sea, a song is just a box of visions, a jar of hearts, a gypsy's ear, a labyrinth of wild roses, a journey through the house of mirrors". Despite a couple of merely filler episodes, "The Extra Mile" and the already mentioned "Purgatory Road", this is a beautiful album, perfectly reflecting its title, deserving four full stars; moreover, we will practically never hear such a rock-oriented Tom Russell again; "Box Of Visions" definitively closes a cycle and does so magnificently, albeit slightly inferior to the three albums under the Tom Russell Band name.