Subway To The Country – DAVID ACKLES***

Main Line Saloon/That’s No Reason To Cry/Candy Man/Out On The Road/Cabin On The Mountain/Woman River/Inmates Of The Institution/Subway To The Country

Subway To The Country was the second album from American singer songwriter David Ackles. He is recognised, but not always appreciated, for his elaborate musical style with strong theatrical influences.

“Ackles gets categorized as a folk musician, but he is an anomaly in many respects. He was a pianist who sang in the manner of a cabaret performer, in a rich baritone voice. Each Ackles song is a carefully polished narrative. After listening to an Ackles album, you feel as if you've just been treated to a fine set of short stories by a master writer.”

“I respect David Ackles enormously and feel lucky to have discovered his music. These songs are dense and complex but not as engaging as on his self-titled first album or the later American Gothic. Although this is a good album, it's very idiosyncratic and I would suggest not a good place to start for the uninitiated.” “The songs have depths that other more acclaimed singer/songwriters could only dream of. All eight songs are brilliant. Sometimes the devil doesn't have all the best tunes.”

“I really want to like David Ackles records, I really do. But this heavy, show-tuney, overwrought productions make listening to this record a chore.”

“I think Ackles made a mistake with the over elaborate theatrical arrangements which make a lot of the tracks an ordeal to listen to, particularly when coupled with his attempts to croon his way through the record. That said he is a fantastic lyricist as the unsettling Candy Man more than proves, whilst the Main Line Saloon cabaret stylings work out as a fine opener to the record. But somehow its not enough to make me want to return to this record often, as I find much of it energy-sapping.”

“It's still a unique offering of the Ackles style, which is certainly an acquired taste, but this is not one you'll want to spin very often. The arrangements are oddly jarring with the attempts to wed blues and mild rock instrumental flavourings, to his increasingly more obvious music hall and theatrical stylings, that fall flat most of the time.”