Search - Peter Stone Brown :: Up Against It

Why hasn't anybody heard of this guy?

Brandon | Boulder, Colorado / Holland, Michigan | 12/16/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album, it really is. In fact, it is almost all I have been listening to in the past couple weeks since I bought it. The songwriting is strong, and the sound is grounded and earthy, but still vibrant. "Here on Earth" is an absolute classic-- if it would have been written by a well-known singer-songwriter a few decades ago, we'd all be singing it around campfires and the like. Well, maybe not campfires, but it would rank up there with "Blowin' in the Wind", "This Land is Your Land" in the running of great songs for humanity. There is so much to despair about in this world, but so much to celebrate-- we often forget that. This album has some wonderful imagery: "We exploded in the glare of the full moon at the end of the longest day," "I was shattered in the haze of a dead summer's daze," etc. Brown's vocal performance is excellent, by the way, and very original, I can't think of anyone who sounds quite like him. There are humorous songs, songs of desparation, songs of affirmation-- all songs of humanity. If you like real American music, real human music, give Peter Stone Brown's album a listen, you won't be disappointed."

Peter Stone Brown's Gem of a Debut

Manor Folsom (manor@prodigy.net) | Satellite Beach, Florida | 06/25/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With Up Against It, Peter Stone Brown has created one of the most satisfying records of the late Nineties. The music here has a familiar feel - an effortless mixing of rock, country, folk, and blues into a sound that makes it accessible from the first listen and yet, dozens of plays later, continues to reveal things diverse and just plain strange. This record and this artist are the real thing, and there are any number of better known artists who would give their eye teeth to be able to produce work that rewards on as many levels as Up Against It. The mostly-Texas based musicians used in these sessions are solid (among them is Cindy Cashdollar, a contributor to Bob Dylan's Grammy winning Time Out of Mind,) but ultimately, this is a singer's album. Citing an artist's influences is always a tricky proposition, but when I listen to Peter Stone Brown, I'm reminded of the vocal authority of Waylon Jennings, the laconic humor of Bobby Bare at his best, and the originality of phrasing of Dylan. Peter Stone Brown and Up Against It's story is an interesting one - a debut album by an artist in his mid-forties, the album self financed and shopped around at length before an independent label finally bit. The fact that this album came so close to never existing is one more in a long list of indictments against the general state of the music industry. Still, part of the heart and soul I think I hear in this record seems to be tied to the struggle that making it must have been. For me, the common tie of virtually all great music is a communicated sense of the absolute need for expression on the part of the artist. I've always heard that in Dylan - a guy who sounds like he would've died several times over had he not created the work he has - and I hear it in Peter Stone Brown. When an artist has to fight for this chance at expression, it can have the effect of raising the stakes involved in the creative process. On Up Against It, Peter Stone Brown gives the sense his very existence is! at stake and the result is an album of sustained conviction."

... a cd of exceptional artistry and integrity.

Manor Folsom (manor@prodigy.net) | 10/08/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lately, when I listen to music, I reach for Bob Dylan's _Time Out of Mind, Miles Davis' _Kind of Blue, and Peter Stone Brown's _Up Against It. Don't be alarmed! Brown easily holds his own in this heady company, with his solidly original stuff. With songs like "Matter of the Heart", "Up Against It" and "Here On Earth" he proves that he's tapped into the *the universal* and knows exactly what to do with the connection. Peter Stone Brown has made a cd of exceptional artistry and integrity. His voice is steeped in experience, and his lyrics go straight to the heart of the human condition. Wanna know what makes *you* tick? Listen to Peter Stone Brown's _Up Against It. _Up Against It has been one of my favorite cds for a year now. Give it a listen -- Peter Stone Brown will be at the top of your "A list" too."