Their first album of the nineties closes the pages of the last decade and opens a new chapter in a style more based in traditional roots. Gone are the rolling toms and syncopated rhythms, now replaced by a straighter kind of beat. Diminished, but not to his detriment, is that big guitar sound Bruce Watson found for The Crossing and In A Big Country. Bruce still cooks up some inventive creations, but in this case they are a lot lighter in style to match the band's wider range of influences.
Blues, country, and folk are now more apparent, with organ and honky-tonk piano come in more into picture, and there is also a hint of gospel within the chants of the backing vocals. The true test though is the strength and depth of the songs, and in this department they don't fail.
"Beautiful People" has a beauty of its own own, and "You, Me, and the Truth" is another example of great melody. "Hostage Speaks" has a Middle-Eastern scenario and hooks in an intricate guitar part that weaves harmoniously below the vocal, resulting in a texture of mood that gives the song that extra desert-flavoured edge. Sure there are numbers that don't always connect but with its varying extremes I say No Place Like Home delivers.
Grade B+
Mike Harris
Riff Raff
Riff Raff
September 1991
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