Friday, January 02, 2009

Info Request: Best Bruce Cockburn Albums?

Ok, Papa's mentioning of this artist in The Shack and that Brian McLaren and other friends like him have prompted me to buy a Bruce Cockburn album?

Suggestions?

8 comments:

Bilbo said...

Hi Stephen,

This entry caught my attention because I am a big fan of Bruce Cockburn. Have been listening to him for over 15 years now and own 26 of his C.D.'s. For the casual listener one might want to check out either Charity of Night or Breakfast in New Orleans Dinner in Timbuktu. Those are two of his most technically accomplished recordings and are a bit more mainstream sounding than much of his earlier work. Nothing But a Burning Light is much more explicitly Christian than most of his albums and you might like that one. Burning Light is quite a bit more optimistic sounding than much of his other work which often explores the dark side of the human experience....Strange Waters is a modern day Psalm and is my all time favorite Cockburn song which can be found on his Charity of Night C.D....I hope this helps and I hope you are able to connect with some of his songs. He is an incredible artist in my opinion whose body of work has stood the test of time....Bill Baugher

Stephen said...

bilbo, first and foremost, how delightful to hear from you! Secondly, thank you for your thoughtful and informed advise! Very helpful.

Anonymous said...

No idea about Bruce Cockburn, but what surprises me is that you read The Shack. What did you think about it? If you haven't already done so, can you post a review, please? :) I thought the message was good, but I didn't care for the writing style. I'd really to like to hear your thoughts on it, if you're so inclined.

Bilbo said...

Your welcome Stephen. I would be interested in your take on the shack as well. I read the book a couple of months ago. Personally, I enjoyed the book, didn't get all the hoopla surrounding the book but do think I understand why some quarters of the Christian community didn't like the book.

Seeds Church said...

Getting the most bang for the buck, I would purchase Waiting For a Miracle, Singles (1970-1987). It is a great retrospective.

Cockburn is a great song writer and a great guitarist.

Enjoy.

Ted

Len Hjalmarson said...

Admin is right bro. I bought my first Cockburn album in .. shudder.. 1978. The last one was very good also, and we saw him perform it live in a smallish venue with about 300 people. Outstanding. On his last is "Mystery" and "Beautiful Creatures" .. two songs I have referenced in multiple articles.

Len Hjalmarson said...

And here are a couple of clips from about 15 years back, transferred by myself from VHS to dig. Two cuts here.. Soul of a Man and Somebody Touched Me.
http://www.nextreformation.com/wp-admin/audio/Cockburn.zip

Anonymous said...

Too many good ones to recommend, although I agree that Waiting For A Miracle is a good intro for a newcomer. However, you could do worse than the 1989 release after which my own blog is named ...