Islands (The Band album)
| Islands | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1977[1] | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 35:15 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | The Band | |||
| The Band chronology | ||||
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Islands is the seventh studio album by Canadian-American rock group the Band. It was released in March 1977, through Capitol Records, and was self-produced. The album, which was compiled primarily of previously unreleased outtakes, was released to fulfill the band's contract with Capitol so that the live concert album The Last Waltz (1978) could be released through Warner Bros. Records. As the band would soon break up later in 1977, Islands would be the last album to feature the group's original lineup.[a][2]
Upon release, Islands received mixed reviews and was a commercial slump for the band. While the band's cover of "Georgia on My Mind" was released the previous year in tandem with the presidential campaign of Jimmy Carter, no singles were released to promote the album. The record itself stalled at number 64 on the Billboard 200, becoming the lowest-charting of all the band's albums for Capitol.[3] Both contemporary and retrospective reviews consider the album to be inferior to the band's previous work, though certain tracks have been singled out for praise. The album has been reissued multiple times, including with bonus material in 2001.
Background and recording
[edit]In 1975, the Band would release their sixth studio album, Northern Lights – Southern Cross. The album would receive positive reviews from critics, with some declaring it among the group's best work, but was a commercial disappointment, falling outside the top 20 in the US. Troubles arose while touring behind the album, including a major powerboat accident suffered by pianist and vocalist Richard Manuel, as well as a general loss of enthusiasm for touring.[4] Additionally, Manuel's failing health and drug addictions caused his vocal abilities to suffer, and the general quality of the band's performances became inconsistent.[4] These issues culminated in Robbie Robertson's decision to cease the band's touring schedule, culminating in a finale concert entitled The Last Waltz, which would take place on Thanksgiving 1976. Mo Ostin, president of Warner Bros. Records and friend of Robertson's, helped to finance the film in exchange for the rights to release the corresponding live album on his label. Because of this, the group needed to compile one more album's worth of new material to complete their current contract with Capitol before The Last Waltz could be released.[1]
With the exception of the album's title track, which dated back to earlier sessions at Bearsville Studios in New York, all of the material on Islands originated from various recording sessions at the band's own Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California in the year and a half period following the release of Northern Lights – Southern Cross.[1] The band did not undertake these sessions with the intention of completing an album; rather, the group would enter Shangri-La simply out of a desire to record with no larger plans.[1] After realizing their need to submit one last album to Capitol, the group began work on completing the older material; the band would alternate between this project and rehearsals for The Last Waltz at Shangri-La.[5] The title track, the oldest on the album, began life as a guitar riff composed by bassist Rick Danko years ealier which caught the attention of Robertson. Originally titled "Dr. Medicine Song", the piece would continue to be developed through Danko and Robertson working with a drum machine, while keyboardist Garth Hudson would also make contributions to the track.[1] By late 1976, Robertson had planned to write lyrics for the track, but these plans were later abandoned and it would ultimately remain an instrumental.[1][6]
Composition
[edit]"Right as Rain" would later be described by Robertson as possessing a sense of "sophistication" due to the use of major seventh chords and a "light" and "sweet" tone; he also compared the track to the work of Stevie Wonder. Peter Aaron, author of The Band FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Fathers of Americana, likens the track to soft rock bands such as Exile and Ambrosia.[7] The song also showcases Hudson's keyboard work as well as a soprano saxophone solo.[1] The following track, "Street Walker", has been referred as a "prostitute's lament". Aaron describes Robertson's solo as "squealing" with prominent use of pinch harmonics.[7] Aaron considers "Let the Night Fall" to be a yacht rock track whose lyrics are a "metaphorical commentary on the group's nocturnal lifestyle".[7] Helm takes the lead vocal for a cover of Homer Banks' "Ain't That a Lot of Love", originally released in 1966.[7] Robertson felt the song's style was natural for the band, stating: "it was like here's a song that's got our name written all over it… we just had to do it."[1] In the liner notes for the album's 2001 reissue, Rob Bowman compares the song to the group's earlier covers album Moondog Matinee (1973).[1] "Christmas Must Be Tonight" was inspired by the birth of Robertson's son and contains "crystalline" synthesizer and organ playing from Hudson, which Aaron credits with creating an "appropriately peaceful, reverent air."[7]
Robertson likened the album's instrumental title track to movie background music, citing its "cinematic" flavor. Instrumentation on the song includes "elegant" soprano saxophone as well as synthesized flute and strings, with the latter giving the song a "vaguely Celtic" sound according to Bowman.[1] Aaron describes "The Saga of Pepote Rouge" as a "Danko vehicle" possessing a "descending gospel melody" with "full-bodied" backup vocals by Helm and Manuel.[7] Its lyrics have been described as "Buñuel-esque", while Robertson himself characterized his writing as "fairy tale-ish" and "mythological", likening it to Carlos Castaneda's The Teachings of Don Juan (1968).[7][1] Bowman refers to the track as "one of Robbie's trademark stream-of-consciousness stories."[1] "Georgia on My Mind" contains a vocal performance from Manuel which Aaron considers to be "heart-melting", while, like "Ain't That a Lot of Love", Bowman compares it to the band's work on Moondog Matinee.[8][1] "Knockin' Lost John" contains Robertson's first lead vocal on a Band album since "To Kingdom Come" (1968); Aaron lists Hudson's accordion work and Robertson's "detuned" guitar solos as the song's highlights.[8] The lyrics, which are set during the Great Depression, have been described as an "off beat tale", while Bowman states the music "evokes a feeling of looseness and spontaneity".[9][1] The album concludes with "Livin' in a Dream", which has been described as "ironic", given the contrast between the song's hopeful and optimistic nature and the frayed state of the band at the time.[1] Aaron describes the track as "deceptively cheery", highlighting Helm's whistling at the song's conclusion.[8]
Release
[edit]The album art of Islands was designed by Bob Cato and depicts the five band members' profiles set against a coastal sunset.[1][10] Some[9][10] have noted a correlation between the album's title of Islands and the state of the Band at the time of its release, with Aaron stating: "…the group had drifted apart, each member isolated on his own emotional island. Or, perhaps more accurately, Robertson, who wanted the group to stop performing, was on one island and the others were on another." In his review of the album for Rolling Stone, Greil Marcus also noted a correlation between the album's title and their then-recent farewell concert as well as the growing number of side projects being held by members of the group at the time, stating these facets all added up to the implication that Islands would be the Band's "last word".[9]
Upon release, Islands was a commercial failure, stalling at number 64 in the US, the lowest placement of any of the band's Capitol albums.[11][3] While "Georgia in My Mind" was released as a single in tandem with Carter's 1976 presidential campaign (and months before the release of Islands), no singles were released in promotion of the album itself.[1]
In later years, Robertson lamented Capitol's decision to market the record as the band's next studio album, instead of a "record of B-sides and outtakes".[3] In the liner notes of the Islands CD reissue, Robertson went as far as to state that Islands "wasn't an album" and instead was a release simply meant to fulfill the band's contract. Bowman himself compares the album to outtakes compilations such as the Who's Odds and Sods and Jefferson Airplane's Early Flight (both 1974).[1]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[13] |
| MusicHound Rock | woof![14] |
| Q | [2] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [15] |
Upon its release, reviews for Islands were mixed. In his review for Rolling Stone, Greil Marcus praised much of the album's second side, calling the title track as "slight and pretty" and highlighting Manuel's vocals on "Georgia on My Mind"; Marcus also named "Livin' in a Dream" as the album's best track. However, he disparaged the band's version of "Ain't That a Lot of Love" as "the stiffest excuse for R&B I ever want to hear" despite what he felt were strong past live performances of the song by the group, while also stating that "too many of Robbie Robertson’s tunes offer cracker-barrel banalities without the music that could redeem them — or disguise them."[9] Later, the Rolling Stone Album Guide referred to the album as a "barely listenable collection of outtakes".[15] Robert Christgau reviewed the album negatively, giving it a grade of C+ and calling it a "listless farewell to old habits".[13]
Retrospective comments on the album have been mixed to negative. Reviewing the 1991 reissue, John Bauldie in Q called the album "a ragbag of old outtakes and otherwise unplaceable new numbers."[2] In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann praised the band’s playing, as well as Manuel’s vocals on “Georgia in My Mind”, but felt the album ultimately fell short of the standards set by the band’s earlier work.[12] Aaron describes Islands as a "half-baked, phoned-in effort" which results in an "underwhelming swan song" for the group's original lineup.[3]
However, some songs on Islands have been singled out for praise. In a retrospective of the band's catalog, Rolling Stone singled out "Christmas Must Be Tonight", "The Saga of Pepote Rouge", and "Georgia on My Mind" as highlights.[16] American Songwriter also praised "Christmas Must Be Tonight", stating the song "rises way above your typical rock holiday fare", as well as highlighting Danko's vocals and noting the song as "one of the last examples of the special chemistry that epitomized [the Band's] original lineup."[17]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Right as Rain" | Robbie Robertson | Richard Manuel | 3:52 |
| 2. | "Street Walker" |
| Danko | 3:16 |
| 3. | "Let the Night Fall" | Robertson | Manuel | 3:11 |
| 4. | "Ain't That a Lot of Love" |
| Levon Helm | 3:09 |
| 5. | "Christmas Must Be Tonight" | Robertson | Danko | 3:38 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Islands" |
| instrumental | 3:54 |
| 2. | "The Saga of Pepote Rouge" | Robertson | Danko | 4:14 |
| 3. | "Georgia on My Mind" | Manuel | 3:09 | |
| 4. | "Knockin' Lost John" | Robertson | Robertson | 3:50 |
| 5. | "Livin' in a Dream" | Robertson | Helm | 2:52 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Twilight" (single version) | Robertson | 3:17 |
| 12. | "Georgia on My Mind" (alternate take) |
| 3:51 |
Personnel
[edit]- The Band
- Rick Danko – bass guitar, vocals
- Levon Helm – drums, vocals
- Garth Hudson – organ, synthesizers, saxophones, accordion, piccolo on "Islands"
- Richard Manuel – piano, electric piano, vocals
- Robbie Robertson – guitars, lead vocal on "Knockin' Lost John"
- Additional musicians
- Jim Gordon – flute on "Islands"
- Tom Malone – trombone on "Islands"
- John Simon – alto saxophone on "Islands"
- Larry Packer – violin on "Islands"
- Production
- Ed Anderson – engineering
- Neil Brody – engineering
- Rob Fraboni – engineering
- Nat Jeffrey – engineering
Notes
[edit]- ^ Robbie Robertson would not rejoin the band for their 1983 reunion, and Richard Manuel would die in 1986, seven years before the release of their next studio album Jericho (1993).
References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Aaron, Peter (2016). The Band FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Fathers of Americana. Backbeat. ISBN 978-1-61713-613-9.
- Helm, Levon; Davis, Stephen (1993). This Wheel's on Fire: Levon Helm and the Story of the Band. New York. ISBN 0-688-10906-3.
- Hoskyns, Barney (1993). Across the Great Divide: The Band and America. Hyperion. ISBN 1-56282-836-3.
Citations
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Bowman, Rob (2000). Islands (liner notes). Capitol Records.
- ^ a b c Bauldie, John (March 5, 1991). "Review of Islands re-issue". Q. Vol. 84. p. 10.
- ^ a b c d Aaron 2016, p. 103
- ^ a b Hoskyns 1993, p. 329-330
- ^ Hoskyns 1993, p. 334
- ^ Helm 1993, p. 269
- ^ a b c d e f g Aaron 2016, p. 104
- ^ a b c Aaron 2016, p. 105
- ^ a b c d Marcus, Greil (May 19, 1977). "Islands". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
- ^ a b Aaron 2016, p. 102
- ^ "The Band Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
- ^ a b Islands at AllMusic
- ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
- ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 72. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
- ^ a b Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). New York, NY: Fireside. p. 42. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Shteamer, Hank (December 20, 2018). "The Band's Essential Albums". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
- ^ Beviglia, Jim (December 20, 2024). "The Band Lyric About the Reason for the Season". American Songwriter. Retrieved April 26, 2025.
