''No Blue Thing'' is

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...

musician Ray Lynch’s third studio album, released on August 15, 1989. It peaked at number 1 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's "Top New Age Albums" chart as well as number 197 on Billboard's "

Top 200 Albums The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a recordi ...

". The album also peaked at number 16 on ''

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''.

Production

In an interview with ''

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

'', 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.

Reception

Keith Tuber of ''

Orange Coast The Orange Coast is the string of cities and neighborhoods fronting the Pacific Coast in Orange County, California. From northwest to southeast, these cities are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San ...

'' praised the album, commenting that Ray Lynch "has a way with melodies, combining classical, acoustic and synthesized pop elements.". JA of ''

'' noted that some of the album is "more of the same" from '' Deep Breakfast''; 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 instrument A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

s. Robert Carlberg of ''

Electronic Musician Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

'' 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 signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s and for its "warm, fuzzy" instrumentation. Carlberg concluded that the album's flaws "rob oth Lynch and Maidenbergof whatever vitality classical training would bring."

John Diliberto ''Echoes'' is a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient music, ambient, Space music, space, electronica, and new-age music. The program features in-depth artist interviews and intimate "livi ...

of Jazziz Magazine criticized the album, calling it formulaic and concluded that the album "breaks no new ground". ''

'' 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.

Track listing

''No Blue Thing'' includes the following tracks.

Personnel

All music composed, arranged, and produced by Ray Lynch. * Ray Lynch – keyboards,

classical guitar The classical guitar, also known as Spanish guitar, is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string (music), string instrument with strings made of catgut, gut or nylon, it is a precursor of the ...

* Tom Canning – "guitar" keyboards on "Clouds Below Your Knees" * Timothy Day –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

* Julie Ann Giacobassi –

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

and

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn (mainly North America), is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially ...

* Amy Hiraga –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

* David Kadarauch and Peter Wyrick –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

* Basil Vendryes and Geraldine Walther –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

Production

* Mastered by Bernie Grundman and Daniel Ryman at (Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, California) * Mixed by Ray Lynch and Daniel Ryman at Ray Lynch Productions studio (designed and built by Daniel Ryman)except for “Evenings, Yes” (Recorded at

Different Fur Different Fur Studios (formerly Different Fur Trading Company) is a recording studio located in the Mission District, San Francisco, California, Mission District area of San Francisco, California, at 3470 19th Street. Since 1968, Different Fur has ...

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; engineered by Howard Johnston; mixed at Mobius, San Francisco)

Charts

References

{{Authority control Ray Lynch albums 1989 albums Music West Records albums Windham Hill Records albums