25 Albums I Can't Live Without: #4
Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love, "Audible Sigh"
Programming note: today’s entry in the list comes out on Thursday instead of Friday since tomorrow is Good Friday. A blessed Easter weekend to everyone.
When I wrote about “Audible Sigh” as part of PJ Media’s series of underappreciated albums, I wrote this:
It’s a rare privilege to become friends with a musical hero, and it’s happened to me twice. Forgive me if I sound like I’m name-dropping on this one, but I’ve known Kerry Livgren, guitarist, keyboardist, and principal songwriter for the band Kansas in its heyday, for about 40 years. Admittedly, Kerry became more of a hero after we got to know each other — before that I just knew him as "that guy from Kansas."
The other musical hero of mine with whom I’ve become friends is a man who is criminally lesser known. I wish I could say that Bill Mallonee and his band Vigilantes of Love — VoL for short — was a phenomenal success. But the band was part of the Athens, Ga., music scene in the ‘90s and had what you might call a cult following in several places throughout the world.
The closest VoL came to a rousing, unqualified success was the band’s best album, “Audible Sigh.” With Buddy Miller producing and Julie Miller and Emmylou Harris joining on backing vocals, why wouldn’t it have been an excellent album?
The proceedings kick off with “Goes Without Saying,” an upbeat look at finding hope in the midst of troubled times.
On “Any Side of Anywhere,” Mallonee expresses how performing is therapy for creatives like him.
A song like “Starry Eyed” demonstrates Mallonee’s brilliant songwriting. Is he writing about a personal relationship or tacking higher-order concerns? The answer is yes.
Train metaphors show up throughout the album — and not just on the cover. “Now As the Train Pulls Away” and “Nothing Like a Train” are bittersweet explorations of relationships.
“Solar System” and “Resplendent” are absolute masterpieces.
VoL had an incredible run in the ‘90s and ‘00s, and Mallonee continues to make music at an astonishingly prolific pace. But nothing will top “Audible Sigh.” It’s a terrific way to get your feet wet with his amazing career.
Photo credit: Micah Taylor from Minneapolis, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons