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Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson 5

Ethan Daniel Davidson
1 disc

1. Conquered Beneath a Box-Car Moon
2. Woman/Ladder = You'll Get What You Deserve
3. I Need You Like a House on Fire
4. Situationist (Non) National Commercial
5. Semi-Literate Cowboy Poem
6. I Can't Drink You Pretty
7. Drive-By Diplomacy Blues
8. Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore
9. King Coal Made a Mess of My Old Kentucky Home
10. Support the War on Nashville
11. No Gods, No Masters
12. Carry Me Back to San Juan Hill
13. War All the Time
14. German Woman, An Irish Junkie, Their Three-Year-Old Daughter, And Me, A
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 20
Credits

Producer Al Sutton; Al Sutton
Engineer Al Sutton; Dan Currie
Personnel: Ethan Daniel Davidson (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, steel guitar, Mellotron, bass guitar); Ethan Daniel Davidson; Gretchen Gonzales (vocals); Marlon Young (guitar, electric guitar); Jason Charboneau (guitar, pedal steel guitar, strings, bass guitar, background vocals); Philip Durr (guitar); Phil Durr (acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar); Dan Currie (acoustic guitar); Chris Carden (saxophone); Charles Hughes (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Hammond b-3 organ, Mellotron, background vocals); Eric Hoegemeyer (electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, drums, programming); Peter Keys (Clavinet); Paul Lamb (bass guitar, background vocals); Glynn Scanlan (drums, percussion, background vocals); Gretchen Gonzales, Pabon (background vocals); Al Sutton (Mellotron, background vocals); Audra Kubat (background vocals).
Recording information: Rustbelt Studios, Royal Oak, MI.
Ethan Daniel Davidson still has the unapologetic political beliefs that have been his trademark since his early days as a solo folksinger on a non-stop barnstorming tour of the U.S., but the sardonically titled Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson 5 finds the singer/songwriter settling comfortably into his new position as the leader of a capable and varied rock band. Big swatches of Free the Ethan Daniel Davidson 5 sound a bit Wilco-inspired (most notably the epic opener, "Conquered Beneath a Box-Car Moon"), but the organ-driven rocker awkwardly titled "Woman/Ladder = You'll Get What You Deserve" has a hint of Buffalo Springfield-era Neil Young in Davidson's deliciously whiny vocal melody and the muscular harmonies on the chorus, and "I Need You Like a House on Fire" has the woozy, languid feel of Bob Dylan's collaborations with the Band. Elsewhere, Davidson's familiar style is more obvious, like the quirky postmodern blues "Situationist (Non) National Commercial" and the gleeful updating of John Prine's "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You into Heaven Anymore." The last is a thoughtful tribute to one of Davidson's obvious inspirations, but for the most part, this is an album that looks to Davidson's future instead of his past. ~ Stewart Mason
Critic Reviews

Uncut (p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 - "He does nimble and dreamy very well...but is also equally skilled at unpicking relationships..."