No Blue Thing

No Blue Thing is Ray Lynch’s fourth studio album, released on August 15, 1989. It peaked at #1 on Billboard's "Top New Age Albums" chart[5] as well as #197 on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums".[6] The album also peaked at #16 on Gavin Report.[7]

No Blue Thing
Studio album by
Ray Lynch
ReleasedAugust 15, 1989
Recorded1985–1989[1]
StudioRay Lynch's home studio[2]
Different Fur
GenreInstrumental
Adult alternative
Length39:21
LabelMusic West
Windham Hill Records (reissue)
ProducerRay Lynch
Ray Lynch chronology
Deep Breakfast
(1984)		 No Blue Thing
(1989)		 Nothing Above My Shoulders but the Evening
(1993)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

Production

In an interview with Keyboard, Lynch said that he recorded between two and seven versions of the same song. Lynch also told Keyboard that "The True Spirit of Mom and Dad" took him about eight months to complete.[8]

Reception

Keith Tuber of Orange Coast praised the album, commentating that Ray Lynch "has a way with melodies, combining classical, acoustic and synthesized pop elements.".[9] JA of Keyboard noted that the some of the album is "more of the same" from Deep Breakfast;[1] JA wrote that the "DX patches have a little more bit this time, but the trick of running staccato patterns through a delay line in triplet rhythm hadn't changed" and that the album, like his previous works, lack percussion instruments. JA concluded that the listeners may or may not like the album.[10] Robert Carlberg of Electronic Musician compared the album to Reed Maidenberg's Unexpected Beauty, praising the album for its combination of electronic and acoustic instruments but criticizing it for having an overreliance of arpeggiations as well as its use of "plodding" time signatures and for its "warm, fuzzy" instrumentation. Carlberg concluded that the album's flaws "rob [both Lynch and Maidenberg] of whatever vitality classical training would bring."[11] John Diliberto of Jazziz Magazine criticized the album, calling it formulaic and concluded that the album "breaks no new ground".[12] Gavin Report wrote that each track on the album is worthy of the listener's attention, especially "The True Spirit of Mom & Dad", which was described as the "climactic final track" of the album.[13]

Track listing

No Blue Thing includes the following tracks.[3]

No.TitleLength
1."No Blue Thing"5:37
2."Clouds Below Your Knees"4:53
3."Here and Never Found"4:46
4."Drifted in a Deeper Land"7:27
5."Homeward at Last"3:38
6."Evenings, Yes"4:52
7."The True Spirit of Mom & Dad"8:03

Personnel

All music composed, arranged, and produced by Ray Lynch.

Production
  • Mastered by Bernie Grundman (Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, California)
  • Mixed by Ray Lynch and Daniel Ryman at Ray Lynch Productions studio except for “Evenings, Yes” (Recorded at Different Fur, San Francisco; engineered by Howard Johnston; mixed at Mobius, San Francisco)

Charts
Chart (1989) Position
Billboard New Age Albums[5] 1
Billboard 200[6] 197

References
  1. "In Review". Keyboard. 15 (9): 30. August 1989. Retrieved April 2, 2017. And now, after a four-year wait, Lynch is back with more of the same.
  2. Widders-Ellis, Andy (December 1989). "Ray Lynch: Exploring the Structure of Music". Keyboard. 15 (12): 29. Lynch records and mixes his albums in his home studio.
  3. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r83332
  4. Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Muze. p. 384. ISBN 0195313739.
  5. "New Age Music: Top New Age Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  6. "Top 200 Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  7. "Most Added Adult Alternative" (PDF). Gavin Report (1762): 34. 23 June 1989. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  8. Widders-Ellis, Andy (December 1989). "Ray Lynch: Exploring the Structure of Music". Keyboard. 15 (12): 29. Most pieces on No Blue Thing had at least two versions, some had seven...I was working with larger structures and was more ambitious. 'The True Spirit of Mom and Dad'...took me eight months to finish.
  9. Tuber, Keith (August 1989). "No Blue Thing, Ray Lynch". Orange Coast Magazine. Emmis Communications. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  10. "In Review". Keyboard. 15 (9): 30. August 1989. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
  11. Carlberg, Robert (September 1989). "Economy Reviews". Electronic Musician. Polyphony Publishing Company. 5 (9): 104–105. Retrieved April 10, 2017. I have almost exactly the same reaction to No Blue Thing by Ray Lynch [as to Unexpected Beauty by Reed Maidenberg]. Lynch also plays classical guitar in addition to keyboards...Both men are classically trained musicians, and it shows in their ability to divide the tracks into discrete sections. Unfortunately, the arpeggiation (in Lynch) and relentless plodding time signatures and "warm, fuzzy" instrumentation (in both) rob them of whatever vitally classical training would bring.
  12. Dilaberto, John (1990). "Ray Lynch - No Blue Thing". CD Review Digest Annual. 4 (1–2): 76. Retrieved March 27, 2017. While there is classical lyricism and chamber music instrumentation amid the synthesizers of No Blue Thing, the disc also has the feel of formula music,...No Blue Thing breaks no new ground.
  13. "Jazz New Releases" (PDF). Gavin Report (1754): 39. April 28, 1989. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
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