We'll Never Turn Back

Down Beat - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Her singing has never lost the crazy potency that it had when she was younger, and it's still as beautiful and haunting as ever on this new CD." Mojo - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n assemblage of liberation cries, as passionate and relevant today as then..." Q - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n album that aims to rekindle the spirit of the '60s civil rights movement....Persuasive..." No Depression - "In purely musical effect, the power, passion and conviction that permeate this project cannot be denied. Nor resisted." Living Blues - "WE'LL NEVER TURN BACK features Staples applying her throaty, emotive contralto to a program that includes spirituals..." Dirty Linen - "These are songs of hope and protest....The power, strength, and heartfelt sincerity in the delivery drives the disc home." Rolling Stone - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007". Rolling Stone (p.116) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Top Albums of the Year 2007" Q (p.129) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n album that aims to rekindle the spirit of the '60s civil rights movement....Persuasive..." Down Beat (p.53) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Her singing has never lost the crazy potency that it had when she was younger, and it's still as beautiful and haunting as ever on this new CD." Dirty Linen (p.56) - "These are songs of hope and protest....The power, strength, and heartfelt sincerity in the delivery drives the disc home." No Depression (pp.78-79) - "In purely musical effect, the power, passion and conviction that permeate this project cannot be denied. Nor resisted." Mojo (Publisher) (p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A]n assemblage of liberation cries, as passionate and relevant today as then..."

Mavis Staple's 2007 album, WE'LL NEVER TURN BACK is a stunning achievement from one of soul and gospel's most revered singers. Produced by Ry Cooder, the album is built around freedom songs of the civil rights movement--some are traditional ("Eyes on the Prize"), some are appropriated for the theme ("99 and 1/2"), while others are originals ("I'll Be Rested"). As much a celebration of hard-won freedom as a reminder of past and current injustices, the album features stirring gospel choir vocals from both Ladysmith Black Mombazo and original members of the SNCC Freedom Singers. Yet the album is first and foremost a platform for Mavis Staples's stirring voice, one that is as much a liberating force as any protest. Cooder, to his credit, keeps things appropriately raw and immediate, and the band always positions Staples at the front of the line. As deeply moving as any album made in 2007, WE'LL NEVER TURN BACK is at once a call to arms, a new cadence for a new march, and the celebratory soundtrack for the jubilee on the other side of the mountain.|

生涯現役の大ヴェテランがアンタイから新作をリリース。ライ・クーダーが制作を手掛け、ゴスペルやカントリー、ブルースなどトラディショナルなルーツ・ミュージックが年輪を重ねたヴォーカルとじんわり混ざり合う様は例えようもなく味わい深い。公民権運動に立ち返って〈カトリーナ〉にまで言及するメッセージ性、カヴァーの選曲、ライナーノーツ……すべてが素晴らしく、アメリカ音楽の歴史と奥深さで満たされた名品だ。
bounce (C)池谷 昌之