Search - James Lee Stanley :: Domino Harvest

A Bushel Full of Great Songs

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 01/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"James Lee Stanley's 1996 album found him living in Los Angeles, trying to write a musical (based on the comic strip "Cathy') and being haunted by the insanity of OJ Simpson's mockery of a trial. When all was said and done, the "Domino Harvest" was what bore fruit. The opening salvo of "Fairweather Town" - "In LA you can get away with murder" - gives voice to the frustration of being a working musician where you are only as good as your last party, and where a day's rain can make the lead story on the news and a missing blond cheerleader can make for news bulletin interruptions. (Shades of Don Henley's "Dirty Laundry!")



"Domino Harvest" often carries the same kind of gravitas that James' more politicized "The Envoy" did. But it is also given to moments of tenderness in a non-saccharine way. "Daughter Divine," "Daddy's Eyes" and "The Wedding Song" pose a trilogy to family and love that makes for an endearing song set. Their appearance makes "Domino Harvest" one of James' most heartfelt works - which is saying a lot, given the passion he puts into all his Cd's. Also worth discovering: James' 2007 CD The Eternal Contradiction."