Description
Into the Woods is the fifth album by the American rock band The Call, released on Elektra Records in 1987. The album was recorded by Don Smith at various studios in Los Angeles, California – A&M Studios, One On One Studios, Rumbo Recorders, and Conway Studios – with Smith, Michael Been and the band producing. All songs written by lead vocalist Michael Been except track A2 co-written with Scott Musick, track A4 co-written with Jim Goodwin, and track B1 co-written with Tom Ferrier.
An advertisement promoting Into the Woods was featured on the frontpage of the July 11, 1987 issue of Billboard Magazine: “Nine tracks of intelligence, compassion and reckless intensity. Featuring «I Don’t Wanna». Produced by Michael Been and The Call and Don Smith.” Passion Speaks Louder Than Words … On Elektra Superior – Quality Cassettes, Compact Discs and Records.
I’m going to say a prayer for Michael Been tonight. I’m going to ask the Lord to let him have a nice day. Soon. But then, if Been’s outlook on life improved, perhaps his songs wouldn’t be the intense, gut-wrenching revelations they are.
You often hear people marvel about songs which seem to reveal a lot about their composer, e.g., “Boy, he really bared his soul on that tune!” After hearing Been’s songs on ‘Into the Woods’, The Call’s second album for Elektra, you’ll probably feel as though he has told you things he wouldn’t tell his best friend, shrink, or even mom. Suffice it to say, songwriting must be how this guy exorcises his “demons.” A close inspection of the lyrics may well find you nodding your head and, more than once, identifying with Been.
The opening track (also, first single and video), «I Don’t Wanna», appears to be Been’s attempt to share his faith, while refusing to water it down to make it more easily acceptable. “I ain’t gonna watch your every move/ I ain’t gonna dog your every step,” he all but screams. “I can only wish you’d feel the hope.” Been has a knack for placing himself in others’ shoes as well. In «It Could Have Been Me», he identifies first with a rich, powerful (but corrupt, by implication) person, then a homeless man, a dying soldier (“dying for nothing”), and a jailed criminal (Christ, perhaps). The jailed man wonders, “why did it have to be me?” then shouts in the refrain, “well, it could have been you!”
The most uplifting and hopeful (and danceable) tune is the closer. «Walk Walk» is anchored by Scott Musick’s insistent drumming and Been’s rubbery bass. The real star of this track, though, is guitarist Tom Ferrier. His bayou-based, scratchy runs give the track almost a country feel. Been pleads for the Lord to “Walk with me, tell me everything you know/ ’cause I’m standing at the crossroads, waiting for my guide to show.” So ‘Into the Woods’ ends. The Call doesn’t “dog your every step,” but it does give you all the information you need so that your own journey into the “night of the soul” will bring you “out of the woods, out of the storm.” [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, September 1987]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/into-the-woods/1656078889)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “I Don’t Wanna” – 5:15
A2. “In The River” – 4:04
A3. “It Could Have Been Me” – 4:38
A4. “The Woods” – 5:10
Side Two
B1. “Day Or Night” – 4:12
B2. “Memory” – 4:05
B3. “Too Many Tears” – 4:24
B4. “Expecting” – 4:52
B5. “Walk Walk” – 3:50
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and 12-inch vinyl LP by Elektra Records. (Track B5 is shortened by one minute from the CD version.) Later re-issued on CD. Available at Bandcamp: https://thecall.bandcamp.com/album/reconciled-into-the-woods-remastered
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