Review: Dart to the Heart

by Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Indianapolis Star
February 21, 1994

© 1994 Indianapolis Star

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Bruce Cockburn has written 12 songs that delight the senses and feed the brain. Dart to the Heart, his 23rd album, contains the same quality vocals and instrumentals we've come to expect from the Canadian composer/musician. Yet few people in the United States have heard of him, a dilemma that seems to plague hard-to-classify talent.

This disc, in stores on Tuesday, is a concerted effort to cross into mainstream, and the hope is that the rocker "Listen For the Laugh" will get some airplay.

The songs are a fine mix of rock, country and folk that advances themes common to Cockburn's music: relationships with each other and nature, social injustice and spirituality. Listen For the Laugh has a Lou Reed-esque driving beat with edgy, flat vocals. "Bone in My Ear" is a dulcimer [ed: actually it's a charang -- a small South American guitar] delight, while "Burden of the Angel/Beast nudges the conscience.

Produced by T-Bone Burnett, Dart to the Heart shows off Cockburn's diversity and range. He's seldom disappointing - and here he's at his best. Cockburn will begin a club tour after the album is released in March. Let's hope he stops here.