The Shepherd's Dog :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Sam Beam embraces the joy of a full band

2008-07-12
Sam Beam, the once upon a time one-man band behind the Iron and Wine moniker, has finally and fully embraced the sound of a full band, perhaps spurred on by his collaborations with Calexia since the previous album, 2005's "In the Reins", that tipped its toes in this water and previewed this evolution. The departure from the band's early work heard here is quite dramatic, yet satisfying.

"The Shepherd's Dog" (12 tracks, 50 min.) starts off with an exuberant "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car". "Lovesong of the Buzzard" is equally entrancing. Yes of course there are still 'quite' songs, such as the beautiful "Carousel" and "Resurrection Sound", but even in those songs you can feel a full band's embrace. Other highlights for me include "Wolves (Songs of the Shepherd's Dog)", which reminds me of Peter Gabriel's world music sound, just beautiful, and the brooding "Peace Beneath the City". In all, there really is no weak track on here, and it is (for me) the best album of Iron and Wine to date. Can't wait to see where these guys will go from here. If you are wondering where I hear their music, check out WOXY (BAM! The Future of Rock and Roll!), the internet-only but best source for indie-music in the country, bar none.

Iron and Wine was one of those bands that I had been wanting to see for a long time, particularly since this album came out last Fall. Well I finally did catch them last month at Bonnaroo, and they put on a fantastic 80 min. set, primarily bringing songs from "The Shepherd's Dog", and it was one of the best sets of Bonnaroo for me. (As an added bonus, my daughter bought a great Iron and Wine T-shirt for me for Father's Day while we were there!) Meanwhile, "The Shepherd's Dog" is highly recommended!

Not the Same old Sam...which is good

2008-06-29
Of Iron & Wine's three full-length albums, I probably like this one least. I don't regret purchasing it in the slightest; you just have to admit it was up against some stiff competition. (In the interest of full disclosure, Woman King is my favorite I&W Recording) There are some truly groundbreaking things on here, particularly "White Toothed Man," "Flightless Bird, American Mouth," "Carousel," and "Boy With a Coin." Sam Beam is digging deeper into his bag of studio-experimentation tricks, leading me to wonder if it'll ever have a bottom. The instrumentation gets more varied and exotic (I believe I heard a pedal-steel guitar through a wah-wah on Boy with a Coin! Coupled with that flamenco-y beat, no less).

Even so, I won't name names, but I did find a few clunkers on here. Inevitable, I guess, given the wide amount of field he's covering. Maybe years on I will give 'em another listen and feel differently. I will say that each song has its own unique texture. And even the misses are not THAT bad. I will say that I think "The Devil Never Sleeps" would be great if someone else covered it. I love Sam Beam's voice, but he seems out of place amidst the rollicking piano and stompin' beat.

All in all, I liked it a lot. Worth picking up for just the four I mentioned, as well as several other solid tracks. Just keep an open mind, and don't expect the same old sam.

Wow!!

2008-06-16
This is my first cd by Iron and Wine, and all I can say is WOW! This cd is great. A perfect blend of instruments and vocals. I will be purchasing the "In the Reigns" LP soon!

Bold strokes and vivid colors

2008-05-18
When I first got this I was totally thrown for a loop (pun not intended, but it does work here). I had bought the Woman King EP, so I knew he was exploring some different territory. But for this release, I thought he'd find some middle ground between that and his very acoustic and intimate earlier work.

I sorta liked it. I really wanted to like it. But it felt way too overproduced, especially the vocoder effect and all the mad layering. It was just too much.

Fast forward in time and a few dozen listens later: I love this album. It's easily one of his best. What's strange is it doesn't feel like the same artist. It's a completely different sound. But what I heard as "overproduced" before now has a dreamlike quality. In fact, the whole album feels like the soundtrack to a hallucinogenic road trip film. All the weird lyrical southern goth is still there. It's just that this one is painted in bold strokes using vivid colors rather than muted pastels.

I love all of Sam's work, and this is no exception. I'm glad to be able to say that now. It's not a perfect album; his sister's vocals get buried too much in the mix (if she's there at all). And this one takes time to appreciate. I'm not saying that's any guarantee that it will for everyone. But for me, it's a brave album that may be heavy on production, but also loaded with fantastic songwriting and sound sculpting.

Still Good

2008-04-30
Although I was a bit disappointed by this album, it still knocked me off my feet. Sam Beam is an AMAZING musician and I can't not love him. Iron and Wine fans will love 'Pagan Angel and A Borrowed Car' along with 'Boy With A Coin.'

Purists need to clamp it up, Sam's best work yet!

2008-04-11
Iron and Wine's last release (not including the collaborative In the Reins EP which featured songs by Iron and Wine's Sam Beam and performances by both Iron and Wine and Calexico together) was 2005's Woman King, a 6-song EP which distinguished itself from its predecessors with a deepening integration of spiraling, dense opuses with intimate confessionals. On The Shepherd's Dog this integration is complete. Sam Beam has confessed to finding spiritual inspiration in Tom Waits' pièce de résistance, Swordfishtrombones, an album with which Waits upended his previous strategies and forged a new musical language for himself. Recorded by Sam with the assistance of longtime producer Brian Deck and engineer Colin Studebaker, The Shepherd's Dog succeeds in accomplishing a similar cathartic recasting of the artist's intentions. The arrangements here are kaleidoscopic and rich. "White Tooth Man" rocks with a desperate, menacing intensity while "Boy with a Coin", the album's first single, is darkly playful with a handclap hook tumbling under its cascading melody. The whole album breathes. Its seductive rhythms percolate and undulate, from the Psych-Bhangra-redux of "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" to the album's last dance a waltz "Flightless Bird, American Mouth". Compositionally, it is Iron and Wine's most ambitious and accomplished recording to date. It's also the most satisfying.

I'm just a fat housecat... 2008-02-28
So the first thing I heard off of this album was "The Devil Never Sleeps", performed on David Letterman, and my initial kneejerk reaction was "Oh no, he's changed his sound, he's gone electric, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!". This is perhaps a horribly stupid reaction, especially when it's so misleading. Not that I didn't like the song, nor do I fear change, it's just that this jazzy, full-band, more rock-oriented song is a far cry from the intimate "one guy with an acoustic guitar" style for which Mr. Sam Beam is so well-known and so damn good at. But despite that, I said ok, I'll give the new album a shot.

Fortunately, the album, while perhaps a bit more diverse than past efforts, still maintained the overall acoustic Americana-drenched folk I really just can't get enough of. It's all there, the wispy, cozy vocals, the soothing and creative guitar melodies, and the entrancingly poetic lyrics. There are songs like "White Tooth Man", "House by the Sea", and "Boy with a Coin", which boast interesting and unusual vocal lines, as well as songs like "Resurrection Fern" and "Flightless Bird, American Mouth", which have that perfect inescapable melodicism Beam does like nobody else. Then there's the aforementioned "The Devil Never Sleeps", which stands out stylistically, with its electric guitars and jazzy piano licks, but still fits in. To borrow a phrase from a friend, it's as welcome as it is out of place.

Overall, there's not a bad song on here. Some might lament that Beam has moved away from the whole stripped-down lo-fi thing, but I say hey, no big deal. He's polished and diversified his sound while still staying true to his roots, and if you ask me, there's definitely nothing wrong with that.

In short, I'm more than satisfied. Even better, I am delighted to have recently found out that Sam is now living in Austin. If I see him around, I'll be sure to congratulate him on a job well done (and maybe convince him to do a show at Hanover's :).

Anyway, yeah, pick this up. It is very very good.

Dont bother. Over-produced junk. 2008-02-27
Over produced. I cant even listen to it. Shame on you Sam. Go back to what you do best and dont make me waste my money on another CD like this. This album should have never seen the light of day.

I don't Hear It 2008-02-19
Its great to see so many reviewer's rave about Sam's work. I gave "Our Endless Numbered Days," five stars, and I continue to listen to it all the time. I also enjoy "Woman King," wondering why we only got six tracks on that one. Oh well, the six tracks are worthy.

But "The Shepherd's Dog," in my opinion, just doesn't hold up. In fact, were it not for the single, wonderful track "Boy With a Coin," and Sam's sweet voice, I'd have a difficult time recognizing this as "Iron and Wine." It is over-produced, there are too many instruments, and some of the tracks sound like they were produced by a pop music specialist.

Even the visceral, crude, and dynamic CD artwork (the dog on the front, and the bearded man on the back) conspired to give me the impression this was going to be more great Sam Beam material, perhaps of "OEND" caliber.

Hey, I can barely play a scale on the guitar, so I bow to Sam's greatness. But "Shepherd's Dog" reminded me to do more research before buying an entire CD that I know to contain one great track.

Update 6/18/08 - Still feeling guilty about this review of "The Shepherd's Dog," I have since listened to "The Creek Drank the Cradle," and I can highly recommend that Iron and Wine Collection as well!

Just short of a masterpiece 2008-02-10
I discovered this disc while killing time in a CD store. Just put on the headphones and with the opening bars of 'Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car' I thought "wow! this is different in a good way." and then I heard 'White Toothed Man' start and I knew I needed this album.

I think the album just falls short in the middle where there are 2 or 3 songs which are a little ununique. But then you reach 'Wolves' and 'Ressurection Fern' and it shifts again to unique brilliance.

For those not familiar with Iron & Wine's work, he sounds folky, but also with soft undertones of rock. He's really hard to compare because he is so new to my ear. Have a listen to the samples I guess. That should help you decide :-)