Track Listing

1. One Headlight
2. 6th Ave Heartache
3. Bleeders
4. Three Marlenas
5. The Difference
6. Invisible City
7. Laughing Out Loud
8. Josephine
9. God Don't Make Lonely Girls
10. Angel On My Bike
11. I Wish I Felt Nothing

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1490 in Music
• Released on: 1996-05-21
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
When people talk about Jakob Dylan these days, they're less likely to refer to his famous father than to his band, the Wallflowers, and their breakthrough album, Bringing Down the Horse. Not only a staggering commercial success, the disc is also a superb example of the folk-rock Jakob's daddy helped pioneer more than 30 years ago. The Wallflowers don't need family relations to command respect.

When the Wallflowers recorded their self-titled album in 1992, most of the band's members were 22 and weren't ready for prime time yet. The songs had flashes of inspiration and promise but didn't really hang together. It took four years for the Wallflowers to release a second album, but this time they were ready. The folk-rock melodies were strong; the playing was clear and muscular, and the production by T-Bone Burnett (friend of the family) framed the lyrics' storytelling imaginatively. Jakob will never escape comparisons to his dad, but his new music can stand on its own as some of the decade's best.

In fact, Jakob's voice doesn't resemble his father's so much as Tom Petty's nasal drawl, and the way Wallflower Rami Jaffee soaks nearly every song in Benmont Tench-like B-3 organ makes the Heartbreaker connection unmistakable. Fortunately, Jakob's evocative songwriting and the Wallflowers' high-energy playing reminds one of the early Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers records rather than the desultory, later work. Heartbreaker Mike Campbell even plays on "6th Avenue Heartache," the first single and a gloriously harmonized lament for the victims of America's meanest streets. "The same white line that was drawn on you," Jakob sings, "was drawn on me." He takes a more defiant, more rocking approach later in the album when he proclaims he's "Laughing Out Loud" in the face of everyone who ever tried to push him around. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

I knew that One Headlight was mellow, but I didn't think the CD would be this stagnant...
AKA boring.

Really. One Headlight has a nice thing going and it continues once you get to The Difference, but between AND after that, it's soggy, soggy songs that have little to no purpose.

I wouldn't give this to my worst cousin. That'd be torture.

1.3 stars.

Why the 90's are better then now
A musical plethora of great songs mixed with excellent recording...The Wallflowers - Bringing Down The Horse is a prime example why the 90's rock scene is better then any other year...with its smooth mellow tunes and catchy feel the wallflowers - bringing down the horse is an album well worth buying

fine breakout album for The Wallflowers
The Wallflowers, with Jakob Dylan and the other equally talented young men in the band, scores a coup with their first album entitled Bringing Down The Horse. The band performs well all the way through this CD; and the sound quality is so good you'd swear they're right there in your living room to entertain you with a special performance.

The CD track set begins with "One Headlight," which is easily a highlight of this fine album. The electric guitars work wonders for the catchy melody and Jakob sings this to perfection. Jakob sings of a woman he knows; and he performs this with style and passion--great! "Three Marlenas" begins with some awesome guitar; and Jakob Dylan does this one without a superfluous note! Jakob again sings of a woman he knows; and the rather subtle key changes between major and minor enhance the beauty of this number.

"Invisible City" starts with the guitars and the percussion; and when Jakob comes in this number takes off like a jet! "Laughing Out Loud" sports a much more rock and roll type melody as Jakob sings of his relationship with a woman that isn't exactly perfect. "God Don't Make Lonely Girls" continues that rock and roll flavor; the guitars, drums and percussion bolster the number as Jakob sings flawlessly about a girl he likes. Jakob wants to take a lonely, sad woman, make her his own and keep her happy with him. The band jams really well on "God Don't Make Lonely Girls," too.

The CD track set ends with the rock ballad that has a country twist to the melody, "I Wish I Felt Nothing." Jakob sings of his pain over the ending of a relationship with a woman he loved.

The liner notes give us great photos of the band; and the cover artwork impresses me.

Jakob Dylan and his band, The Wallflowers, give us a breakout album that still sells well today. This album is truly a must have for rock and roll fans everywhere; and if we're lucky Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers will continue to entertain us for many years to come.

Thank you, guys! Rock on!!!