This was an impulse buy after trying the CD out at a listening station in a store. I'm glad I didn't judge this one by the cover, because the cover definitely said "WARNING: Mopey Singer-Songwriter Guy!"
For my money MS-SG is the only thing worse than Mopey Singer-Songwriter Girl--cliche ridden, stuffed with tortured metaphors, anguished lyrics and melodies that all sound the same. It's enough to make me want to either put the singer out of his/her misery or put me out of mine! Honestly, it's the kind of stuff that gives acoustic music, singer-songwriters, and folk music a bad rap.
Thankfully, this wasn't the case with Ford. He takes all the MS-SG cliches and turns them on their collective head. He can be witty, acerbic, scathing, political, bitter, ironic, and even a little sentimental, but never sappy and certainly never sound-alike dull. This one was definitely the musical discovery of the year for me.
From Music for the Road:
"Go to Hell" the album opener.
"Requiem" wherein Ford channels Dylan without coming off as derivative.
"Song for the Road" where he gets tender and emotional without going overboard with the sentimental nonsense. Next time I make a CD for Keith, I'm including this one.
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