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Album Details

• Artist: Gordon Gano
• Album: Hitting The Ground
• Label: Instinct
• Year of Release: 2002
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-03-30

Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes makes his solo debut with a plethora of respectable guest artists. Throw around names like PJ Harvey, Mary Lou Lord, John Cale, Lou Reed, Linda Perry, Frank Black and They Migh Be Giants and you stand up and pay attention. I’m not really sure what I expected from Gano, being one of the fore-running singer and songwriters in alternative rock. I just know that I wasn’t expecting the brilliance and cohesiveness that Gordon has attained on Hitting The Ground. As seen by other guest ladened album’s, these aren’t easy to pull together in order to make them sound like an “Album�. They more often than not end up sounding like a compilation CD but somehow Gano has achieved the impossible. He actually only sings on 3 songs, leaving the vocals for the rest of the guests. PJ Harvey’s contribution on the title track is a hard act to follow (it’s the first track on the album and written in true classic Femmes style) but we get impressive contributions from John Cale, (the piano heavy “Don’t Pretend�) Lou Reed (the super funky “Catch “em In The Act�) and a Pixies style contribution from Frank Black himself. Gordon Gano, no doubt feels good about Hitting The Ground and I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns into a regular thing.

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