David Gray has been around for quite some time now and this, his fourth album, is as good as anything he has ever produced. Due to a series of legal wrangles with previous record companies his earlier releases are notoriously difficult to get a hold of. Now, thanks to Dave Matthews new record label "ATO Records", American fans have a chance to hear this excellent singer-songwriter. If I was pushed to come up with a musical comparison, I would have to say that David Gray is a mixture between early Bob Dylan and early Van Morrison (both lyrically and sonically) with a fresh sensibility. This particular album, in addition to brilliant new compositions such as Babylon and White Ladder, also features his brilliant acoustic reworking of the Soft Cell song Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. (The bonus tracks on this record appeared as B-Sides on his European single releases and they too are very good.) I highly recommend this to anyone who is drawn to meaningful poetic lyrics, and encourage you to seek out his earlier albums (particularly his debut A Century Ends) despite their scarcity.

Geeze, already 250 some-odd reviews...don't suppose mine will make much of a difference, but here goes nonetheless:

I won't pretend that I've been a huge David Gray supporter since he was playing the street corners of little towns in Wales. To be honest, prior to David Gray, my knowledge of Wales "exports" was limited to Dylan Thomas, The Manic Street Preachers, and Stereophonics. So, truth be told, I'm a recent follower. But, I am now devout.

This cd is amazing. A word of caution: it will inspire you to go out and purchase as much as you can of Gray's work. I have thus far gone out and purchased the "Lost Songs" cd, the "Flesh" cd, and the "Century Ends" cd. Each is utterly amazing.

Full of beauty, melancholy, sadness, hope, and happiness, this cd is perfect for almost every setting. Be it relaxing in the evening, your house lit by nothing but candles, driving down the highway, top down on a gorgeous sunny day, or curled up by the window watching rain fall.

This cd has a more electronic-based/backed type sound as you can hear from the singles of "Babylon" and "Please Forgive Me." But, it is a very delicate sound that stays in the background and adds to the songs an amazing texture. It never oppresses the songs, and never becomes over-bearing in, say, the Paul Oakenfold techno sense. I mention this only because his other cd's, for example the ones listed above, are much more stripped down and acoustic. But, don't think for a moment that this is a bad thing. It is very, very wonderful.

I'd also like to give David Gray TREMENDOUS kudos for his beautiful cover of Soft Cell's "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye." As a huge Soft Cell and Marc Almond (the individual formerly in Soft Cell, not the band of the same name), I thought "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye" (from their Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret lp), would be something forever placed in the vaults of yesteryear. Gray however, has brought this incredible song back out again. And what a tremendous job he has done. Thank you David.

Should you desire to get another David Gray cd to further explore his sound, I would definitely recommend getting the "Lost Songs" cd. It is almost purely acoustic, with just David and his guitar. It is very, very beautiful, as one test-listen on this site will reveal.

Enjoy. I guarantee you'll be hooked. And, thank you again David for giving us such beautiful music. And, I suppose, thanks are in order to Dave Matthews for bringing this out on his label.

White Ladder is one of the best albums as a whole that I've heard in a long time. Gray blends electronic beats with his traditional folk style to produce a superb album. His previous two almbums, A Century Ends and Sell, Sell, Sell, each progress from traditional folk to the technical superiority Gray exhibits on the folky-pop album White Ladder. You can hear obvious Dylan influences in the musical composition and delivery, while the gritty, bluesy vocal style of Van Morrison is prevalent in Gray's deeply personal lyrics. There isn't one bad song on the album, from the amazing solo ballad "Nightblindness" to the uptempo "Babylon". "Sail Away" is another excellent track blending acoustic and electric worthy of mentioning. The hard thing to believe is that Gray recorded White Ladder in a house without the help of real intricate studio equipment. Some of the songs where even recorded in front of an open window! David Gray has been around for a long time, White Ladder has gone 6 times platinum in Ireland, but he just gaining real popularity with his amazing music. He's even better live!

White Ladder, David Gray's fourth album sees the Welshman shift in style after the highly acoustic A Century Ends and Flesh and the Folkie/Rockie Sell Sell Sell. The acoustic guitar and powerful voice remain but drum samples give the album a more atmospheric feel than Gray's previous efforts.

It takes about 3 or 4 listens to really get into this album but once you listen to it about 10 times you start thinking about this album ever time your hear MTV type rubbish, and start to long for a quite room and CD player.

After about 30 listens your attention starts to focus on the truly great tracks that begin and end this album as the middle tracks start to get skipped. Please Forgive Me gets better with ever listen with the end of the song driven on pure emotion, Babylon has the sing along chorus of the year, get your tissues out for This Years Love, Sail Away is a perfect mix of this aforementioned songs, and Say Hello Wave Goodbye drifts on for ages into the reflected silence that overcomes you when the album ends.

Some people get sick of this album after a while but never regret buying it; this sickness is usually induced by the endless listening you devote to this album when you first get you hands on.

If you like the passion of David Gray's voice get his other three albums especially his debut A Century Ends, as his previous efforts are more vocally based than White Ladder. This album just shows one side of David Gray, enjoying discovering his other qualities and go to see him Live for the ultimate Gray experience.

Okay everyone now is probably familiar with the 'rags to riches' story of David Gray. Here's the brief synopsis for those that have not.Unknown for years except in Ireland-dropped by record companies-finances White Ladder practically himself-goes from being big in Ireland to absolutely 'mega-big'-album remains in Irish top 10 for over two years(And still counting-who keeps buying this record-I mean we have a tiny population,at this rate I reckon everyone has bought it twice-but then it is that good)-song Babylon gets a very minor remix,becomes a big hit in Britain and all over Europe-picked up by American chat show host and now stardom awaits this man in the U.S.Great story-but is the success deserved.Well in my opinion definitely.And if you give this c.d. a chance you'll hopefully agree.

The sound has a real late night laidback feel.It's all very gentle sounding and quite acoustic.The songs are quite romantic,with loads of tales of great love,huge sorrow and deep regret.Yet you never get a sense that this is a c.d. full of anger and disillusionment,which considering it's background is a bit surprising.I think it's a c.d. that ultimately is full of hope and I think that has had a major contribution to the albums longevity in sales terms over here.You get the feeling that if you keep trying hard enough and never give up,things may work out.This may have also been a major part of the background to how David Gray may have felt when he made this album.

The songs-well it's that good an album that almost everyone has their own particular favourites.So many c.d.'s have a few great songs,everyone likes and the rest is all rubbish.Personally I like Please Forgive Me,Babylon-as the most commercial tracks.'This Years Love' for it's lyrics of hope and the magnificent piano accompaniment.'Sail Away' cos it does make you feel like the lyrics and breezy guitar sounds want you to feel-that is just to drift off somewhere,in the middle of nowhere,yet in total peace.Then finally-the best cover version I've heard in years-Soft Cell's "Say Hello Wave Goodbye"-a most brave song to try and cover and one that not only sounds amazing but also improves on the original-it's an amazing ending (except for the slightly altered Babylon 2) to an amazing album,an amazing story.Let's hope it comes with a "To be continued....Soon!"