I've been a JT fan for about three years now. I started out with the Greatest Hits CD and have sporatically bought some of his studio albums: Mud Slide Slim, Sweet Baby James, JT, Hourglass and Gorilla. I recently purchased "October Road." I wasn't overy impressed with the CD but it has grown on me ("Mean Old Man" and "Caroline I See You" being early favorites). Getting "October Road" inspired me to continue my JT album collection and I just purchased "Dad Loves His Work." I didn't have grand expectations for this CD because the album cover seemed drab and uninspired. Boy, was I wrong! Dare I say it, this is my favorite JT album and I thought I'd never say that after hearing "Hourglass." After hearing the last track, "That Lonesome Road," I didn't move for about five minutes. JT is a genius and a gift from God. "I Will Follow" is another favorite but to tell you the truth they're all gems. If you're a JT fan, this album is a MUST for your collection. Albums like this remind me why I find JT's music and voice so irresistible.

When this album was released in 1980, James Taylor had just separated from Carly Simon, his wife of nine years, and was addicted to both Heroin and alcohol. This man was several centuries removed from the author of "Shower The People" or "Your Smiling Face."

Perhaps no other marital split between public figures was so well documented. "Her Town, Too," the standout track on this decidedly uneven album, candidly captures the devastation of breaking up: "Some of them his friends/Some of them her friends/Some of them understand" To get the other side of this story, listen to Carly's devestating "We're So Close" (Available on her Spy CD!).

"Hour That Morning Comes" masks its message of fear and adiction behind some southern soul music, but still gets its message across. And the desolation of "That Lonesome Road" is as much psychological as it is physical. To balance all this, Taylor does manage to throw in one positive sleeper, "Summer's Here."

Although I recommend this CD mainly for James Taylor fans, any fan of the singer-songwriter genre wil enjoy it: Even the worst song here is better than anything on Tracy Chapman's last 2 albums! Give it a listen!

I cannot say that there is anything Mr. Taylor has recorded that I do not like. Having said this, I must add that Mr. Taylor, a brilliant lyricist and musician, created songs that touched upon most, if not all, of the feelings I went through in my own divorce. Both the lyrics and the music are absolutely appropriate to one another; and, to me they seemed universal to the emotions that tumble over one another as one goes through a divorce. I would recommend it to anyone who is going through a divorce or any sort of loss, but I would also recommend it to anyone who simply appreciates beautiful lyrics and beautiful music, sung and played by a one of a kind artist, a true American treasure.

There is no doubt that this period was very dark. It is althroughout this album. Her Town Too, contrary to what some may think, is NOT about the Taylor's breakup. JT himself has stated this. On the surface, it is sometimes too easy to try to connect the dots. Not only was the marriage coming apart,but the loss of John Belushi is told in That Lonesome Road. With his passing, JT began the climb out of his addictions.Dad Loves His Work is the statement of JT's life, and what makes it.

`Stand and Fight' is the outstanding song on this CD for me. I can remember James Taylor and Carly Simon doing a great duet on `Mockingbird' in the movie `No Nukes,' so it seems obvious that James Taylor would be familiar with the feeling, "When are people ever going to see that there ain't nothing that is ever going to change until someone decides that it is time to stand and fight?" `Sugar Trade' offers a more balanced view of "Who is to blame? The captain or the cargo or the juice of the sugar cane?" on rum and race questions that resulted from the triangle of trade that provided economic support for colonies: ships bringing slaves to the Caribbean could carry rum to New England, the juice of the sugar cane being a major product among the early Americans. Ships leaving New England could carry whatever the colonists produced to Europe, then go back to Africa for more slaves. The song makes "the family name" part of the legacy, as if being haunted by history is as tragic as A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens, in which the revolution in France has jokes about heads getting a shave and a haircut.

`That Lonesome Road' has music that is meant to tear your heart out, which usually works. The songs on this album all show a creative spirit tied to the themes and styles that support him in spite of whatever problems most people would have if they faced the expectation that talent should be producing something that will bring in tons of money by coming up with something new and different.