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| | Pieces of a Man | | | Music Artist : | | Gil Scott-Heron | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | RCA | | Release Date : | | 1995-05-23 | | Store Price : | | $7.99 | | Artistopia's Price: $7.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Revolution Will Not Be Televised
2. Save the Children
3. Lady Day and John Coltrane
4. Home Is Where the Hatred Is
5. When You Are Who You Are
6. I Think I'll Call It Morning
7. Pieces of a Man
8. Sign of the Ages
9. Or Down You'll Fall
10. Needle's Eye
11. Prisoner
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Still going and back on the road?
Submitted on: 2009-11-15 |
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I wrote this as the first Amazon review for this LP a few years ago, I am still listening to it.
This is one of those albums you had on vinyl that you must have on CD. The songs are all at least good. Although "the revolution will not be televised" is a bit dated in its personality references, new names might well be substituted with little lost in the updating. With the exception of "Save the Children" (a nice little song covered since its release by several other artists), the rest of the songs are deeper, more personal reflections on the effects of life's larger miseries and small but enduring comforts. The last several cuts- "Pieces of a Man" through "The Prisoner" are especially heavy and powerful. They will take you to the edge of the grand canyon of depression. Several of the remaining sides are the antidote however, especially "I Think I'll Call it Morning ", "When You Are Who You Are" and one of my all time favorites "...could you call on lady day, could you call on john coltrane now cause they'll, they'll wash your troubles, your troubles away...". I've enjoyed this album since it was first released back in 1971 and still listen to it at least a four or five times a year. Unfortunately, you're not likely to hear much of it (or much like it) on the radio! |
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 excellent
Submitted on: 2009-06-20 |
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Gil Scott Heron's jazz proto-rap was quite the invention when it arrived in the early 70s. Pieces Of A Man is the first, fully fleshed out example of his style, and became Heron's trademark.
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," "Save the Children," all the songs are Heron singing his poetry with back up by jazz and funk kings like Pretty Purdie and Ron Carter. The musicans are excellent, and provide a rythmically articulate backdrop to Heron's work. Carters take on this rockier material--he had played with Miles Davis--stands out. He has a different sense of the beat than a lot of rock or funk bassits--cutting off runs in the middle and taking detours to the end of a musical phrase.
This was 1971. Martan Luther King had been killed, and Kent State and Altamont had snuffed out the ambitions of hippiedom as Nixon took the helm. Heron's lyrics are not about the 60s, but about the dirtier, meaner haze that driffted in during 1970. He is rapping about revolution, not protest, heroin, not pot. Hopeful as some of the work is, you can't avoid the new, scary sence of menice: a movement with sharp teeth, using hard drugs and backed into a corner.
Pieces of a Man is a great painting of its era, and the music is fantastic in 2009.
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Pieces of a Man
Submitted on: 2009-06-01 |
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| Very expressive with a major message. Events of ones life and frustration are heard throughout the CD. If one is is a true Gil Scott Herron fan this is a piece to enjoy and reflect on your life's adventure. |
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*Story-Telling Through Song & Music*
Submitted on: 2008-11-20 |
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I was blown away by the words of Gil Scott-Heron on Small Talk at 125th and Lenox and PIECES OF A MAN is no different.
Taking his soul stirring words and composing them against a fusion of jazz and funk music, Scott-Heron takes his poems and turns them into songs that will make you groove and move and think. And they still pack that powerful punch of his messages on life.
And although he might not have been the best male vocalist of his time, Gil Scott-Heron has a voice that is sincere and pleasant enough, and his passion pushes past any limits his vocal range might exhibit. But he sounds good to me.
"The Revolution..." gets a slight make-over with the added instrumentation but it's still basically a rap song and still exquisite.
Some other standouts are "Home Is Where The Hatred Is," an uptempo jam about how, for some people, home is not where the heart is. And two uptempo ballads "Save The Children" and "I Think I'll Call It Morning," which is about finding the happiness in life despite your surroundings.
A strong album throughout, though. There's only a small fold out with a paragraph from Scott-Heron from 1971 (album release date) and a two b&w photos. There's another "remastered" edition that I just saw here on Amazon Pieces of a Man, but I'm not sure if that one is any different than this version. Had I known there was a newer release, I might have purchased it because PIECES OF A MAN is definitely a keeper! |
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A Review
Submitted on: 2008-08-07 |
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| Great music overall. However Gill's vocal range is quite limited, but his lyrics make up for them. |
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