Bus Named Desire

Description

Bus Named Desire is the sophomore studio album by the American singer and songwriter Ashley Cleveland, released on Reunion Records in June 1993. The album was produced by Kenny Greenberg and Wally Wilson.

There are few songwriters in Christian music that are Cleveland’s equal in terms of writing intimate material that doesn’t come off as maudlin and self-possessed; Margaret Becker springs to mind immediately, as does Charlie Peacock. Where Clevland distances herself from the pack on this album is choosing songs to cover which dovetail with her originals; «Skin Tight» (if you’ll pardon the pun) is a perfect fit for the artist, as is Pat McLaughlin’s «Better You Get Ready» and «I’m Not Made That Way». In an interesting gender twist, co-producers Wally Wilson & Kenny Greenberg (Cleveland’s husband) and Gary Nicholson wrote the latter tune from a woman’s perspective and really nailed it.

‘Big Town‘, Cleveland’s 1991 Atlantic Records release, leaned more toward a bluesy, R&B attitude, with lost of heavy rhythm guitar and gospel-tinged piano and vocals; ‘Bus Named Desire’ is decidedly more pop in its overall approach, with occasional references to ‘Rubber Soul’/’Revolver’-era Beatles. (Evidenced by the chiming guitars and melodic bass dominating tracks such as «The End of a Long Goodbye», «Better You Get Ready» and the sitar-like guitar figures on «Water»).

Highlights (among an album of highlights) include the confessional ballad «Feel Like Falling», which centers itself around Cleveland’s delicate vocal and John Jarvis’ piano; «Water», which uses that element as a metaphor for God’s cleansing and redemption (much like «Walk to the Well» from ‘Big Town’); «Henry Doesn’t Care» uses the innocence of Cleveland’s son to demonstrate how we learn to build to walls around ourselves as we supposedly “grow up.” If you keep score of such things, ‘Bus Named Desire’ probably contains fewer overt gospel references than her previous album. However, it is chock full of the stuff that makes Cleveland matter as an artist – raw, unpretentious performances and honest, gutsy songwriting. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, August 1993]

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/bus-named-desire/271458752)

CD tracklist:

01. End Of A Long Goodbye – 4:23
02. Skin Tight – 4:01
03. Feel Like Falling – 4:29
04. Henry Doesn’t Care – 3:44
05. I’m Not Made That Way – 4:00
06. Better You Get Ready – 3:31
07. Water – 3:35
08. Bus Named Desire – 4:07
09. Trust – 3:59
10. Light At The End Of The Tunnel – 5:14

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Reunion Records.