| No Blue Thing | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Ray Lynch |
| Cover: | Nobluething.jpg |
| Released: | August 15, 1989 |
| Recorded: | 1985–1989[1] |
| Studio: | Ray Lynch's home studio[2] Different Fur |
| Genre: | Instrumental Adult alternative |
| Length: | 39:21 |
| Label: | Music West Windham Hill Records (reissue) |
| Producer: | Ray Lynch |
| Prev Title: | Deep Breakfast |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | Nothing Above My Shoulders but the Evening |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
No Blue Thing is Ray Lynch’s fourth studio album, released on August 15, 1989. It peaked at #1 on Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart[3] as well as #197 on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums".[4] The album also peaked at #16 on Gavin Report.[5]
In an interview with Keyboard, Lynch said that he recorded between two and seven versions of the same song. Lynch also told Keyboard that "The True Spirit of Mom and Dad" took him about eight months to complete.[6]
Keith Tuber of Orange Coast praised the album, commentating that Ray Lynch "has a way with melodies, combining classical, acoustic and synthesized pop elements.".[7] JA of Keyboard noted that some of the album is "more of the same" from Deep Breakfast;[1] JA wrote that the "DX patches have a little more bit this time, but the trick of running staccato patterns through a delay line in triplet rhythm hadn't changed" and that the album, like his previous works, lack percussion instruments. JA concluded that the listeners may or may not like the album.[8] Robert Carlberg of Electronic Musician compared the album to Reed Maidenberg's Unexpected Beauty, praising the album for its combination of electronic and acoustic instruments but criticizing it for having an overreliance of arpeggiations as well as its use of "plodding" time signatures and for its "warm, fuzzy" instrumentation. Carlberg concluded that the album's flaws "rob [both Lynch and Maidenberg] of whatever vitality classical training would bring."[9] John Diliberto of Jazziz Magazine criticized the album, calling it formulaic and concluded that the album "breaks no new ground".[10] Gavin Report wrote that each track on the album is worthy of the listener's attention, especially "The True Spirit of Mom & Dad", which was described as the "climactic final track" of the album.[11]
No Blue Thing includes the following tracks.
All music composed, arranged, and produced by Ray Lynch.
| Chart (1989) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Billboard New Age Albums | 1 | |
| Billboard 200 | 197 |