Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws

I think an artist alias would have been beneficial in this instance 2 3

"If I Had a Rocket Launcher" as a political song has a special place in my heart. I never bothered to look up other music by Bruce Cockburn. I never knew he is mainly making Christian music, not my favorite genre. This album has a more general spiritual theme. It just has the same issues most Christian music has: it’s all too safe, friendly and lacks conviction and intent. I’m a big fan of church of soulful gospel or religious rasta songs like Bob Marley made. This is just soft, MoR and uninspiring folky stuff and that’s too bad.

A mix between yacht rock and Gordon lightfoot crooning. Extremely my shit.

I really quite enjoyed this album. Great guitar work. Lovely songs

I love me some Bruce Cockburn - I listened to 1984’s Stealing Fire kazillions of times over the years. Definitely can see why someone suggested this for the list…

I've been a fan of Bruce Cockburn (it's pronounced Co-burn) for over 20 years. I remember seeing him live during the Life Short Call Now tour back in 2006 and enjoying it a ton. He's one of those artists whose work is very well respected by those who know him but doesn't necessary have the critical fame. His guitar playing is so fantastic. Absolutely a great addition to the list. My personal rating: 5/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.

I enjoyed this one

Not half bad this. Didn't know what to expect. The sparkly guitars and finger style picking are fun. Some good bass to give it some depth. Vocals are good enough for me. "After The Rain" is a good one. Strangely my least favourite is the most played, "Wondering Where The Lions Are". Overall I enjoyed it.

This album is chill and reasonably complex, without being overwhelming. Probably not great for a dedicated listen, but works really well in the background with some friends.

In a solid tradition of singer-songwriter neo-folk, but a cut above most in both the guitar work and vocals. A very pleasant album.

Relaxing background music and above average acoustic guitar.

Above-average Singer-songwriter work for me, because it actually has what I always want more of from those: musical arrangements that aren't just one guitar

Folk rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Decent singer-songwriter LP, the strong acoustic guitar up in the mix meant I enjoyed this one more than usual for albums of this fare. Strong songwriting and guitar lines made for a solid listen, I would appreciate all the singer-songwriter adds here if they were more like this.

This was a singer songwriter folk type that I have not heard before. Maybe not the best of his kind but his guitar ability is a bit more impressive than others in his genre. This album was pretty good and some of the lyrics were a bit cartoonish but that made the album float along nicely. I’d listen to him again but I’m not sure how often. 6.8/10

I like a bit of this late 70s vibe although not hot on the religion or politics slant it's mellow and Bruce is a great acoustic guitarist.

Cute folk rock. Strangely reminded me of They Might Be Giants of all things.

This was okayish

I am a fan of easy listening / storytelling. Was not disappointed

Mr Garfunkel is that you?

Folk rock. Ni fu ni fa.

Rating: 6/10

Wanted to love this a lot more than I did, but I still think I like it.

Not bad

This is another in a long line of albums that made virtually no impression on me. It could be because I've had a migraine for 5 straght fucking days at this point, but maybe I should just stop listening to new albums for a while until I get my ears back. Anyway, that's not Bruce's fault 3/5

"Creation Morning" and "Badlands Flashlights" are great compositions, in between Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell at the peak of her jazz-influenced era. John Martyn is also there somewhere. The tones are lush, the arrangements are very intricate, and the guitar playing is virtuosistic. Yet the result are not merely Bruce Cockburn showing off his six strings chops. It's also him creating very touching or endearing music, also exemplified by the very catchy vocal hook at the center of "Wondering Where The Lions Are", kind of foretelling Paul Simon's *Graceland* era. Conversely, the "yacht folk" of "Hills Of Morning" and "Northern Lights" are somewhat more streamlined affairs that feel less risky or less interesting on a purely musical viewpoint. And those songs are also a touch too linear and naive-sounding for my tastes in the genre involved here. The rest oscillates between those two extremities, often within individual songs. Textbook "3/5 album" for me, incidentally the global score for this one. The two instrumentals added in the deluxe edition are terrific, by the way. Why didn't Bruce Cockburn follow that sort of far more promising source of inspiration to strengthen the original tracklist of the album is beyond me... 2.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 3. 7.5/10 for more general purposes. ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 76 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 94 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 185 (including this one) ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham

Fancy guitaring, lovely chilled singing, lyrics vague enough to allow personal interpretation, and a cheeky wee instrumental track near the end. An artist I had never heard of, but quite enjoyed, but not enough to put it in my book. A nice suggestion though

Det finns folk som har vaknat ur sin narkos när de hört det här för att sedan somna om igen för att musiken är så förbaskat tråkig. Inte dåligt men skittråkigt.

Dancing In The Dragon's Jaws sounds a lot more 90s than late 70s and creates a nice chilled vibe but it's realy just a bit bland for an upbeat crooner. 2/5 but an easy listening charm.