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    The Phantom Tollbooth 1998/Bruce Cockburn
    Bruce Cockburn — Circles in the Stream cover

    Bruce Cockburn

    Circles in the Stream

    (1977)

    Reviewed by Steven S. Baldwin

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    Label True North RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth1998
    acousticfolk rocksinger-songwriter

    This live concert CD from 1977 was recently re-released to the adoration of Bruce Cockburn fans everywhere. Over 80 minutes were technologically condensed onto one CD without missing a song, and only leaving out a bit of crowd noise. The result is a superb retrospective of a period in Cockburn's career when his confession of Christianity was more overt. Plus the overall sound quality and musicianship are extraordinary (acoustic guitar picking a-plenty and generous doses of moody reflection!). Circles in the Stream is a superb batch of songs, including inspiring versions of Cockburn classics like "All the Diamonds in the World," "Lord of the Starfields," and "One Day I Walk," as well as more obscure material like "Dialogue with the Devil"--an old fan-favorite that Bruce hasn't played live in about 20 years. Be warned that this may not be the best introduction to Bruce's considerable body of work, spanning over 30 years of music-making. Fans of his early albums, however, as well as adventurous souls with a taste for thought-provoking, image-laden, folkish rock from the Seventies, should not let this one get away from you and slip downstream.

    4 tocks

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