| Vermilion | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Continental Drifters |
| Cover: | Vermilion (Continental Drifters album).jpg |
| Released: | 1998, Germany 1999, United States |
| Studio: | Dockside |
| Genre: | Roots rock |
| Label: | Blue Rose Razor & Tie |
| Producer: | Continental Drifters |
| Prev Title: | Continental Drifters |
| Prev Year: | 1994 |
| Next Title: | Better Day |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
Vermilion is an album by the American band the Continental Drifters, released in 1999.[1] [2] It was first released in Germany, in 1998.[3]
The drummer Russ Broussard played on the album, replacing Carlo Nuccio. Produced by the band, Vermilion was recorded over 17 days in Maurice, Louisiana, at Dockside Studio.[4] [5]
Robert Christgau thought that "the lyrics resolve on home truisms, earned and learned but predictable nonetheless, just like the alt-pop songforms and country-rock groove," and singled out Susan Cowsill for praise. Trouser Press called the album "mature, artistic and affecting," writing that "the eight-minute 'Daddy Just Wants It to Rain' is a monumental and powerful piece of family autobiography."[6] No Depression considered it "graceful, poetic, intimate and deliciously harmonized, but still plenty rock-minded."[7]
CMJ New Music Report wrote that "touching country-gospel harmonies dominate this album, which taps deep into the soul of American roots music."[8] Sound & Vision opined that "guitarist Robert Mache is the unsung hero of the lot, putting a personal spin on the Neil Young/Robbie Robertson tradition of thrill-ride soloing."[9] The Chicago Tribune declared that the album "vibrates with life, serving up roots rock in all its flavors: tough, tender, twangy, toe-tapping but with more urgency than the genre frequently exhibits (and without the complacency)."[10]
AllMusic called the sound "downright messy at times, with acoustic and electric guitars splayed out around indistinct bass and clattering drums and the occasional mandolin and rubboard."