Track Listing

1. I Did It All For You
2. Dragging Hooks (River Song Trilogy Part 3)
3. Bread And Wine
4. Still Waters
5. Dark Hole Again
6. Thousand Year Prayer
7. I'm So Open
8. Small Swift Birds
9. Beneath The Gate
10. Close My Eyes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53283 in Music
• Released on: 2001-05-14
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the three years between Open and their previous studio release--the slightly over-produced but nevertheless compelling Miles from Our Home--Cowboy Junkies have done some conspicuous clearing of their cupboards. There was the odds-and-sods compilation Rarities, B-Sides and Slow, Sad Waltzes and a live album, 200 More Miles. Such behaviour is characteristic of a band in the throes of reinvention, and Open serves to confirm this suspicion. Unfortunately, Cowboy Junkies have embarked on this change in course with the wrong map--basically, they have retained the studio bombast that marred Miles from Our Home and abandoned the choruses that just about redeemed it. Throughout Open, Margo Timmins' glorious voice is wasted on a series of songs that rely rather too hopefully on the ability of an interminable guitar solo to compensate for an absence of melody. The lovely, mournful "Bread & Wine" at least suggests that they haven't quite forgotten what made them great, but there is no argument here for not listening to Trinity Session or The Caution Horses instead. --Andrew Mueller

CD Description
You've got to hand it to the Cowboy Junkies for hanging in there as long as they have. For a band who arguably reached their commercial peak in 1988 with the seminal TRINITY SESSIONS, they've shown an impressive degree of fortitude, continually refining their sound, album after album. Showing the empathy for sonic Americana that made fellow Canadians like the Band into roots-rock heroes, the Junkies built their reputation on dreamy, soft-focus folk-rock with country overtones. Fifteen years after they began, OPEN finds the group in aplace similar to where they started from, but just different enough to justify the long, hard road they've traveled.
Gentle slices of deftly observed rootsiness are still the order of the day, but the fog lifts often enough to let some mid-tempo tunes with moderately biting guitar and forceful feel disrupt the languor. Most importantly, singer Margo Timmins still comes off like a cross between Sandy Denny and a less-Teutonic Nico; striking just the right balance between distance and emotion seems to be a consistent factor in the Cowboy Junkies sound.

Customer Reviews

Hmm...
By their own very high standards, this album is disappointing. As a big fan of this group I was looking forward to seeing if they could improve on the good, but not stunning, "Miles from our home" and excellent "Rarities..." but they've not hit the mark with this offering. For once the official review is accurate, most of the tracks on this album are fairly thin affairs, relying too heavily on atmosphere or heavy guitar rifts. Even after numerous listenings, I'd have to say there are only 3 or 4 good tracks and have even found myself skipping tracks, something I rarely do with this band! Fans (like me) might enjoy the lamenting "Thousand Year Prayer" or heavy "I'm so Open" but this is NOT a good introduction to their work. They might not reach the highs of "Trinity Sessions", "Caution Horses", "Black Eyed Man" or even "Rarities.." again, but lets hope they can do better than this in the future.

What can I say?
Open by CJ is not a bad cd at all, but for a CJ cd it is a lot diffent than the rest of their Cds. I think it is loud, and Margos voice is drowning in the noise. I consider myself a huge fan but on this record I get off. That's the reason why I've rate this album with only 2 stars. Less rock more CJ next time.

A band at the height of its powers
This album sounds to me like a band at the height of its powers. There's no lack of melody, and the gorgeous vocal sits well across a complex and brooding layer of sound created by a guitar band making intelligent use of studio to create a subtly larger than life sound. The songs cast a baleful glow which will not disappoint followers of the group. I enjoyed this album as much as Caution Horses, which for me is their milestone recording.