Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Entertainrr To Si By JOHN BARTUS SUH Writer After a long and silent Hoi av Dan Foeelhort? has finally released his new album. A two-record concept album, The Innocent Age is composed of songs which celebrate the long lost days of our youths. The haunting and symbolic cover photograph of an old china doll leaning against a tombstone sets the mood for the songs contained within, which represent Fogelberg's best material yet. Dan Fogelberg's career has been an interesting one tn fnllnw hpraiiQP with successive album, he gets better. Each new album represents a lyrical and musical progression from the older ones; the The Innocent Age is certainly no exception. Fogelberg has really improved with age, and his many talents are snowcaseci within the album, on which he played and arranged nearly all of the instruments, sang most of the lead and harmony vocals, and assisted with the orchestral arrangements. Not to mention the fact that he wrote all but one of the songs by himself (the exception being "Empty Cages," to which he wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the melody with some other musicians). Side one opens with "Nexus," a song about S lent iilkar eekl searching for a direction or purpose in life, while exaltine those who have found their own ways to travel ("Wealthy the spirit that knows its own flight"). Joni Mitchell's descant vocals, African rhythms, and Fogelberg's electric sitar playing highlight this opening song. "The Innocent Age," the title track, warns other travelers in life to hold onto their youths while they still can, for youth is a thing that : 11 :r*i_ i r win swmiy pass, anu ior which the price of recovery is infinitely high. "The Sand and the Foam" continues in this vein. A gentle acoustic melody, this song reflects upon the days of youth past, old and worn memories likened to a pressed flower in a book. And time is like the eternal tide, which washes away days like "the sand and the foam." "In the Passage" is a powerful Fogelberg melody which closes out side one. It represents the futility in trying to stop and look backwards for any meaning in life, taking into account life's insane pace: In the passage from the cradle to the grave We are born, madly dancing Rushing headlong through the crashine of the davs We run on and on without a backwards glance. i X I ! ??HI gVei rhe it ! v ma "Lost in the Sun" is an uptempo rock melody which opens side two. In this song, ii i 4i r ugeiLKji g 1 c<ni?t;o uiai me more he tries to find his answers, the further away they become. "Run for the Roses" is a mellow country influenced song which on the surface is a song about the preparation of a Kentucky thoroughbred for his moment of glory in his run for the roses. It also represents the preparation a person undergoes to face the future, getting ready for "the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance." "1 iiaHoi" nf tlin io A-TV-WVlVxA VI HlVs UU11U iO Fogelberg's personal tribute to his father, whom Fogelberg credits with giving him the gift of music. The only instruments in the song are an acoustic guitar and a brass section ? a seemingly odd combination, they blend well together. The familiar single "Same Old Lang Syne" closes out side two with a reflection upon older days brought about by a chance Christmas Eve meeting with an old lover. They both long to recaptur e a part of the past, as their futures have turned out to be not quite what they had expected. Michael Brecker shines on soprano saxophone, and the song is still as meaningful as before. Fogelberg goes back to a rock melody to open side three with a song called "Stolen Moments." On this track, Fogelberg wonders why it is so hard to keep a love anve. me L,ion s Share" continues this mood of frustration in life. A mellow rock melody, this cut is about one who wanders in life without a direction, yearning for better days like .the ones that he left behind. "Only the Heart May Know" is a duet performed with Emmylou Harris, both of them setting up a dialogue. Fogelberg asks where the innocence and beauty of his childhood have gone, to which Harris replies that they are alive within his memories, in places that "only the heart may know." Side three's last song, "The R?arh " is a maiestir orchestrated piece about growing up, father and son, with the sea. As the refrain lends images of riding the crashing waves, Fogelberg maintains that the reach will remain a stabilizing torce in his life, even though the seas may "swell and roll." nIiim IIIVIV lliOCC Dan Foge "Aireshire Lament," a sad Irish violin instrumental piece, leads into "Times Like These," a rocker also found on the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack. It rebels against straightjacket routines which the demon of muiicy unves ptiupie into. "The haunting an photograph of an ol against a tombstoi # - for...i-ogeit>erg's best "Hard to Say" is the new single, a country-flavored song about the doubts and r i -/ i 11 a w s ui iove, y ei acknowledging the paramount importance of love in one's life. "Empty Cages" is a driving rock tune about the evil forces of uncertainty and doubt in life, ss Ba >nt A 1 I 2Fh * i Iberc sets better with each n<>v the fury and tempest caused by these forces, and the question of how to deal with them throughout life. Fogelberg saves the best for last, as he closes the album with a song entitled "Ghosts." One of Fogelberg's best songs ever, d symbolic cover Id china doll leaning ne sets the mood material yet." it is a fitting conclusion to the concept theme of The Innocent Age. The melody starts out slow and haunting as ghosts of the past come creeping into today, old memories which steal up on one in the night. The melody builds as their influence grOWS. Vftt Wf? arn r v ^ ViillllUVU :? t*> rlr ae '? # W. L f . 4 i v album. ^ that "death is there to keep us honest." The album as a whole reaches its climax in the chorus of this song, a powerful culmination of the entire concept of the album: Down the ancient corridors And through the gates of time Run the Ifhoata nf Hn\tc fhnf 0 -v.7u V..V* ? we left behind. The Innocent Age as a concept album works. Fogelberg has pulled out all the stops for this one, and it has resulted in his best work yet. The concept and the songs within will strike familiar chords with anyone who carries memories of a time when life didn't seem so b&d. And Fogelberg remains not only a telented musician, but also a sensitive t eAn<fin??U/*M 1 ouii^m uci auu urusi, anu this album is a showcase of his gift. I only wonder how he is going to top this superb effort.