Track Listing

1. The Way
2. Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise?
3. Master and Everyone
4. Wolf Among Wolves
5. Joy and Jubilee
6. Maundering
7. Lessons From What's Poor
8. Even If Love
9. Three Questions
10. Hard Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23050 in Music
• Released on: 2003-01-27
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
A slippery character, Will Oldham. Just when it seems we're beginning to understand his subversive ways with country and folk, he'll evade categorisation once again. So it is with Master and Everyone, the third album Oldham's recorded as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, having spent most of the 90s playing as Palace.

Oldham made his name with a perverse streak, a quavering voice and a taste for storytelling that could be broadly termed hillbilly gothic. Master and Everyone, however, is a steady and intimate affair in which he takes on a more conventionally lovelorn persona. It's hard to say whether this directness equals honesty, given that Oldham's tricksy games with character are a match for those of Dylan at his most duplicitous.

Still, Master and Everyoneis an uncommonly engaging album. The musical settings are as minimal as anything Oldham's tried since 1994's Palace Brothers. But there's a certain warmth and quiet confidence that's new, aided by the presence of various bits of Lambchop (including producer/ambient guitarist Mark Nevers) as Oldham's latest back-up band. And, in spite of Oldham claiming he left off a few songs for fear people would like them too much, "The Way", "Wolf among Wolves" and the title track are among the strongest this curmudgeonly genius has ever released. He's still untrustworthy, still spellbinding. --John Mulvey

CD Description
'Master And Everyone' is the third album under the moniker,Bonnie Prince Billy, for the former Palace man, Will Oldham. It follows 2001's, 'Ease Down The Road', and has been described by critics as a cross between the sound of that album and his first "Bonnie" release, 'I See A Darkness'.

Customer Reviews

Bearded, oddball eccentric produces yet another classic….
Will Oldham is a cult figure; his legions of devoted fans would even say he’s a genius. Under his different monikers he has produced some incredibly good albums, The Palace Brothers “Viva Last Blues” and “There’s No-One What Will Take Care Of You” were as oddball and eccentric as anything around at the time and it’s a marvel that he was lumped in with the alt-country genre. That said, his music does share some of the subtle emotional heartbreak and Americana that is a requirement for the style, the difference is the manner in which he pulls it off.

He has played many characters in his time; the pensive, resentment and gloom of “I See A Darkness”, the drunken, maudlin warbling of “Ease Down The Road” and now the subtle, heartbroken misogyny of “Master and Everyone”. This may not sound like the most pleasant of themes for any album but the sheer beauty with which he carries it off is really special. Quiet, calm, peaceful and glacially distressing it is one of his finest works to date.

Each song is the equal of the next – starting with the Nick Drake-esque “The Way”, as simple as a song could get with as much emotional punch as anything you’ve ever heard. Quite fantastic. We move on and find “Ain’t You Wealthy, Ain’t You Wise”, a duet with the honey-throated Marty Slayton, which confirms that the vocals recorded on this album are as strong as anything he has ever put on record. The title track is barren and pale but there is still meaning to be found in its detail of post break up resolutions.

The entire album is dotted with songs that range from extremely good to exceptional. The duets serve their role perfectly with “Maundering” recounting the biblical themes that Oldham has espoused throughout his career and Slayton’s voice seeming to be the thing for which he is driving himself to, some hope amidst the understated gloom. “Hard Life”, easily the most joyous track on the album, also benefits from this unlikely vocal combination. However, the real highlight of the album is “Wolf Among Wolves” in which the conflict of love and religion, infidelity and indifference that Oldham is intending to depict in the album really comes to the fore.

Some have criticised the album for its bleak serenity, being too pale to have an emotional impact. However, anyone who listens closely to the album will find an incredibly gorgeous, rewarding record that never quite answers the questions that Oldham poses to himself but has a lot of fun deliberating. His best work since “I See A Darkness” having the highest praise of being an album which almost matches that in its scope and vision. Quite fantastic.

Oddball, acoustic hero with yet another classic….
What can we say about Will Oldham that hasn’t already been said? A modern genius with such potency and talent at his fingers that he can produce album after album of poetic genius and reach an increasingly wide audience without ever disappointing those who went along from the start of the ride.

I initially heard the Palace Brothers “Idle Hands Are The Devil’s Playthings” about 9 years ago and dismissed it back then as weird alternative folk. Now, here I am, almost a decade later and I am singing his praises, giving him credit for the inspiration that he is. In modern times it isn’t easy for bearded oddballs to make it into the charts, save Badly Drawn Boy, I can’t think of anyone close. Yet Oldham, infinitely more bizarre than Damon Gough, has charmed and wooed a legion of fans over the years. And once again with “Master and Everyone” Oldham has produced a record that can match any of his previous efforts – even the mind-blowingly good “I See A Darkness” and “Viva Last Blues”.

Whereas “I See A Darkness” was grandiose miserabilism based around piano and shuffling drums, this album is a beautiful, peaceful and understated pine for loves lost and loves to come based around little more than a gently plucked guitar, occasional bass and vibes. Add to the mix a voice that has evolved from a pale, fractured shiver into a brave yet still shy croon and you have a record of mood and emotion which is rarely matched these days (though 'Iron and Wine' has given a run for its money in recent months).

“The Way” introduces the album perfectly, sounding like the simplest Nick Drake song never recorded. From there the album never lets its foot of the gas, every song is a highlight. The occasional duets with Marty Slayton add emotional fuel to the fire, sounding as vocally perfect as anything which Oldham has put down on record. As such songs like “Ain’t You Wealthy, Ain’t You Wise”, “Joy and Jubilee” and “Maundering” are as engaging songs as Oldham has ever written.

Overall, the mood is one of quiet reflection and introspection, something which Bonnie Prince Billy excels at and although “I See A Darkness” may overall be a better record it is almost equalled by this.

Go and buy. Let the fun begin.

Introspective, acoustic magic
We're blessed in 2003 already - it's only February and we've had Iron & Wine's astounding debut and now this... professional curudgeon Will Oldham has created an intimate, fragile masterpiece of eloquent lyrics and softly strummed guitar with the occasional augmentation of strings or keyboards. It's a neo-folky, countryesque ramble through loves lost and won and won't be going more than five feet from my stereo for the next few months.

Marty Slayton, who duets with Oldham on 'Ain't You Wealthy, Ain't You Wise?' has a voice that could melt your heart, and thought there are too many highlights to mention, special praise must go to the wonderful 'Three Questions' and the closing 'Hard Life' which starts as a John Martynesque folk lament and turns itself inside out into a classic acoustic pop tune. This is lovingly crafted, bubbling with emotion and it won't sell anything like as many copies as it would in a fairer world. C'est la vie.