''Inner City Front'' is the eleventh full-length album by Canadian singer/songwriter

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...

, released in 1981 by

True North Records True North Records is a Canadian independent record label. History True North Records was founded in Mississauga, Ontario in 1969 by Bernie Finkelstein. By 1971, True North was producing albums for various Canadian musicians, including Bruce C ...

Reception

In a retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

critic Brett Hartenbach wrote, "Musically, moody synths, violin, and woodwinds on ''Inner City Front'' underscore the dark, reflective nature of the material, which like its predecessor, deals with the "paradox and contrast" in the human condition, from personal relationships to world affairs. Also, for the second consecutive recording, Cockburn eschews the folkier, acoustic leanings of his '70s work and places both feet squarely into the jazz and worldbeat rock that dominated the majority of ''Humans''."

Track listing

All songs written by Bruce Cockburn. #"You Pay Your Money and You Take Your Chance" #"The Strong One" #"All's Quiet on the Inner City Front" #"Radio Shoes" #"Wanna Go Walking" #"And We Dance" #"Justice" #"Broken Wheel" #"Loner" Bonus tracks of the 2002 remastered version: #"The Coldest Night Of The Year" #"The Light Goes On Forever"

Personnel

*Bruce Cockburn – vocals, dulcimer, guitar *Bob Disalle – drums *Memo Acevedo – percussion *Ruholla Khomeini – percussion * Jon Goldsmith – keyboards *Dennis Pendrith – bass *

Hugh Marsh Hugh Marsh (born June 5, 1955) is a violinist from Toronto, known for his electric violin sound. Marsh was nominated for a 2007 Juno Award in the best contemporary jazz album category. Early days Marsh was born in Montreal, Quebec and brought ...

– mandolin, violin *M. Kaddafi – backing vocals *

Murray McLauchlan Murray Edward McLauchlan, (born 30 June 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player. He is best known for his Canadian hits "Farmer's Song," "Whispering Rain," and "Down by the Henry Moore". Early life Mc ...

– backing vocals *Kathryn Moses – reeds, woodwinds, backing vocals

Production

*Bruce Cockburn – producer *Bernie Finkelstein – associate producer *Gary Gray – engineer *George Marino – mastering *Bart Schoales – art Direction, photography *George Whiteside – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Bruce Cockburn albums 1981 albums True North Records albums