Track Listing

1. Man Who Loved Life
2. Think About It
3. Trouble
4. It's Up To You
5. Stick In The Mud
6. Big Star
7. Poor Little Fish
8. Sixteen Down
9. Haywire
10. Dying On A Vine
11. Bottomless Cup
12. Sound Of Lies

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19744 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
This 1997 release was slow to catch on with Jayhawks fans; the departure of founder-guitarist-vocalist Mark Olson seemed destined to mark the band as one that had seen better days. But not only do the impeccable country-rock leanings of singer/songwriter Gary Louris shine as always here, his vocals soar beautifully with pianist Karen Grotberg's (as they did with Olson's), and the band isn't shy about genre hopping. Psychedelic pop makes a cameo appearance ("Think About It"), adult-oriented rock is perfected ("Big Star", "It's Up to You"), and gorgeous, genteel ballads ("Sound of Lies", "Trouble") continue to impress. Louris wears his heart on his sleeve in the raw-nerve musings of "Dying on the Vine" and "The Man Who Loved Life" is a perfect Jayhawks moment: a quiet, lone piano opens the song, which builds slowly with layers of vocals, guitar, and piano, resulting in a majestic coda. --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews

Essential
One of the great songwriters, alongside a wonderful mix of musicians, and wearing his heart on his sleave, Louris gently, energetically, and respectfully buries everything that came before. SOL is a bonefide Masterpiece, and with it deserves its place among the great albums in anyone's lifetime.

To borrow a phrase of a very good friend of mine: "It's a no risk purchase..". Enjoy.

An Amazing Country Rock Album
This is a truly great album by The Jayhawks, if not their best. With Garry Louris at the helm of one hell of a group et al Marc Perlman, Tim O'Reagan, Kraig Johnson and Karen Grotberg. Mr Louris songwriting is at it's best with a mixture of country rock and sweet ballads. The muscianship is quite outstanding, all acomplished muscians in their own right, they gel with perfection. A very under-rated album.

...rings funny against the truth
When Mark Olson left The Jayhawks to be with Victoria Williams, he took a lot with him. The band he left are a very different one to that which recorded Tomorrow The Green Grass. But you can only take music on it's own terms, and listen to this record in its own right.

No question that the overall quality of the songs is awesome, but something is missing and even the word 'quality' seems very apt - like tugging at the seam of a pair of trousers on a saturday afternoon in M&S - look at the quality! Maybe this is music for 'grown-ups' like the other review said...

The Man Who Loved Loved Life is an amazing way to start the record, and I thought Gary Louris was going to pull the whole thing off, but just like Smile three years later, the band play their trump card first. That's not to say it's downhill from here; Sound of Lies itself and Sixteen Down in particular are beautiful and Gary Loris writes amazing lyrics that are so honest and heartbreaking that every song has a depth and emotional quality that sets him apart from most other songwriters today. He has a wonderful voice too, kind of thin but full, a bit reedy (hardly Mark Olson, but we shouldn't mention him!) but gorgeous - James Taylor's voice was once described as a warm fire to curl up next to (or something) and Gary Louris' has that same quality. Not only that, but the melodies are often distinctly Gary Louris. Beck is the only other person I can think of who you could play just the simple melody on a piano and have people recognize it straight off. Great playing throughout, too, although perhaps certain bass players should stick to playing bass and not writing songs...

I guess the problem is they can't get away from the past. You know how when you're young, you go out with someone for ages and it seems perfect and wonderful, then you break up and are crushed and you'll never be happy and much later you *really* meet someone and you know from the off that you never had a clue until now what you you were talking about when you were talking about love? Well, with The Jayhawks its the other way round!