Track Listing

1. Foxglove
2. Train in the Rain
3. Water into Wine
4. Elegy
5. Mistress of Storms
6. Rouler Sa Bosse
7. Salt Sun and Time
8. Islands in a Black Sky
9. Rise and Fall
10. Sunrise on the Mississippi
11. King Kong Goes to Tallahassee
12. When It's Gone, It's Gone
13. Deep Lake
14. End of All Rivers
15. Sunwheel Dance

Product Details

• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Customer Reviews

A very worthy album
I have been waiting for this album for quite a while now. Don't get me wrong - I really like Bruce's thoughtful and provoking lyrics (I like to think of his songs as poetry set to music), but he is also a great musician, and he can paint a picture without words just as well as he can with words. I love it that I can now, when I just want to let the music wash over me, listen to just one CD rather than having to shuffle the dozen or so albums that he has done over the years that include instrumental pieces - it's a lot more relaxing that way.

True, 11 of the pieces here are "old" and can be found spread out over 8 or 9 albums, but 3 pieces are brand new, and one was only available in Japan until now. That doesn't change the fact that these are still great pieces of music and great to listen to. This is a compilation album, and compilation albums are a blend of old and new. It seems silly to complain that it follows the well-established format for a compilation album and rate it artificially low because of that. I will be looking forward to the new Cockburn album which is supposed to be coming out this year, but I will be enjoying this album in the meantime (if I can manage to keep it out of the hands of the kids, who also enjoy it a lot).

Bottom line: if you like good lyrical guitar music that tells a story and that you can relax to, this is a good album to get. And it's a good introduction to Bruce Cockburn as a musician rather than just as a singer/songwriter.

another side of cockburn
Bruce Cockburn is known as a briliant singer/songwriter with profound messages and causes. Having seen him in concert throughout the years, beginning in the late sixties in a coffehouse (church) in Edmonton to recent Folk Music festivals with a full band, I have always been impressed with his musicianship. His brilliant guitar work is showcased on this aptly titled cd 'Speechless' and though this record may be taken from old discs, it is a hell of a collection.
Cockburn for once does not let you know what is wrong with the world, instead we are treated to an album of beautiful music.

Brilliance without words
Not many singer-songwriters can present something new with a compilation CD spanning 35 years of their artistic career. It has worked brilliantly for critically acclaimed Canadian icon, Bruce Cockburn. In particular, the collection features compositions from the early seventies that may no longer be familiar. Others are taken from various recordings made in the nineties. Three pieces are new creations recorded especially for this CD. Expertly produced by Bruce and long term friend and collaborator Colin Linden, they all sound new and fresh. Bruce is a acoustic guitar virtuoso as well as a composer expressing himself in many styles and rhythms: from blues to jazz to country and folk. The result is one hour and eight minutes of total listening pleasure.

Taking instrumental pieces from different recordings into a special collection gives them more prominence than when presented in between his usually powerful songs with lyrics. Combined together they underscore Cockburn's the creative strength. They succeed in drawing the listener into a rich, diverse, melodious and expressive world where words are not needed and the mind can wander. The slow and haunting "Deep Lake" from the CD "Breakfast in New Orleans, Dinner in Timbuktu" or the new recording "The End of All Rivers" come to mind. Beautiful! Personally, I am not able to specify any favourites among the pieces. While some Cockburn fans might miss the lyrics and Bruce's distinctive voice, I am certain this CD will open his music to a wider general audience. [Friederike Knabe]