From exile, Grow man

16 Horsepower - Folklore

If this was your first introduction to 16 Horsepower then you would almost think that there was nothing significantly different about this band from any other folk-oriented band.  However, if you had listened to any of their other albums before this one then the rather normal nature of this album would be strange in and of itself.  There are only four original 16 Horsepower songs on this album: “Hutterite Mile,” “Blessed Persistence,” “Beyond the Pale,” and “Flutter.”  The rest of the songs on this album were traditional folk tunes and covers of songs by the Carter Family, “Single Girl,” and Hank Williams, “Alone and Forsaken.”  This album of 10 songs is like a nice little history lesson throughout the history of some of the best of folk, country and traditional tunes as revisited with a slightly unique touch.  The most unique part of these renditions were the brilliant vocals of Edwards. 

At first, since I had listened to this album before, I wasn’t necessarily looking forward to this album, but after repeated listens, it definitely grew on me and I began to appreciate this album because it was 16 Horsepower exploring their influences and the roots that allowed for them to be who they were.  There were only two songs that did not translate as positively after several turns: “Horse Head Fiddle” and “La Robe a Parasol.”  Both of these songs seemed to lose their initial spark as the week wore on.  “Horse Head Fiddle”, funny enough, was the perfect transition piece from the work of 16 Horsepower to the newer project of Edwards’ in Wovenhand.  However, the lasting beauty of the work of Wovenhand did not translate as well in the context of 16 Horsepower.  It seemed , ultimately, strained and without any significant transcendental qualities that characterized the work of 16 Horsepower or Wovenhand.  Nonetheless, this is a solid album of strong songs, instrumentation and raw emotional force. 

Apocalyptic Rating: 3 out of 10 (Going into debt because of the nuclear blast shelter probably wasn’t worth it)

16 Horsepower Album Rankings

1. Low Estate

2. Sackcloth ‘n’ Ashes

3. Secret South

4. Folklore

5. 16 Horsepower EP

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