| Farm Fresh Onions - Robert Earl Keen | |
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Reviewed by Jennifer Webb
Robert Earl Keen definitely has his own style and does what he feels is right for the songs that he writes. From blues to humor and observances of people, there is something for all types of music lovers on Farm Fresh Onions whether it be rock or country or practically any other genre.
A story that starts out about a man who wakes up in a strange place, "All I Have Is Today," suddenly turns into searching for a better way of living. "All I want is to climb that mountain. All I need is another way" he sings as he witnesses what other people around him are doing as he ponders the road ahead.
The longest song on the album is, "Train Trek," which is a whopping six minutes long. The train's engineer seemingly takes too long to get anywhere and it is almost impossible to stop him no matter what goes on. Turning around is not an option so Robert sings about seeing the tunnel ahead along with a preacher who he think has been drinking so he thinks that everyone is going to die.
"Farm Fresh Onions," the title track, is a '60s sounding spoken-word tribute to the vegetables. He talks about what they look like and how good they are for a person, then he launches into a line about not being able to wait until he can go out and buy some.
"Gone On" sounds like a fun jam session that is being held on someone's back porch and it feels like you are sitting right there in the middle of things. "Don't wait too late it won't be long" so you better do what you want to do with your life before it is too late is the moral of this story.
With an expected blues sound, Robert sings his heart out on "So Sorry Blues." Not knowing what to do is all-too-common but sometimes you cannot understand that feeling because of appearance of despair into your life - you just want to wallow in self pity and loneliness. There is a guitar solo toward the middle of the song that sounds so good and bluesy that it sounds just like something BB King would play.
Just when you think the ode to onions is over, if you wait two minutes after "Let The Music Play" you'll get another "extended mix" of "Farm Fresh Onions Extras." Only this time it sounds like hard core heavy metal but then suddenly changes into hardcore honky tonk. At the end Robert says "I think we have enough now" as he laughs.
Closing the album with something humorous is only typical of the type of artist that Robert Earl Keen is, he knows there are serious and humor sides to every situation so he sings songs about both.
Song List:
Album cover, used with permission of Audium Entertainment.
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