\nRocky Mountain High<\/i>, John Denver’s 1972 release (and sixth
\noverall), was a turning point for the artist as a superstar. He had
\nbriefly tasted success with his fourth album,
\nPoems, Prayers & Promises<\/i> thanks to the song “Take Me
\nHome, Country Roads”. However, when the follow-up album,
\nAerie<\/i>, came out, it seemed like the success that Denver had
\nworked so hard to achieve was quickly fading away.<\/p>\n
This album not only stopped the brief skid, but also
\nre-established Denver as an up-and-coming star whose music demanded
\nthat you take notice. An amalgam of folk and country, his musings
\nabout nature and its beauty captured the hearts of many people in
\nthe ’70s, and the title track alone says volumes about Denver the
\nmusician and Denver the human.<\/p>\n
So why am I disappointed with this album in general? I mean,
\nsure it has some wonderful moments, but each time I listen to it,
\nwith one or two exceptions I have a hard time grasping how this
\nalbum was the key to unlock the door for Denver. Take away the hits
\nand the concert staples, and this album is a bit boring – maybe
\noverambitious is the correct way to phrase it. More on that
\nlater.<\/p>\n
One listen to the title track, and you don’t doubt for a minute
\nthat Denver’s success was deserved. “Rocky Mountain High” has a
\nfriendly air about it; it’s a song that transports you from
\nwherever you are to the mountains pictured on the dust jacket. No
\nmatter how much smog is in your city, you almost swear you can
\nbreathe crisp, unpolluted air. There’s a reason why this song
\nremained a fan favorite until Denver’s untimely death in 1997.<\/p>\n
Two other songs from
\nRocky Mountain High<\/i> should ring bells with the older
\nlisteners in the audience. “Goodbye Again” was another single from
\nthe album (the first, though it never made it very high on the
\ncharts), but is one whose gentle but sad message is sure to warm
\nyour heart. “For Baby (For Bobbie)” is one that might ring some
\nbells, especially if you grew up with a copy of
\nJohn Denver’s Greatest Hits<\/i> in your parents’ record
\ncollection – and it’s still a great song.<\/p>\n
After that,
\nRocky Mountain High<\/i> starts to go flat faster than a can of
\nCoors left open on the table for a week. I’m sorry, long-time
\nDenver fans, but “Darcy Farrow” has never been a favorite of mine.
\nIt’s not that I’m against country folk, it’s just that this song is
\nnot the best example of a story-telling number that I can think of.
\nLikewise, the cover of “Mother Nature’s Son” isn’t very noreworthy;
\nif you weren’t a diehard Beatles fan or you weren’t reading the
\nliner notes, you’d never know this was a cover version.<\/p>\n
Where Denver becomes a little overambitious is on “Season
\nSuite,” a five-movement song that tries to capture the passage of
\ntime through the changing seasons, as well as Denver’s feelings as
\nthey slowly fade into one another. The sad thing is, this song
\ndoesn’t work in the ways that Denver intended; instead of being
\nanother praise for the wonders of nature, it almost appears to be
\nself-serving, as if Denver wanted to prove he could write a longer,
\nmore congruent piece of music.<\/p>\n
There is one selection of “Season Suite,” however, that is worth
\nmentioning: “Late Winter, Early Spring” is a beautiful instrumental
\nthat features some brilliant guitar work from Mike Taylor. If the
\nalbum had closed with this piece, it actually would have drawn
\nthings together better than going to “Spring” and reprising some of
\nthe concepts introduced in the first movement, “Summer”.<\/p>\n
\nRocky Mountain High<\/i> might have been the album that assured
\nDenver his place in the annals of musical history, but unless
\nyou’re a diehard fan who has to hear every recorded note, in this
\ncase, you’d be better off sticking with any of the compilations to
\nhear the worthwhile songs from this disc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5879],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-39300","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-john-denver","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39300"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}