Best CD So Far This Year?

By Harris Cohen

Special to The Post and Courier

In my opinion, the best CD in 2010’s first half is “Let The Hard Times Roll” by David Ford. Passion accompanied with extreme creativity lead to a collection of songs unparalleled so far this year.

Ford wastes no time to ramp the fervor with the lead song, “Panic.” He rants against society with such poetic eloquence that both Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Jay-Z should be jealous. Ford surpasses with lines like, “So I’m taking lessons from the past/ They won’t build anything to last/ But engineered to fall apart the day the warranty expires/ .../ Just don’t look back and don’t look down, In fact try not to look at all.” Layer under this, music starting from just a simple music box in the first stanza then adding in orchestra cymbals and a sparse piano line with a driving bass and guitar and Ford’s originality constantly shines with never-forced or easy-way-out rhymes, leading to flowing lyrics and rhythm.

Ford also possesses a versatility to lay down beautiful ballads. Ford emotionally pushes his voice on “Waiting For The Storm” rising higher with urgency at the song’s pinnacle on the realization of consequences but hope, “Maybe the sky above will break/ Now I’m hanging on for pure survival’s sake/ So ashamed of what I’ve done/ And I’m scared of what’s to come/ So I’ll be waiting for a storm.” Ford conveys poetry with some great music in the background just as much as it is a song.

“Nothing At All” is the most unique song on the album and probably the year. Incorporating his unsurpassed uniqueness, the brash song begins with Ford singing boisterously over his shaking a wood box filled with broken glass and a deep bass drum. Adding in the rest of the instruments, he energetically wails his introspective disappointment ending every third line passionately with “I am nothing at all like I wanted to be.”

While I spoke with him prior to his concert in Atlanta a few months back, David confidently stated, “This is by far my best album to date.” This is quite arguable not because this effort is lacking in any way but instead because his prior two solo CDs were also just so darn good.

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