Music > Styles > Alternative Rock > General

	buying more than one thing? add to bookbag(uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or intereact!

White Ladder
David Gray
Retail Price (not our price): $17.98
Release Date: 2000-03-21
Manufacturer: Ato Records
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com's Best of 2000
David Gray's glorious fourth record explodes in a wellspring of spacious, electronica-tinged folk-pop. He uses his bright growl of a voice to memorable effect, chewing on vowel sounds while spinning odes to lost love, the resiliency of young hearts, and the pain of experience. Gray's work finds the universality at the heart of folk music and tweaks it just enough to make it relevant for alternative audiences. --Matthew Cooke

2) Amazon.com
English singer-songwriter David Gray recorded his fourth album, White Ladder, at home in 1998 and self-released it after three previous albums garnered critical acclaim and little else. Opening for the likes of Dave Matthews and Radiohead helped up his profile and led to Matthews choosing White Ladder as the U.S. debut for his new ATO label. It's not difficult to hear what attracted Matthews to Gray. There's a strong dose of romantic wanderlust to these tunes. "This Year's Love," with its somber piano notes, captures the drifter feel of earlier Gray work (such as the remarkable "A Gathering of Dust" from his debut)."Sail Away" is "Dock of the Bay" from another side of the shore. Gray clearly loves words, and the way he emphasizes them--spitting them out in contempt one minute, soulfully stretching a note out at other moments--lends his music drama. It's no wonder he's been compared to so heavy an improviser as Van Morrison. There's a spiritual connection there that this strong release makes only more obvious. --Rob O'Connor

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Awesome Album- But copy protected!   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
The music on this cd is wonderful, but I had to return it. I will not purchase albums that I cannot rip to my mp3 player for personal use.

2) wonderful   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I had to replace my cd from before. It is my favorite. It is wonderful

3) White Ladder by David Grey   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
CD was brand new and arrived on schedule. I'm very satisfied with the service!

4) Commanding and memorable, an album that should grace each and every eardrum...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
When you sit down to listen to David Gray's album `White Ladder' something unexpected may happen, at least I know that's how it was with me. I realized about half way through that I had heard and always loved half these songs; I just never knew who sang them. Most of the tracks on `White Ladder' are quite recognizable for they have appeared on many a popular television show or popped up in memorable scenes in film. Songs like the opening `Please Forgive', the very popular `Babylon' and the beautiful `This Years Love' are going to be very recognizable upon a listen through. The album starts off with the very catchy `Please Forgive', a song about not wanting to lose the one you love for the stupid things you do. It's a great way to start off the album for it shows that Gray has the goods despite the fact that the track itself is probably my least favorite on the album. His next track, `Babylon', is substantially better than `Please Forgive'. It's catchy and memorable and ultimately a very likable song. It gives a feeling of being free and happy and I like that about this track. Overall, David Gray's music is very accessible. Next to Damien Rice he has to be my favorite musical artist (geniuses I call them) for their stark contrast. Damien has a much rougher and more downtrodden sound, and I adore him for that, but it's in the perfected and polished qualities that I find my love for Gray. The title track `White Ladder' continues this upbeat catchy appeal. Gray's voice manages to excel in just about every track here. His slick baritone is just all embracing and I love that about him.David also manages to captivate amidst a slower, more emotionally intoxicating sound. On songs like `Nightblindness' he slips into the listeners ears with his impressionable voice and forces us to understand his pleadings. The best example of this power in found in `This Years Love', one of the all time greatest love songs I've ever witnessed. The piano playing behind Gray's bellows is beautifully orchestrated. Upon just one listen you will understand its beauty intensely. `My Oh My' is a track that relies on acoustic guitar and David's smooth vocals and it works beautifully. The closing track `Say Hello Wave Goodbye' works even better in this same regard. It's just a beautifully arranged song about ending a relationship that just was never meant to be.Songs like `We're Not Right' have a very modern feel to them with David's love for electric sounds contributing to the musical arrangements. `Silver Lining' rests easy on the eardrums. It's a very beautifully woven track. This brings me to my favorite track on the album, a track that may very well be my favorite song he's ever recorded, `Sail Away'. This track is just utter perfection in my humble opinion. From the musical arrangement to David Gray's beautifully commanding vocals, `Sail Away' is just outright superior. Just one listen will permanently cement itself in your musical library. There are few songs that leave this deep an impression in my very soul, but I have no reservations or hesitations in saying that `Sail Away' is one of those songs I'll never forget nor ever grow tired.If you've never experienced David Gray in full then you need to give this album a chance. David Gray is definitely one that everyone should take notice of for he has what most of these media darlings lack, true unconditional talent. From his head to his toes he's absolute musical perfection.

5) David Gray's best so far   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The lyrics and music are incredible on this cd. The singer-songwriter's life experience seeps in as richness in the lyrics and in the feeling of these fine tunes. This cd has a cathartic quality to it that I usually look for in acoustic folk music. But the electronic sounds and everything really add to this cd. It's a great listen.