To the Roof of the Sky is Bill Mallonee and company's middle of the road musical memoirs and features a more acquired alt-country taste with less feisty fare than their previous three albums. If you're looking for loads of rowdy songs like "Undertow," "Resume," "Five Miles South of Monroe," or "Locust Years" you won't find as many of 'em. Instead, what you'll get is a panoply of accessible, superior songwriting featuring a kinder and gentler Vigilantes. There are a few straight-ahead rockers here, but the overall emphasis is steered toward songs closer in spirit and sound to "River of Love," "Skin," "Hang on Every Word," "Only a Scratch" and "Glory & the Dream." You get the idea. The mix of melodic guitar, mandolin, pedal-steel, and harmonica harkens back to an older Vigilantes style, yet this is by no means Killing Floor revisited, but a new, fresh chapter.
Finally free of label restrictions, To the Roof of the Sky is closer to what Bill has wanted to release for awhile, an album that is even more introspective lyrically, yet less rocking as a whole. Some will lament the loss of the folk/blues-on-speed sound that V.O.L. is also known for, while others will embrace these congenial tunes of faith, hope, and love in the midst of doubt and depression. One irrefutable fact remains: Bill Mallonee is one of the very best American lyric-writers alive today. His penchant for image-laden poetic phrases is intact, naturally or perhaps supernaturally. Give this one some time. It's a grower.
By my reckoning: four rockers, five ballads, six M.O.R.s (in the middle), gobs of great poetry, and four tocks worth of solid musical enjoyment.
4.5 tocks
Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by James StewartWithin two minutes of my first Vigilantes of Love live show ending, I had run across the field and bought an album. Bill Mallonee's passionate music and incisive lyrics won me over instantly, and I wanted to hold something of this with me when the festival was over. It's a couple of albums later, and my enthusiasm hasn't waned. The band has now gone indie, cutting all ties with old record labels…The Phantom Tollbooth 1998Reviewed by Linda T. StonehockerSooner or later, we all do what we must, Sooner or later, it comes down to trust. . . Sooner or later, we all become what we chose, Sooner or later, truth be told. (From "Paralyzed") Life is difficult, but as the Vigilantes of Love conclude repeatedly on one of their most balanced, best produced projects to date, survivable. To the Roof of the Sky was written by a mature, balanced grownup wise in…Similar sounding releases
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