Rating:  -
Let's be clear from the start: this isn't one of those "shadow of faded glory" releases from an artist past his prime, but a superb offering that easily matches the best of Donovan's work in his heyday. A smoky, jazzy ambience fills every track; the melodies are as strong & seductive as ever; and the agile, playful, yearning voice doesn't sound a day older. What especially impresses me about this collection, which is dedicated to the idea of the Bohemian worldview, is that Donovan isn't lamenting a lost past, or wondering what's become of those glowing ideals -- no, he still lives by those ideals, firmly believes in them, and presents them lovingly, without any irony or apology. No whistling past the graveyard of 60s dreams here! Those dreams are still alive & luminous for him; and any listener willing to discard cynicism may discover that they're dreams worth living. If you're not snapping your fingers to "Poor Man's Sunshine," or nodding in agreement to lines about "music in the air, flowers in your hair," then you're missing out on something wonderful. Most highly recommended!
Rating:  -
Whoever wrote that "poor man's Bob Dylan" line in the Amazon comments above just doesn't get it. Donovan is one of a kind. And this album show that he still has what it takes. It is prime Donovan all the way.
Too bad that it comes in one of those crummy cardboard boxes. Is it too much to ask that great music have great packaging? Minus one star for the physical presentation.
Rating: -
you go through these phases. first you listen to this and think: "sunny goodge street", but missing a flute or sax. pity. then you think: it's okay, but it's not tom waits. you put on tom waits. now THIS is tom waits. then you put on "sunshine superman", and you say: now THIS is donovan. "season of the witch"! now "season of the witch" always came from nina simone and so here you listen to "lord of the universe" and it comes from oscar brown jr, "mr kicks", and you think: far from perfect, but SOMEBODY will get it right. this is really such a brilliant song, if SOMEBODY did it right! then you listen to "the question" and think: it's a bit like..."barabajagal". okay. then you hear donovan stuffing around with a great dylan thomas poem, and of course we've all heard dylan thomas on all his recorded readings, and so you think: "gawrsh, he doesn't even UNDERSTAND what he's reading, the silly pot-head!" but you think: yeah, that's probably what some silly would-be pote would have sounded like in a beat café in england, doing dylan thomas instead of lawrence ferlinghetti...and so several hours later this silly reckitt is still rolling around the turntable, behaving like it was some earth-shattering collection of greatest hits that you just HAD to keep listening to on and on. donovan the lad, he even mocks or mimicks dylan (bob) in one of those serious sombre moods his bobness likes to indulge in of late, doing it kind of tongue-in-cheek, donovan does, and still managing to turn out a lovely song all his own. so they're right, those other people. this is a much better record than you might at first think -- very deceptive. only the artwork is pretty execrable. but then even THAT may be by design. very deceptive...
Rating: -
After listening to Sutras, I was worried that Donovan's career was over. I heard that he did a few live songs that were great, but did not put them on Sutras. He should release those soon. When I thought all was lost, this album appeared, and it is great. Donovan is back and better than ever. The songs Two Lovers, Love Floats, Ying My Yang, and Lover O Lover are fantastic. Donovan is back in the groove. This is an album for everybody.
Rating: -
It is so Kool to have a musician last and B good at what it has allways done : play and sing now tunes , some that are forever joung . It reminds me of Young Marble Giants ( Collosal 1980 ) . Worth my time , poetry in motion ...
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