From Craig: Barnes & Noble has a reveiew of the new album:
Jimmy Buffett has always been prone to setting his own course through the often choppy waters of the rock world, and with this album — the first he’s recorded for his self-administered label — he sets sail for territories that, while familiar to longtime fans, have gone unexplored for quite a spell. Far Side of This World finds him reflecting more often than scanning the horizon for the next wacky adventure. To that end, Buffett harks back to his earliest days (circa “Come Monday”) in order to create the melancholy yet optimistic ambience of “Tonight I Just Need My Guitar.” He brings a similarly wistful tone to a cover of Bruce Cockburn’s “All the Ways I Want You” — one of the few love songs that don’t sound out of place coming from a man in his late 50s. But as a legion of Parrotheads is well aware, Buffett can only stay mellow for so long, and Far Side of This World has its share of party fodder, the best of which is deeply marinated in Cajun spice. The spirit of New Orleans asserts itself on several songs, most notably a cover of Sonny Landreth’s “U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile” and a Caribbean-Cajun hybrid, “Autour de Rocher.” On a similarly celebratory note, “What if the Hokey Pokey Is All It Really Is About” might well offer another bit of audience participation for future Buffett concerts. Far Side of This World takes listeners on a fantastic voyage, while offering plenty of creature comforts to enjoy along the way. David Sprague