Published on Sep 25, 2001
After experiencing the whirlwind of success with his last few
albums (as well as the enormous exposure he got with
My Romance and its airings on PBS), Jim Brickman seemed to
realize that he needed to refocus his music. Since his debut, his
albums had featured more instrumentation and songs with vocals than
the album before – and maybe he decided it was time to go back to
the basics… at least part of the way.
Simple Things reflects that change, featuring Brickman the
songwriter and the pianist more than the love balladeer – though he
does not leave those aspects of his career in the dust, either. At
times, this proves to be Brickman’s most beautiful album, and yet
it is his most challenging work to date.
Say what you will about New Age music, there is something
inherently relaxing about hearing instrumental piano music, so long
as it is well-written and well-executed. While there is still the
use of background instrumentation on
Simple Things, Brickman wisely turns his attention back to
his piano work. This is not meant to slam his more richly
orchestrated works – but hearing just Brickman at the keys brings
back warm feelings of his debut effort
No Words.
Yet Brickman would be foolish to completely eschew the progress
he’s made over the years with his music, and everything comes to
the surface with “Serenade,” a song which might have long-time
Brickheads standing there with their mouths wide open. With a
synthesized beat, Brickman comes close to sounding like Moby or
Vangelis with this work – blasphemy to some, music to other’s ears.
Realizing I admitted earlier that I liked Brickman’s returning to
basics, had
Simple Things been filled with songs like this, I’m betting
it would have been an unstoppable album.
Working with an advance copy of this disc, as well as no bio or
liner notes, I’m at a loss to say exactly which guests are featured
on which tracks of
Simple Things. (I do note that Rebecca Lynn Howard is the
vocalist of record on the first single “Simple Things”.) I had
thought that Brickman himself handled the vocals on “A Mother’s
Day,” but I’m guessing now that the honor belonged to Tommy Douglas
(who I also believe wrote the song). If this track doesn’t have you
reaching for the Kleenex, then you’ve got no emotional feeling in
your body. The selflessness of a mother, putting aside her
exhaustion to make sure things are ready for her family for the
next morning – ah, cripes, I can barely write about it without
tearing up.
Simple Things is a disc filled with wonderful moments,
daring the listener (especially those who hopped on the Brickman
bandwagon in the last two years or so) to accept his work in a more
stripped-down format and without overloading the disc with vocals.
With this work, Brickman has not only created his best album, but
has raised the bar for other adult-contemporary piano
balladeers.