Rainer - 17 Miracles - The Best Of Rainer

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 21 / 8 / 2006

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Review

This is a best of collection from the late American folk singer song writer Rainer Ptacek. It is nearly 10 years since he died and this collection has been brought out to keep the legacy of this artist alive. It is a great body of work including some of his solo songs and some the music he did with his band Das Combo. It has a very bluesy, folky, old American slide guitar feel to it. He has the perfect voice to match this music and is a joy to listen to. His soft vocals are almost haunting at times and he creates atmospheric music that conjures up images of deserts and the roaming landscapes of America. You could imagine this guy sitting on a freight train singing people his songs along his travels. With songs like 'Good Book' and 'One Man Crusade' Rainer sounds every bit like a man who has seen the world, and doesn’t think much of a lot of it, but finds solace in warning others of it. This is definitely an album you would want to take if you were to embark on a long lonesome journey. It is the type of music that when put on could silence a room and grab everybody’s undivided attention with its rawness and honesty. Rainer was 46 when he died and certainly seemed to have packed a lot of living into his life if these songs are anything to go by. The songs are crafted by a man who was a great poet and had a wonderful insight into life,the good, the bad and the ugly. It really is timeless music. I had no idea about who this man was when I first received this album, or when these songs were made. For all I knew they could have been written 5 years ago or 30 years ago. They were in fact mostly recorded during the 1980’s, and interestingly Rainer holds a record in that he is the only artist to ever have a tape reviewed by 'Rolling Stone'. Now there’s one for the pub quiz. This is great album and one that should be listened to in reflective moods and long journeys to get the full benefit.

Track Listing:-

1 Rudy With A Flashlight
2 The Farm
3 Losing Ground
4 Junkpile
5 The Good Book
6 Within You Without You
7 Something's Got To Be Done
8 River Of Real Time
9 Powder Keg
10 One Wrong Turn
11 Life Is Fine
12 Inner Flame
13 Rude World
14 One Man Crusade
15 The Oasis
16 Love Buys Love
17 Miss The Mississippi