John Denver: Country Roads: Greatest Hits : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Television music, done lowest-common-denominator style, for those who like their entertainment free of annoying tensions, or even a few rough edges. And more than a few do: Greatest Hits has sold close to two million copies and John Denver has replaced the infinitely more talented Jim Croce as the leading purveyor of light folk-rock-pop. By the time I finished with an album's worth of his sweetness, innocence and good intentions, I craved something meanspirited, ugly and violent — a Kung Fu movie, perhaps. Musically, John Denver sings flat, most noticeably on his current hit, "Sunshine on My Shoulders." He and producer Milt Okun know that and don't much care. Denver's fans prefer a "soulful" take to a properly performed one, and his inattention to such trivia as pitch may even make him sound more sincere. Lyrically, his cheery optimism is so one-dimensional, stiff, and repetitive that I find it as oppressive as the excessive rantings of any monolithic heavy-metal band. To give credit where due: As singles, "Rocky Mountain High" and "Take Me Home, Country Roads" have fine melodies and give complete and entertaining statements of Denver's myopic point of view. He's fortunate that Ray Charles recorded the latter: His version is so good that 20 years from now Denver may yet be remembered — for having cowritten the song.