| Awake | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | John Wesley Harding |
| Cover: | Awake (John Wesley Harding album).jpg |
| Released: | 1998 |
| Label: | Zero Hour |
| Producer: | John Wesley Harding, Chris Von Sneidern |
| Prev Title: | Dynablob |
| Prev Year: | 1996 |
| Next Title: | Dynablob 2 |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
Awake is an album by the English musician John Wesley Harding, released in 1998.[1] [2] Harding deemed the sound "gangsta folk."[3] He supported the album with a North American tour that included shows with Steve Wynn.[4] [5]
The album was produced by Harding and Chris Von Sneidern.[6] Harding avoided writing about himself, preferring to tell stories in his songs.[7] He employed tape loops, samples, e-bow, mellotron, and tubular bells on some of the tracks.[8] [9] Awake is a loose concept album, where the songs occur after an alarm clock has buzzed.[10] Kurt Bloch and Scott McCaughey contributed on guitar.[11] Kelly Hogan sang on "It's All My Fault".[6] "Miss Fortune" is about a millionaire who discovers a baby in a trench.[7] "I'm Staying Here (And I'm Not Buying a Gun)" is about resolving differences without firearms.[12] "Your Ghost (Don't Scare Me No More)" is about moving on from an old relationship.[13]
Pitchfork wrote that "too many songs lack any real character and slide slowly into generic lite-rock territory." The Times Union deemed the album "a dazzling, dream-like collection of pop songs culled from Harding's vast and vivid imagination."[14] The Chicago Tribune noted that "much of the record retains Harding's typical techno-free pairing of wry lyrics with fetching melodies."[15]
The San Antonio Express-News called it "a masterful effort, its pointed commentary contrasting with a melodic, folk-rock backing."[16] The Plain Dealer panned the album, writing that "most of the tunes are typical introspective folkie singer-songwriter fare, ranging from the interminable drone of 'Blood Sweat Tears and Come' to the halfhearted country of 'It's All My Fault'."[17] The San Diego Union-Tribune considered Awake "his strongest effort yet, his sparse folk tunes ... combined with a low-fidelity atmosphere more common to bands like Folk Implosion and Pavement."[18]
AllMusic wrote that Harding's "acid-tongued, always-clever phrasing, folky leanings, and strong sense of melody show him to be one of the finest (and unfairly overlooked) songwriters of the '90s."