Reviewed by: Kim Walter
Oct 2016
Label: Ato Records


Blind Pilot is a large group with many unusual instruments, including a Mellotran, dulcimer, ukulele, and both pump- and pipe organs. I really wanted to like this album, both because I have heard other songs from them and know the name and because, being from Oregon, they are part of the West Coast music scene and practically local. The truth, however, is that I found this album a bit tedious and redundant, and, by the end I was finding it hard to say anything new or nice about the songs. For the most part, the songs sound similar at the beginning, with a strong feel of folk/acoustic music, but without the clear message. The lyrics are either rife and mystical in meaning or utterly meaningless. I couldn’t tell. (Ironically, all the lyrics are printed out in a very nice little album booklet). Mellow, rambling tunes that are sometimes soulful and tender, and others that begin slowly with gentle voice and minimal accompaniment and then open up into a faster, more mainstream pop sound. Overall, more of a crossover into pop country album. Best at slow, emotional ballads like 2,5,6.


Blind Pilot “And Then Like Lions”- no times available
1. slow to med – ballad about love with images of the river
2. slow – vague lament about love
3. slow-med – meandering slow sad song
4. med- upbeat (for them) song about life
5. slow – attempt at uplifting a suicidal friend
6. slow – sounds like a female ballad from the 60’s
7. slow- gentle accompaniment to soft voices In harmony
8. slow- typical gentle voices, vague lyrics, minimal accompaniment
9. slow-med – most unique, symphonic arrangement, moves into strong voice
10. slow-med – album’s namesake/anthem? Most extensive vague lyrics