The Way It Is Bruce Hornsby & The Range

• 1 On the Western Skyline 04:39
• 2 Every Little Kiss 05:46
• 3 Mandolin Rain 05:21
• 4 The Long Race 04:28
• 5 The Way It Is 04:57
• 6 Down the Road Tonight 04:26
• 7 The Wild Frontier 04:01
• 8 The River Runs Low 04:26
• 9 The Red Plains 05:00
• Total Runtime 43:04

Info zu The Way It Is

„The Way It Is“ is Bruce Hornsby and the Range's debut album, released in 1986. Led by its hit title track, the album went on to achieve multi-Platinum status and helped the group to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

The group has a distinct sound of its own, often led by Hornsby's bright piano chords and elastic tenor. There is New Age music here, as well as Jazz and Country, and the mixture is presented naturally by musicians who seem to have been playing with each other for some time.

It's no surprise that the music is so accomplished. Hornsby was no teenage neophyte when he made it, having kicked around the music business and gotten into his thirties, and the band includes such veterans as David Mansfield, who remembered as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder troupe and the Alpha Band, as well as being a film composer.

„There isn't a second of Bruce Hornsby & the Range's The Way It Is that suggests it's a debut album. On the contrary, the record sounds like the culmination of a band's efforts over many years. The group has a distinct sound of its own, often led by Hornsby's bright piano chords and elastic tenor, with cohesive and evocative arrangements; there is new age music here, as well as jazz and country, and the mixture is presented naturally by musicians who seem to have been playing with each other for some time. Similarly, the songwriting has its own flavor. Hornsby wrote seven of the nine songs with his brother John Hornsby, and they create their own world, a working-class environment of longing and loneliness set against the background of the Virginia Tidewater area. (The album cover displays a sepia-toned photograph of the band set over another photograph of the long Chesapeake Bay Bridge.) The lyrics are lightly poetic and restrained, for the most part. The exception is the title song (written by Bruce Hornsby alone), a brave if somewhat clumsily written attack on the heartless right-wing politics of the mid-'80s, as the U.S. suffered through a second Reagan administration determined to roll back civil rights gains. The boldness of the statement and the lovely piano theme more than compensate for the awkward writing, however, making the song one of the album's most memorable. And that's saying a lot when the competition includes the engaging 'Mandolin Rain' and the appealingly romantic 'Every Little Kiss' (Hornsby's other sole writing credit). Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the music is so accomplished. Hornsby was no teenage neophyte when he made it, having kicked around the music business and gotten into his thirties, and the band includes such veterans as David Mansfield, who may be remembered as a member of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder troupe and the Alpha Band, as well as being a film composer. Sometimes a debut album just happens to be the first music most people get to hear by a mature talent, and that's the case here on the debut album of the year. (Bruce Hornsby & the Range went on to win the 1986 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.)“ (William Ruhlmann, AMG)

George Marinelli, vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Bruce Hornsby, vocals, hammer dulcimer, accordion, piano, synthesizer
Joe Puerta, vocals
David Mansfield, guitar, mandolin, violin
John Molo, drums, percussion
Additional musicians:
Huey Lewis, harmonica, backing vocals (on 'Down the Road Tonight“)
John Gilutin, additional keyboards
Sean Hopper, additional keyboards

Recorded at Capitol Recording Studios; KingSound Studios; Ocean Way Recording; Rumbo Recorders; Studio D, Sausilito; Village Recorder
Engineered by Eddie King, Elliot Scheiner, Jeff Nik Norman
Produced by Bruce Hornsby, Elliot Scheiner, Huey Lewis

Digitally remastered

Bruce Hornsby
Since the release of his first album in April of 1986, Bruce Hornsby has created a musical life that has expanded far and wide to include a broad stylistic range of activity and a most impressive list of credits. From his days in the lounges and bars of Virginia to his days in the Los Angeles music studios to his days with The Range to his current status as a solo artist, Hornsby has always brought something unique to his music.

Bruce Hornsby is a nine time Grammy nominee, and has won three...in 1987 with The Range for Best New Artist for their debut LP 'The Way It Is'; in 1989 for Best Bluegrass Recording for his version of his hit 'The Valley Road' which appeared on The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's album 'Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Volume II'; and with Branford Marsalis in 1993 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for their song for the Barcelona Olympics, 'Barcelona Mona.' Bruce was nominated twice in 1996 for Best Pop Instrumental for his solo piano piece 'Song B,' and with Chaka Khan for Best Song For A Motion Picture for 'Love Me Still' from the soundtrack of Spike Lee's 'Clockers.'

Hornsby's five albums - 'The Way It Is' (1986), 'Scenes From The Southside' (1988), 'A Night On The Town' (1990), 'Harbor Lights' (1993), and 'Hot House' (1995) - have sold more than eight million copies worldwide. The title cut from 'The Way It Is' was the most played song on American radio in 1987, winning ASCAP's Song of the Year award. In Keyboard Magazine's Reader's Poll, Hornsby won six years in a row, including the 1994 award for Best Rock Pianist 'Harbor Lights' was the 1994 winner of the Downbeat Readers' Poll Beyond Album Of The Year.

In addition to his own hit records, Bruce Hornsby has co-authored many hits for other artists, such as 'Jacob's Ladder' for Huey Lewis and 'The End Of The Innocence' for Don Henley. Bruce has played on more than 70 albums in the last eight years, including records by Bob Dylan, Don Henley, The Grateful Dead, Bob Seger, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bela Fleck, Bonnie Raitt and Shawn Colvin.

Bruce Hornsby was also a part time member of The Grateful Dead from 1990-1992, playing more than one hundred concerts with the band in America and Europe.

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