Mountains

"'Mountains' belongs among a cluster of albums that represents a late-career renaissance for Nils Lofgren ... Many of those records carry credits by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (...) [and] have a loose, homegrown quality while 'Mountains', released just months after [the Molina-Talbot-Lofgren-Young-collaboration] 'All Roads Lead Home', decidedly does not. Technically the first collection of original material Lofgren has released in a decade, 'Mountains' is a product of the studio, filled with sequenced rhythms, polished punch, and superstar cameos ranging from jazz legend Ron Carter to Ringo Starr ... 'Mountains' feels considered and thoughtful. Lofgren doesn't shy away from big emotions (...) and that open-heartedness is the key to the album's success: it enlivens the studio precision and gloss, giving it a warm human pulse".

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"Nils Lofgren never fails to deliver albums filled with glorious guitar playing, heartfelt songs, and a soulful look at the human condition. That his latest, 'Mountains', features all should come as no surprise ... Coming four years after his last record, the 'Blue with Lou', which featured five tunes he'd written with Lou Reed and which was a particular high point in a career filled with them, 'Mountains' doesn't disappoint. The guitars are nice and loud, the playing vivid and imaginative, and the writing as strong as it's ever been in Lofgren's career".

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"[Lofgren] rages over Ringo Starr's pugnacious drumming on the Jan 6-inspired "Ain't The Truth Enough", while his Strat dances around Andy Newmark's stickwork on the confessional "Only Ticket Out" and jmood piece "Dream Killer". But too often Lofgren, who co-produced with his wife Amy, abandons the dry, spare sound of his '70s albums in favour of '80s-like slickness and massive chorales".