Except for a somewhat lame but still listenable Sam Cooke cover, this is the best, most consistent album that James Taylor has recorded in years. He continues his one-per-album "quirky song" quota with "The Frozen Man", and "Copperline", "Shed a Little Light" (a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), "Slap Leather" (an anti-Gulf War song) and an awesome cover of the traditional "The Water Is Wide" are all highlights, but they are all overshadowed by the absolutely incredible "Native Son", a tale of a Union soldier returning home from the Civil War that is the most moving song, lyrically and musically, that Taylor has recorded since "Fire and Rain". A must-have for all fans of JT, even casual ones, and should also be high on the list of anyone who enjoys good, well-written, laid-back acoustic-based music. 5 stars, despite the fact that "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha" is probably second only to "Day Tripper" as the worst JT cover ever. The rest of the album is that good. :-)

Having owned Hourglass and, of course, his greatest hits CD, I purchased New Moon Shine to listen to his more recent work and it made me a James Taylor fan. "Copperline" is a favorite that sets the mood for the whole CD. "Slap Leather" is a sharp, fast rocker along with "(I've Got to) Stop Thinkin' 'Bout That". "Shed a Little Light", "Down In The Hole", "Oh Brother" and "Like Everyone She Knows" are the acoustic type songs with the backing vocals you see on his several TV specials. My favorite on the CD is "The Frozen Man", a song that sends you to the lyric sheet to follow along with the story. If you are thinking about exploring James Taylor after listening to just his greatest hits, this is the CD to listen to first.

James Taylor has given us so many wonderful albums over the last couple of decades (Gee, is it thirty years already?) that it truly surprising to see him come up with yet another blockbuster of a song cycle as he has produced here. From the opening bars of "Copperline", a dreamy recollection of why it is we can never go home again to the comical yet thoughtful "Frozen man", in which Taylor playfully cautions us about the dehumanizing possibilities science is beginning to confront us with, there isn't a dog in the bunch. As always, this is an eclectic mixture of folk ballads like "Native Son" and "The Water Is Wide" to an excellent cover of old favorite "Everybody Loves To Cha Cha Cha" to contemporary songs like "Got to Stop Thinking `Bout That". What we have here, folks, is a guarantee of entertaining, superbly rendered, and always memorable music by one of the old masters of popular folk-rock. After all, "JT" has now successfully negotiated the fifty-year mark, and like the rest of us boomers, shows no sign of slowing down or repeating himself. Enjoy!

There are haunting melodies and awesome guitar licks on this fabled CD.
JT is in fine form here and the previous criticism recorded on other feedback is quite obviously just that, pretentious criticism.
Enjoy this one and the soon too few to come from JT.

Love this CD. The songs "Copperline," "Shed a Little Light," and "Frozen Man" -alone are worth admission.