Harbor Lights was the fourth album by Bruce Hornsby and was released by RCA Records in 1993. It was the first album credited solely to Hornsby, without his previous backing band, the Range. The record showcased Hornsby in a more jazz-oriented setting and featured an all-star lineup, including Pat Metheny, Branford Marsalis, Jerry Garcia, Phil Collins and Bonnie Raitt. Unlike earlier albums, Harbor Lights allowed more space for Hornsby's and guest-players' "extended instrumental" solos to "flow naturally" out of the songs. The tone was set by the opening title track, which after 50 seconds of expansive solo piano lurches into an up-tempo jazz number, ending with Metheny's guitar runs. The album closes in a similar fashion with "Pastures of Plenty", this time with an extended guitar solo from Garcia intertwined with Hornsby's piano. Hornsby also quotes the main musical phrase from the Grateful Dead's "Dark Star" as the jazz head to his song about tensions surrounding a biracial relationship, "Talk of the Town". The mid-tempo "Fields of Gray", written for Hornsby's recently born twin sons, received some modest radio airplay, peaking at #69 on the Billboard Hot 100. Harbor Lights was well received by critics and fans, who praised it for its "cooler, jazzier sound" and its "affinity for sincere portraits of American life, love, and heartache." The album cover uses Edward Hopper's 1951 painting Rooms By the Sea.
The title track has genius level piano playing in it (that intro!) and a guitar solo by Pat Metheny that is its own masterpiece. Bruce Hornsby is a genius level jazz pianist cleverly straddling the line between pop hooks and jazz harmony. Been a fan of his for years. Fantastic stuff.
Never heard of this before but it was surprisingly cool. A bit jazzy at times, but nothing obnoxious. Good soft rock album. 4/5.
A warm blanket of music. Enjoyed it more than expected
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Passing through, What a time
This is a very well-produced album from 1993 displaying the very best that 1984 had to offer.
The only remarkable part of this album is the cover by Edward Hopper. The music and performance on this jazzy pop rock album is harmless in every way. Quality elevator music I guess.
This is really cheesy soft rock from the 90s. It's just so... lame? Like it's just so bland and inoffensive and sounds like the credits over some generic 90s film. Compared with the jazz album yesterday this is childsplay. It really sounds like the default sounds you get on your casio. My personal rating: 2/5 My rating relative to the list: 2.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.
Maybe didn’t give this enough time, but just comes across as cheesy soft rock, not for me.
This was a nice album - sort of noodly long songs with that Hornsby piano. Guess Bruce does ok even without the range.
It's alright, but sort of bland. 3 stars.
This was a quite fun soft rock album but I didn’t get too much out of it. Catchy hooks but very dated production, even for the 90s when it came out. Kind of like Billy Joel with more of a groovy jazz/funk influence
Fine piano rock
This is the kind of music that when you were a kid in the 90s and your friend's parents listened to it you were like "ah so this is grownup music" Yuppy-ass nonsense
Absolute shoutout to the legend who found this album of the music they played at KMarts
Not bad
I thought this was all right - very well executed for what it is, though the smooth jazz thing isn't so much for me. But it made for perfectly enjoyable backing music for a morning of chores.
Rock, jazz, soft rock. Ni fu ni fa.
Love the Hopper-esque (or Hopper-excerpted) cover. Love the warmth and soft perceptibility of the music, but it’s so down the middle as to be a veritable snooze. Piano playing is fine throughout, lovely and grand, alternately. Vocals are sub-par. Reminds one of the early Sting records (which are on balance a notch better), “Fields of Gold” = “Pastures of Plenty,” basically. “Talk of the Town” sounds like the Charlie Rose soundtrack; much else like brief excerpts of Dead shows. Can’t speak to where this fits with Hornsby’s evolution as an artist, but it would seem less a major new territorial expansion than an incremental maturation.
Sting - 1/3/93 - Fields of Gold Bruce - 6/4/93 - Fields of Gray I know which one I’d rather listen to.
This is really tight musically, if a bit dated for 1993. Also, is it just me, or did Bruce Hornsby's voice age a heck of lot between '86 when he was with the Range to '93? Still, this was a perfectly pleasant listen and a nice break from some of these other user submitted albums. Thanks for recommending it. Fave Songs: Harbor Lights, Fields of Gray, Long Tall Cool One, China Doll
Discount store Genesis, tries so hard to invoke the progressive rock titans of its time that it loses any sense of individuality in the process. Silly lyricism and muzak-level instrumentals further hinder the LP, and it ends up going in one ear and out the other – listened to this in the morning and it was gone from memory by lunch.
I didn’t hate this but yet I didn’t really love it. Hornsby has some solid hits but this solo album doesn’t hit that same piano soft rock vibe. This felt like the jazzier rock of a divorced dad that was really trying to still feel cool. Which sucks because yacht rock, to me, is cool but this tries really hard and comes off a bit lame. Some of the songs are alright where the jazz instrumentals are left alone, but the lyricism like rainbow’s Cadillac for example just seems forced. Not every album is gonna be a piano jazz banger. That’s just the way it is. 5.3/10
Sorry. Not for me
Snoozefest
Soft rocking from out of time. its a little over produced in that way that a lot of the soft rock of the era.
This is like a throwback to the 80's only made in 1993. It's just insipid. There's nothing here to ignite any interest.
Just the epitome of the 90s: the CD-player production, the smooth jazz compositions, the cover, the utter vapidity of the whole damn thing, like every track is the theme song to some horrible unfunny sitcom, delivered without any cynicism or wit, just get your words out of my ears, Bruce.
Actually despise this 1