Another day, another Chuck Ragan record. Covering Ground is his third studio album and a pretty strong one at that. With his last three albums (so all of them except Feast or Famine, which I've loved since the first time I heard it) I'm finding that they don't blow me away on first listen but over the months and years more and more of the songs stand out as being excellent songs and the album gradually changes from being a solid Chuck Ragan LP to being an incredible one. It happened with Gold Country, it's happened here and I can already see it happening with Til Midnight. It's strange that Feast or Famine grabbed me so instantly when the rest take much longer.
Highlights are Nothing Left to Prove, Nomad By Fate and Meet You in the Middle but there are plenty of other great songs too. There are a couple of slower ones that don't grab me so much but they don't take away from the record. It's a nice package too - gatefold sleeve and a huge poster with the lyrics in the newspaper-style layout. Strangely, there's a gap of (mostly) silence between Lost and Found and the "hidden" track, Camaraderie of the Commons, which is something you don't see so often these days; I thought silent gaps before hidden songs was a thing of the late-90's but clearly I was wrong (or maybe it's because I don't buy cds that often anymore). Still the extra song is a nice surprise and great despite having to move the needle to get to it.
Format: 12", gatefold sleeve, 24x12" poster
Tracks: 10
Cost: £14 new
Bought: Banquet Records, Kingston
When: 14/09/11
Colour: Black
Etching: None
mp3s: Download code
