Bruce Hornsby (1988) Scenes From The Southside [CD-FLAC]

Review by Vik Iyengar, All Music Guide:
Although many bands feel pressure to record the follow-up to a successful debut, Bruce Hornsby is a seasoned musician who is comfortable in his own skin. For the most part, he and his band stick to the same formula that brought them success with The Way It Is. In other words, Scenes From the Southside is another strong set of piano-based pop with catchy melodies. While the other musicians are able, they just fill out the sound -- this is Hornsby's gig. One of his greatest strengths is that, despite being an accomplished musician, he never shows off his chops at the expense of the song. The lyrics offer a slice of Americana; co-written with his brother, John Hornsby, the songs conjure up feelings of national pride ("Defenders of the Flag") as well as small-town nostalgia ("The Road Not Taken"). However the highlights of the album are the minor hits "Look out Any Window" and "The Valley Road," with their sprawling, grandiose arrangements that rank among his finest work. While not quite as consistent as their debut, Scenes From the Southside is one of Hornsby's best efforts and a must-own for fans.

Review from Amazon.com:
Bruce Hornsby and the Range burst onto the music scene at the end of 1986 with the #1 smash "The Way It Is". Hornsby "the other Bruce" immediately became a recognized name on the music scene. Two trademarks of the Hornsby sound was the incredible piano work and what would soon become known as the "Virginia sound". By mid 1988, Hornsby's second album was released. This album, "Scenes From the Southside" does not disappoint. It capitalizes on those two trademarks, but with a much stronger set of sounds - good enough to win my award for 1988 Album of the Year.
You will hear great piano work on this album and you will hear the "Virginia Sound". The best way I can describe this sound is a mixture of a lot of different genres of music: Jazz, Classical, Bluegrass, Rock, Country, and Pop. Don't forget about "The Range" on this album. Hornsby's background band is superb on this album. Joe Puerta and George Marinelli provide some outstanding background vocals on many of the songs. Bruce Hornsby and John Hornsby provide the lyrics to what is some very strong songwriting. This another case of conventional radio turning their back on something really good because this should have had plenty of airplay.
The album opens with "Look Out Any Window". In this song Hornsby discusses how the key influencers in the world turn their back and ignore some of the every day problems. The last part of this song is really the best part. It is one of the best wrap ups to a song. It's highlighted by the lyrics in which each verse starts with the Range going "Look Out" and then Hornsby singing "Look out for....". I'm shocked that the music industry didn't put this up for record of the year because this is as good as it gets.
The Top 10 hit on the album was "The Valley Road". A very good song in its own right. One thing to listen to is The Range's great background vocals in the chorus. The Range provides great background vocals throughout.
"I Will Walk with You" has some nice piano work in this song. The Piano work complements some great instrumentation perfecty. In this song, Hornsby discusses how "Everybody wants a little more", but also says that things simply "You can pick me up when I fall". It's interesting to hear whether Bruce is talking about a friend or a lover as the person (the 'you') he sings about, but that's what makes the song so good.
"The Road Not Taken" is a seven minute masterpiece. Great piano work, great lyrics. I really felt that we are taken to the deep corners of Virginia when he opens "Down in the southwest town of Richlands, I fell in love with an Applachian girl...". The lyrics and music have a delightfully haunting touch to it as Hornsby paints a story of his relationship with a girl from Applachia. On the chorus, the background vocals are never better as you hear the Range back him perfectly in "Every time I see face". About 3 minutes into the song, there is a beautiful piano interlude before Hornsby goes into the third verse in which he talks about his return to the area after many years. The last minute of the song has a nice piano/guitar jam that wraps up the story nicely. My best description of the song is its a 7 minute movie on a CD and the jam is what you'll hear on the closing credits.
"The Show Goes On" was always one of my favorites. When this song was used in the movie "Backdraft", I got a whole new perspective on this. It was used to show how the firefighters in Chicago keep "going on". Perhaps the lines "But you never noticed, just the same tired flames burn" might have been the influence that Ron Howard used to put this into the movie. A quiet piano solo opens the song and then a great introduction to the song as the rest of the instrumentation comes into play. Then the mellow drum followed by strong piano make for the best one minute lead in to a song I ever heard.
In an interview I heard with Hornsby, "The Old Playground" was "Hornsby's ticket to the NBA". This song was used in NBA Basketball commercials. This is a great tribute to all the games played in the schoolyard playground and intermixes the story of the older one coming to play with the young ones. The beat of the song gives a nice "basketball" feel to the song. Very catchy song.
"Defenders of the Flag" features Huey Lewis playing Harp. Somehow I think this Hornsby's message to the Jim Bakker's of the world as he refers to the preacher. Then he belts out some great lines "If these guys are the good ones, I don't want to hear the bad". This song catches on you as you hear it.
"Jacob's Ladder" was a #1 hit by Huey Lewis and the News about a year before this album was released. Huey and Hornsby have a history together as Huey sang a duet with Bruce on "Down the Road Tonight" on "The Way it Is" album. If you liked the Huey version, you'll love this version.
The album wraps up with "Till the Dreaming's Done". It's a nice mellow end to the album. It's probably the weakest song of the album, but don't look at that as a negative - this album is just so strong and this song would stand on its own.
I'm shocked that this album didn't exceed "The Way It Is" in commercial sales. This had a much stronger set of songs. After this album, Hornsby never reached the plateaus that he hit with this album as he began to search for a new niche for his career. This album is a must buy for Hornsby and non-Hornsby fans alike.