Published on Sep 21, 2001
Listening to the musical catalog of new-age pianist Jim
Brickman, it almost feels like the more successful he became, the
more room he was given to experiment with his music.
By Heart dared to feature some additional accompaniment
besides Brickman’s solo piano – including the introduction of
vocals.
Picture This, Brickman’s third album, continues in this
trend, daring to move further away from the core of solo piano –
yet never forgetting the roots of Brickman’s music. It’s still not
quite as absorbing as his debut
No Words, but it’s a nice accomplishment.
Similar to
By Heart, Brickman seems to put a more upbeat spin on his
music, creating the portraits one can see as well as hear, but not
quite challenging the listener to probe the depths of their minds.
Tracks like “Picture This,” “Sound Of Your Voice” and “Dream Come
True” all do this very well – often bringing in what sometimes
sounds like synthesized accompaniment to help bolster the power of
the solo piano. In fact, the addition of strings to some of the
tracks accomplishes two things. It strengthens Brickman’s presence
while providing the songs with a more rounded feel. (The true power
of what full orchestration – and by that, I don’t mean in a
classical sense – of Brickman’s compositions can do is heard on the
bonus track “Hero’s Dreams” – wow!)
Daring to use a saxophonist on a new age album is bound to make
some people have a “Kenny G” moment, where they squirm a second
before running for the exits. But the utilization of Boney James on
“Edgewater” reminds me more of the late Grover Washington, Jr. than
the single-lettered last-name schlockmeister, and like the
introduction of strings, helps to bring out the best in Brickman’s
work.
Vocals are used on but one track, “Valentine,” courtesy of
Martina McBride. Despite her background, McBride does not bring
country into this track; instead, she allows her vocal talents to
be guided by the song itself, and she delivers a rendition which
pulls at the heartstrings. There’s a reason this track is played a
lot on the AOR stations around the country.
For all of the praise I have for
Picture This, the disc does have one significant drawback –
namely, it’s not quite as memorable as
No Words was. For some reason, Brickman just was not able to
capture the emotional power in the same way he did on his debut
effort – a complaint which now is two albums old. Am I saying that
Picture This is a forgettable album? No. Am I saying it’s
bad? No. But like I said with
By Heart, I guess I have a high standard of expectations for
Brickman, and I know he can easily meet them.
Picture This falls a little short of the bar in that
regard.
Despite that,
Picture This is yet another album from Brickman which not
only proves his musical talents and power, but that piano music –
and, for that matter, new age music – can be quite enjoyable.