| Love and Danger | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Joe Ely |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1992 |
| Label: | MCA |
| Producer: | Tony Brown, Joe Ely |
| Prev Title: | Live at Liberty Lunch |
| Prev Year: | 1990 |
| Next Title: | Chippy |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
Love and Danger is an album by the American musician Joe Ely, released in 1992.[1] [2] It marked Ely's return to MCA Records.[3] He supported the album with a North American tour.[4]
Recorded in Nashville, the album was produced by Tony Brown and Ely.[5] Ely and Brown wanted to place emphasis on the songs and Ely's voice, rather than a band sound.[6] Ely had written between 40 and 50 songs over nine months, some inspired by his Texas road travels.[7] David Grissom played guitar on the album.[8] "Every Night About This Time" is a cover of the Dave Alvin song. "The Road Goes On Forever" and "Whenever Kindness Fails" were written by Robert Earl Keen.[9] [10]
The Chicago Tribune wrote that the album, "bursting with a crazed and dangerous sexual energy, rocks as hard as anything Ely has ever recorded, yet that rootsy Texas twang is never far away, nor is his startling poetic flair."[11] The Guardian noted that "Whenever Kindness Fails" "meshes perfectly with Ely's gruff but ironic delivery."[12] The Los Angeles Times determined that "Ely is taking the outsider/loner's view of love and life, spinning witty, frequently brilliant metaphors ... and setting them to melodies that seem at once familiar and fresh."[13]
The Calgary Herald opined that Ely's "delivery is too intense, like he's trying to be heard over a roadhouse crowd." Stereo Review concluded that "it's got the dynamic locomotion of rock, the righteous sassiness of the blues, the narrative twang of country, and the hook-filled, melodic sheen of pop."[14] The Indianapolis Star wrote that "Ely's America entails bawdy romances, squelched ambitions and lonesome highways." The Orlando Sentinel stated that "the ultra-crisp, hard-rock drum sound here is downright annoying on otherwise worthy songs."