The Sky and The Ground

Produced by Simon Boswell and Pierce Turner
Recorded at Dreamland Recording Studio, Woodstock, N.Y.


(1) The Sky and The Ground     Video on You tube
(2) His Reason
(3) Have You Looked At he Sun(Lately)
(4) You Can Never Know
(5) Surface In Heaven
(6) Mayhem        Live on You Tube
(7) The Answer
(8) Time Flies(when you don't know what you're doing)
(9) Jem(instrumental)

Pierce Turner The Sky And The Ground

4of 5 Stars


On "You Can Never Know," this curious Celt tries to explain the emotions encountered while driving to the sound of "Walk on the Wild Side" ("It felt so good to hear those colored girls sing") and singing in a cathedral boys' choir in his Irish youth ("It felt so good to hear those choir voicings") – all while maintaining that it's impossible to explain those emotions. That same dilemma confronts anyone trying to explain this record.

Sure, there are plenty of tangible qualities: the soaring, classical melodies (concocted within a fairly conventional rockband format but laced with a stately trombone); the Catholic-grounded grace-versus-guilt conflict and the longing for simplicity that are at the core of the personal yet universal lyrics; Turner's pleasingly raw vocals. But the whole is much more than the sum of those parts.

The key may be the expansive sense of freedom and joy with which Turner attacks his songs, his self-production breaking from the rigid formality of his 1987 Philip Glass-produced debut. (Glass turns up on the album with a lovely oboe-and-cello arrangement on "The Answer.") There's a playfulness to the way Turner stretches and twists rhythms and melodic lines on the title song and the percolating "Time Flies (When You Don't Know What You're Doing)." And there's an appealing sense of openness and optimism in songs like "Surface in Heaven" and "Have You Looked at the Sun (Lately)" that simply cannot be described. The only way to really know is to listen for yourself. (

STEVE HOCHMAN

(Posted: May 4, 1989)

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