The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, despite its lofty title, does not come with a four-paneled foldout map with a bejeweled compass rose, nor does it feature the art of Roger Dean or the keyboard theatrics of Rick Wakeman. Instead, Ritter's fifth foray into full-length album land is loaded with walls of electric guitars, waves of brass, ebbing tides of strings, and enough colorful analogies both historical and biblical to ignite a thousand cigars and refill an equally impressive number of brandy snifters. Listeners looking for a sequel to 2006's beautiful, bittersweet, contemplative (and primarily acoustic) Animal Years will either need to board another train or realign their senses, as Ritter has made the rowdiest record of his career. On first listen, the Idaho-born singer/songwriter's Historical Conquests are a dense bunch, both lyrically and musically, but further spins reveal a carousel of folk-rock splendor that echoes everyone from Springsteen to Ron Sexsmith to Summerteeth-era Wilco. Opener "To the Dogs or Whoever," with its motor-mouthed emissions of love cloaked in the mythology of Joan of Arc, rants and raves for a mere three minutes, but by the time he catches his breath on the last refrain of "I thought I heard somebody calling in the dark," it's hard not to feel like you've spent the whole time in the "belly of that whale" with him. Things don't slow down from there, with the Spoon-inspired rocker "Mind's Eye" and the "roll the credits" crowd-pleaser "Right Moves" providing a one-two punch that makes the gorgeous "Temptation of Adam," with its elegiac horn arrangement and apocalyptic backdrop, a welcome respite. It's diverse for sure, but the melodies are born of familiar glue. "Heart Still Beating" and "Wait for Love" will please fans of the last record and the Johnny Cash freight-train rumble of "Next to the Last Romantic" will light up even the most solemn heartland drive home, but they revel in the "hummable" Tin Pan Alley warmth of Hank Williams and early Tom Waits. Historical Conquests is above all a fun record. It's got all of the heartache, acute observation, and crushing truth that fans are used to, but it never preaches without a wink and, most importantly, sounds as good blisteringly loud as it does drifting out of a clock radio in the garage.
Josh Ritter has taken another step towards being the IPOD generation's Bob Dylan. Last year's 'Animal Years' was amazing...and from what I have heard so far off of 'The Historical Chronicles of Josh Ritter' is going to be just as good...
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Man, I am loving this album...have to post one more track from it before I call it a day
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More from my shopping spree: When I hear this song I'm whisked back to, hmm, about 1972/73 - when Josh Ritter was probably just a gleam in his parents' eyes. As far as I know, it's not a cover, so it must be a little riff or a tone that's making my synapses snap; whatever it is, I like it. and I hope you do, too. And I hope the afore-mentioned parents of Josh are very proud of him!
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Josh Ritter, one of the finest songwriters America has ever known, is playing a show in Little Rock tonight! If you can't tell, I'm super stoked about seeing him live for the first time. If you're not familiar with Josh, here's the skinny. His lyrics are pure poetry in the most literal meaning of the word. Think Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, and Springsteen's Nebraska. Give the guy a listen, and I gua...
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So someone distracted me the other night and I missed Josh Ritter performing on Letterman. Although I guess I can't complain since God gave us YouTube so now we don't miss anything.I believe I've mentioned this is not my favorite song (okay, I might have said I hate this song) but it has grown on me. Let's face it, any song that has the line, "Did I mention how I love you in your underwear?" ...
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I saw a post of Josh performing Springsteen's "The River" (which is awesome)http://mog.com/zoot/blog_post/106549here is a track off the new album, from the same party. Imagine Josh just sittin' in your living room playing some of his latest stuff. How cool.....
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Someone was nice enough to point out that you can listen to Josh Ritter's new album streaming on his website. (Thanks Bicycleshed!) So this week my background music at work has been The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. As I turned it on again this morning I thought to myself, "Ya know, I think I'm gonna have to buy this." (Thanks alot Bicycleshed!) At the same time, my office mate Case...
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I just picked up Mr. Ritter's latest, and am still absorbing it. It came with a bonus disc, that really only has one full length tune. Wildfires comes in at a respectable 4:48. Great track too. But the snippet of a song 'Naked As A Window' kinda grabbed me. Here it is...
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More melodic, musical and lyrical hooks in this one tune than most artists can create in an entire album.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 To the Dogs or Whoever |
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| 2 Mind's Eye |
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| 3 Right Moves |
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| 4 The Temptation of Adam |
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| 5 Open Doors |
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| 6 Rumors |
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| 7 Edge of the World |
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| 8 Wait for Love |
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| 9 Real Long Distance |
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| 10 Next to the Last Romantic |
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| 11 Moons |
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| 12 Still Beating |
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| 13 Empty Hearts |
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| 14 Wait for Love (You Know You Will) |
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Click to purchase…
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 "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter")
