Daniel Lanois

The opening two tracks on Daniel Lanois' first solo album in ten years are reminders of the
producer's glorious past. Lanois harmonizes with sometime collaborator Emmylou Harris on
the dense opener, "I Love You," which is followed by the gentle "Falling at Your Feet," a
song written and sung with Bono. Otherwise, though, Lanois goes it alone on Shine: writing
the songs, playing most of the instruments and, of course, producing. Unsurprisi... More >

Born September 19, 1951, Lanois has mortality on his mind, and "I Love You" nails it: "Come sure, come soon, come leave just one song/One song, one beat, one dust, one end, one for all/One stone for the marking for the dream when it falls." But this isn't literature, and since true fatalism requires a steely resolve that the failed humility and fake passivity of Lanois's gauzy sound don't comprehend, I pray somebody makes those lines worth hearing. Or no, not pray--there's enough of that in "Shine," a hymn to Sol, and "Falling at Your Feet," a hymn to God. (Grade: C+)