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Light of the Night joins Randall Bramblett's brilliant debut album, That Other Mile, as one of the classic Southern albums of the Seventies. Recorded at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans, this mellow, soothing funk is the perfect medium for Bramblett's supple, expressive voice, smooth keyboard and sax playing and incredibly subtle songwriting.

Bramblett's sophisticated songwriting is a far cry from the standard macho rock posture. He is as good at dealing with the peculiar malaise of the Southern rocker as Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant, but he's much less cynical. "Will I Ever See the Day" questions the possible existence of his desired ideal:

Will I ever see the day
When we will stand up in the sun?
Raise up our hands together
Let our voices sound like one?

"This Could Be the Worst," propelled by a lilting funk vamp, alludes to a horrible, unexplained condition which hovers on the edge of the song's vision. However, the sleek motion of the rhythm and Bramblett's exquisite voice and alto saxophone soothe the listener. Even at its worst, he implies, life is not unbearable. "Living in a Dream," which stands at the center of the album's concerns, homes in on the ennui of the disco set, while the title track, about a prostitute, expresses the universality of feeling:

There's a strange kind of laughter
That grows out of grief
When you're resigned to your fate
And you don't expect relief.
She's grown strong in her sadness
But she'll never be strong enough
To defend against this weakness
That makes you seem so tough.

John Swenson

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