Sundown is a fine album which weaves conventional folk and pop strands into a whole that is greater than its parts. The polish of Lightfoot's singing has tended in the past to undermine the seriousness of his songs, inviting the listener to appreciate his records mainly as aural artifacts rather than explore its contents. But most of Sundown's 12 songs are so evocative that they prohibit such easy perusal.

Lightfoot's singing is almost crooning -- a style which understates and redeems the rhetorical and sentimental conventions intrinsic to all formal songwriting. Producer Lenny Waronker has outdone himself helping Lightfoot achieve a balance between surface and substance, by providing a varied instrumental palette, richly acoustic and adorned by some excellent string charts from Nick DeCaro.

Lightfoot's reflections are those of a mature man, capable of strong romantic and political emotions, tempered by a suave sexuality and an elegiac mysticism. "Somewhere U.S.A."is a lovely evocation of romantic complications experienced during the daze of travel. "High and Dry" also celebrates travel and uses the image of a ship and its different skippers to affirm continuities. The six-minute "Seven Island Suite" is the album's most ambitious cut, and presents an elusive apocalyptic vision. More incisive are "Sundown," an ominous assertion of sexual jealously, and "Circle of Steel," a protest song about the antagonisms of welfare and poverty.

Further reading on Super Seventies RockSite!: Album Review: If You Could Read My Mind Album Review: Don Quixote Album Review: Old Dan's Records Single Review: "Sundown" Gordon Lightfoot Lyrics

The album's last and most powerful cut, "Too Late for Prayin'" is perhaps Lighfoot's finest creation. A modified hymn, somewhat reminiscent of Paul Simon's "American Tune," "Too Late" is both a prayer for our spiritual restoration and a lament for its absence. It is the work of a master craftsman whose endurance and prolificacy have yet to receive just recognition in the United States.

- Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone, 3/14/74.

Bonus Reviews!

If Gordon had dyed his hair and taken a short course at the local car wash -- you think he would have lasted a week? -- he might have found a new career as Jim Croce II. Instead, he scored one of his periodic hit singles, thus securing his status as a weird new kind of purist: uncompromising proponent of commercial folk music. Two songs about the lure of the sea and one about urban despair go down as easy as the usual plaints about female perdify. Chad lives? B-

- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.

Lightfoot's commercial peak came with this album, which topped the US charts, containing both the #1 title song and the Top 10 hit "Carefree Highway." But songs like "Somewhere U.S.A." and "High and Dry" are textured, catchy folk/rock on a par with the better known tunes. * * * *

- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.

The triple-threat Canadian troubadour with a one-of-a-kind sound was at the peak of his abilities on this lyrically amazing, commercial success. Offering songs like "Sundown," a classic, and "Carefree Highway," it's perfect listening for laid-back evenings. Still, a few think it's a shame that some of the tunes are a bit dull, suggesting a look into Gord's Gold for a cache of pure hits. * * * *

- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.

Read more reviews, listen to song samples, and buy this album at Amazon.com. Prefer CD Universe? Click here. Or try GEMM's international network of CD, vinyl and tape dealers. Search for any artist, album, or song on the iTunes music store.

Search for great music deals at eBay. Search for great deals on your music at f.y.e. Search for ringtones by this artist at Thumbplay.com. Buy Music Posters at AllPosters.com.

 Main Page | The Classic 400 | Readers' Favorites | Other Seventies Discs | Search The RockSite/The Web