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Pearls Before Swine - ... Beautiful Lies You Could Live In. CD (album) cover

... BEAUTIFUL LIES YOU COULD LIVE IN.

Pearls Before Swine

 

Prog Folk

3.67 | 15 ratings

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Sean Trane
Special Collaborator
Prog Folk
3 stars This is the last album from Pearls Before Swine on which Tm Rapp used the PBS name, as later he would issue his future recordings under his own name and not that much longer after, he would quit the music business altogether. Although the album returns to an ancient Flemish themed artwork, unlike its two predecessors, BLYCLI was recorded in NYC, but the slide towards country music continued

There are still some superb tracks on here, although none would fit on Balaklava or Use Of Ashes (even if Snow Queen comes close to it), and while the plaintive Butterflies (beautiful), the lovely Freedom are folk- rock tracks, they find themselves in a minority in this album, but it's difficult to say that this album is not still rooted in the folk realm, especially knowing that this is Rapp singing all tracks bar the covers). On the other hand, tracks like A Life, the bland Simple Things & Come To Me (with that awfully loud fiddle), the duet with his wife Everybody's Got Pain, the intriguing Island Lady and yet another Leonard Cohen cover Bird On A Wire all have a distinct country flavour, sometimes just a hint of it, at others by the trucl load. Actually the album would've veered country if Tom had not finished it with three pure folk songs, including Freedom and the aptly titled Epitaph.

While BLYCLI is still a fine PBS album, I wouldn't call it essential; it's clear that Rapp is moving away from his classic stuff, but this is a real artiste's choice to keep progressing, even if it isn't in the direction I'd wish.

Sean Trane | 3/5 |

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