Harbor Lights (1993)

Si Twining

Thanks all for your contributions! You were asked to score each track on Bruce Hornsby’s Harbor Lights, and we appreciate every single response. It helps build up a more accurate picture. Here are the end results!

A reminder of the tracks:

Music player:

This was Bruce’s debut record with a solo credit. His band at this point is effectively a trio with guests. John Molo played drums and the Yellowjackets’ Jimmy Haslip featured on bass. Jerry Garcia, Phil Collins, Bonnie Raitt, Branford Marsalis and Pat Metheny guest.

This was a big jump from Night on the Town. Disbanding the Range was the first major change in career direction for Bruce, and I remember the initial reaction. The tour with Jimmy Haslip in ’93 soon put paid to any doubts, and the high marks on this survey prove the point. The title track gets the highest score since the first record. It currently stands third in the all-time list of songs since we started this project. Of course, we have several records to come!

Bruce Hornsby’s Harbor Lights wiki page

Music press reviews

Bruce Hornsby Harbor Lights
Harbor Lights, 1993

All Music: “All Music review: Leaving behind the Range, Bruce Hornsby trades heartland rock for a cooler, jazzier sound with Harbor Lights, an album that nonetheless retains his affinity for sincere portraits of American life, love, and heartache. The title track is a humid, celebratory song that evokes a romantic summer evening in the South, setting the stage for a collection of humanistic songs. If the album has an underlying theme, it’s the necessity of seeing yourself and the ones you love through the hard times as well as the good. The purely upbeat songs, like Rainbow’s Cadillac and What a Time, are counterbalanced by the sober Fields of Gray and The Tide Will Rise, and the cultural commentary of Talk of the Town. The music is uniformly excellent, with Hornsby’s piano work blending seamlessly into the rich arrangements”.

“Each song usually ends with an extended instrumental section, but these flow naturally instead of feeling like tacked-on jam sessions. And Hornsby isn’t just showing off here, as he lets other voices, like Branford Marsalis’ sax and Pat Metheny’s guitar, get their say. In later albums, Hornsby’s focus on music would tend to overtake his lyrical content, but Harbor Lights marks the point at which he found the right balance between virtuosic playing and personal storytelling.”

Your reviews

Next up is Hot House. When we’re done with every record, we’ll compare every single track’s score.

Harbor Lights - the breakdown

Harbor Lights - 87.9%
Talk of the Town - 72.6%
Long Tall Cool One - 70.5%
China Doll - 73.5%
Fields of Gray - 85.2%
Rainbow's Cadillac - 84%
Passing Through - 71.7%
The Tide Will Rise - 82.6%
What a Time - 70.4%
Pastures of Plenty - 77.3%
SHELF-LIFE/LONGEVITY - 84.6%
LYRICS - 85.5%
ARTWORK/LINER NOTES - 82.6%
MUSICALITY - 89.5%
PRODUCTION - 87.1%
COLLABORATIONS - 90.1%

81%

Very good!

A big jump in the ratings!