Revival
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (09 April, 1996)
list price: $15.98
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Editorial Review

Gillian Welch has captured the ethos of mountain music in a way that few lowlanders have managed, and that's just a little disconcerting. Outsiders aren't supposed to be able to infiltrate tight-knit clans. Producer T-Bone Burnett creates intimacy by recording Welch live with a small cast of supporting players, including Welch's partner, David Rawlings. While many of the songs are built around duo acoustic guitars and two-part harmonies, Burnett spices up a few of them up with some neat tricks, mixing an upright bass above the vocals on "Pass You By" and getting a fat, dirty sound out of three instruments. Welch's vocals, meanwhile, are stoical and matter-of-fact as her songs, which are infused with a repressed dread and contrition that's utterly convincing. White gospel tunes like "Orphan Girl" and "By the Mark" feel as if they were culled from hymnals, yet they were written when Clinton, not Coolidge, was president. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (67)

Walker Evans set to music.
When I first heard "Revival" in 1996, I was driving from my home in Torrington, Connecticut, to North Adams, Massachusetts. It's a two-hour trip through the hilltowns of the Berkshires, one of the most intensely rural areas of New England. I had just bought the CD after reading a review, and I decided to give it a spin on my trip.

Why was I driving to North Adams? To begin the process of writing a book (Steeples) about the little city, once a milltown, and now struggling to revive itself by the installation of a major art museum in an old factory site. The songs on this CD, the spare sound of the arrangements, and the unaffected, sad voice of Gillian Welch provided a perfect background for the long, winding journey. It set the tone for my first visit, and after that, I played it every time I drove to North Adams. Gillian and David evoke, in a musical context, the great depression-era photographs of Walker Evans. And even though North Adams sits in the most northern region of the Appalachians, the songs created in me the very essence of the American struggle, and they colored every word I wrote.

A few years later, while was working on my second book about North Adams, called Disappearing Into North Adams (see www.sevensteeples.com), I decided to include the lyrics to some of the songs on "Revival," because they had become so associated with my view of the city. I just had to let readers understand how they inspired my writing. It turned out that they fit perfectly into the narrative, almost like some sort of movie soundtrack. I am so grateful that Gillian's publisher gave me permission to use them.

I now live in Massachusetts, about an hour away from North Adams, and I visit the city at least once a week. And on my CD player, "Revival" still accompanies me on that trip through the hilltowns. This amazing recording has been, in part, responsible for MY "revival," and I will never let it out of my sight.

So She's From Southern California....and Your Point Is??
One of the stupider criticisms floating in the ether about Gillian Welch is that she somehow has no business singing in her Appalachian back country style because she hasn't lived it. Is Flannery O'Connor disqualified from writing A Good Man is Hard to Find because she spent most of her life sickly and living with her mother? But I digress...

Revival is Welch's first CD and outstanding promise of what was -- and surely still is -- to come. It fires the mold of her work -- spare vocals in lovely harmony with her partner David Rawlings and strumming dual acoustic guiters. This quiet approach forces attention to her stories and, generally, her writing is strong enough to make those stories memorable. Faith is a constant, rock core element to her music and underlines two of the best cuts on Revival, Orphan Girl and By the Mark.Recurring too are an appreciation of the beauty and demands of nature (Annabelle and Acony Bell) and sympathetic accounts of souls clinging to the fringes of the American dream (Barroom Girls and One More Dollar). Pass You By is one of only a couple cuts here that revs up the basic sound and it's well-chosen, making the song throb like the V-8 engine it lauds. Welch's relative weakness, I think, is the occasional foray into a lost love song (on Revival that would be Paper Wings and Only One and Only) where she is not nearly so distinctive.

Revival also lacks the expanded vision of her later CDs where she begins constructing her own take on American mythology (think Miss Ohio, April the 14th or Elvis Presley Blues).Still, this was a fine starting point to her career andis worth owning.

I Can't Live Without - REVIVAL
I bought Revival without knowing much about Gillian
Welch. I am now a convert. It has been several years
and I can stop listening to this album. There is just
something about her voice and the folk music on this
album that touches my soul. I would recommend it to
anyone interested in folk music. I now own all of
Gillian's albums, but this one is the best by far. ... Read more

Asin: B000001OAE
Subjects:  1. Alternative Country    2. Alternative Country-Rock    3. Americana    4. Folk & Traditional    5. Neo-Traditional Folk    6. Pop    7. Rock    8. Singer/Songwriter   

Trace
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (19 September, 1995)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $10.99
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Editorial Review

Trace is obsessed with time. "Can you deny there's nothing greater ... than the traveling hands of time?" asks frontman Jay Farrar early on, and song to song, he deliberates time's tyranny. Farrar's voice always sounds beaten but never quite broken here, and when on the impossibly catchy "Windfall" he wishes "may the wind take your troubles away," it feels like nothing short of a blessing. Trace is alternative country's most perfect moment: the Uncle Tupelo-ish electric crunch rocks for something better, even as its twangy steel and fiddle never forget the very country fact that time will beat us all. --David Cantwell ... Read more

Reviews (62)

Gets better with each listen...
I am a bit different than most of the other reviewers, in that i still like the other two Son Volt CDs a bit better than this one.

However, that's saying I like gold over diamonds, if you catch my drift. I'll take both if you please, and a whole pile's worth while you're at it...

This is good, good stuff, and I would like nothing better than to meet in person all the other people that wrote reviews and said that they "get it"... Y'all must be good people to feel this music the way I do. It sure does get you to thinking about life and where you've been and where you are going and...

"Ten Second News" is worth the price of the whole CD, it gets better and better with each listen...

And for what it's worth, how come no one else really commented on "Mystifies Me"? I think it's the perfect close to this CD - rolling, rambling, rythimic, and very haunting in a certain sense. I'm 6 listens in a row as I type this...

Good music is timeless - I still listen to my Poco and Little Feat and Jackson Browne and Steve Earle from when I was just a teenager, and I am willing to bet this one will be with me for the rest of my life too...

Transcendant.From the first listening , Even more now
Before being able to fully explain the beauty of a lyric your attention turns to the beauty of a harmony and melody remains like a familarscents that accompanies one of those memories you love. Or something
Great album. i was lucky to find it after hearing something in 'Drown' that has now become a after-thought on this beautiful completely transcendantalbum.
it's a good

Epic, magnificent
Jay Farrar is a unique talent, and all the Son Volt albums are great.Real music that smears the boundaries of country, folk, and alt-rock, and you won't even know it. ... Read more

Asin: B000002N1V
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock   

Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (30 June, 1998)
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Editorial Review

Six years in the making, Car Wheels somehow lives up to its lofty expectations because of Williams's direct songwriting and her wonderfully unaffected vocals. With assistance from cohorts such as Steve Earle, Williams uses the acoustic accents of Dobros, mandolins, slide guitars, and accordions to add color to her grooves, whispers, and rumbles. Her lyrics are undisguised as she presents to us the travelogue of her memory. We can't wait for 2004! --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (259)

Contemporary folk-country at its finest
Lucinda first began to make a name for herself in the late eighties, initially as a songwriter. Patty Loveless and Mary Chapin Carpenter were among the singers to record covers of her songs, but her own albums made only a limited impact until the release of this classic album in 1998. Lucinda's world-weary voice is ideally suited to the songs, which are mainly her own.

In her songs, Lucinda paints pictures of life in rural America - the everyday experiences of everyday people that most people can relate to, even if they don't live in the kind of place that Lucinda sings about. The title track is typical, being about a family setting off to visit people in the nearby town, but hinting how this is not simple when you've got children. She manages to slip in plugs for two of her heroes - Loretta and Hank - who, at different stages of the song, are singing on the radio. Another song here (Metal firecracker) plugs ZZ top - not really what I expected from Lucinda, but I'm pleased she has broad musical tastes.

Another great song is Concrete and barbed wire, about artificial divisions. The most famous such division (in Berlin) had already disappeared some years before this album was recorded, so doesn't get mentioned. Instead, the song begins with Algiers. After that, it becomes more localized, ending with a prison wall.

Quite apart from the songs, the music is also brilliant. Lucinda secured the services of some top-notch musicians for this project including Steve Earle and Buddy Miller.

There are so many great songs on this album, which must give hope to struggling singer-songwriters everywhere. Lucinda had been performing for two decades before this album made her a star. If you enjoy contemporary folk-country music, you will surely enjoy this masterpiece.

brilliant.... again
i am at a loss to descibe the brilliance of this album... lucinda never fails to amaze me and get inside my head. if this woman wrote her shopping list to music... i would buy the cd. she is THAT good!

I like it more with each listen
If you expect really good singing, don't look for it here.These songs would have really been more improved if Lucinda had a better voice, which is occasionally quite annoying.However, all of the songs are very well played and arranged almost perfectly, which gives the cd the good name it deserves.I am not a fan of run-of-the-mill country music because the way those hicks sing is REALLY annoying, but this cd is pretty special.It's not just southern rock repackaged, just listen to the powerful opener that shows how similar she is to normal rock musicians.If I could really describe this cd, I would describe it as NOT lightweight in any way.Eventually you will get used to Lucinda's voice, after initial dissappointment.But you will never be dissappointed by the music and arrangements! ... Read more

Asin: B000007Q8J
Subjects:  1. Alternative Country-Rock    2. Americana    3. Contemporary Folk    4. Folk-Rock    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Tomorrow the Green Grass (Reis)
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (11 August, 1998)
list price: $11.98
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Editorial Review

At its best, listening to the Jayhawks make music is a beautiful American experience falling somewhere between drinking a cold Coke on a hot day and driving through the Rocky Mountains at sunset. Perhaps it's in the clarity of Mark Olson's tenor melodies and their accompanying ghostly harmonies, or maybe it's in Gary Louris's immensely raved-up country rock licks. Or perhaps it's the impression left by lyrics that never reveal the whole storybut tell just enough to tear at you and make you understand their feeling--the loneliness, the sorrow, the hope, or the peace.

The Jayhawks were at their very best indeed on 1992's Hollywood Town Hall. Their guitars were sharp, the words perfect, and the melodies unforgettable. With Tomorrow the Green Grass, however, 1994's version of the great country soul group is decidedly less filling, even when still savory. The addition of violins is a nice touch, but a misstep where the music's muscle is concerned. The guitars are still gorgeous, but muddier and less hook-laden than before. The lyrics still haunt, but they're more disjointed and less gripping this time around. And the melodies are both a blessing and a curse: more easily catching and chart-ready but with a lot less meat on their bones. Call it cosmic American music in the sugary Milky Way galaxy. Or else just remember how much Gram Parsons always did look sort of like David Cassidy. --Roni Sarig ... Read more

Reviews (44)

Secondary Jayhawks is Primary someone else......
What a wonderful album. Of course it isn't perfect, but even "The Basement Tapes" and "Rust Never Sleeps" weren't perfect. Nice selection from these guys .....if ya want ethereal dynamics go a little later and buy "Rainy Day Music". Genius, start to finish.

The Jayhawks - my entry to a new genre of music.
This was the CD I started on with the Jayhawks, and I was hooked. Great stories that take you through feelings of a quiet small town in the midwest, crashing at a friends house, and going to a Mom and Pop resturant for breakfast to talk over old times. I didn't really know this type of music was out there when I stumbled upon The Jayhawks.
Acoustic guitars mixed with screaming electric leads, and vocal harmony that reminds me of the old Simon and Garfunkle songs. To me these guys are the Bob Dylans of my generation, discussing the real world instead of some hyped up rock and roll world that I can't relate to.:)
I will forever be a Jayhawk Junkie, if they put out a CD it will be in my collection.

Excellent
To say that "Tomorrow the Green Grass" is not as great as the Jayhawks' classic "Hollywood Town Hall" is not so much a criticism of this album as it is a complement to HTH."Tomorrow the Green Grass" is an excellent album in it's own right.It represents the band's move from the alt-country/"no depression" sound of their 1st three albums to a more straight ahead rock sound, but still hinges on the gorgeous vocal harmonies and poetic lyrics of Mark Olson and Gary Louris.The addition of keyboardist Karen Grotberg gives depth to the more lush production without completely overpowering the jangle & fuzz guitar sound that made their earlier work so much fun to listen to.Stand out gems are the album's opening and closing tracks ("Blue" and "Ten Little Kids," respectively.)This would be Olson's last album with the band, but what a way to go... ... Read more

Asin: B000009QPQ
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock   

Tuesday Night Music Club
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (03 August, 1993)
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Editorial Review

Sheryl Crow's proper debut--an earlier, slicker record was scrapped in favor of Tuesday Night--occasionally reaches too far in attempting Significance, as when the album opens by name-checking Aldous Huxley. Usually, though, Crow and her band of L.A. session and singer/songwriter collaborators strike just the right tone. The "Stuck in the Middle with You" homage of "All I Wanna Do," the clanking guitar riff of "Can't Cry Anymore," and the funky threat of "What I Can Do for You" meld perfectly with the lyrics, resulting in a peak of mainstream pop-rock. --Rickey Wright ... Read more

Reviews (94)

Tuesday Night Music Club
This is one of the best debut albums by anyone. Everybody knows the big hits All I Wanna Do and Strong Enough, but EVERY song on this album is good. If fact, I think several of them could have been big hits if they had been released as singles. My favorites of the non-hits on here are The Na-Na Song, What I Can Do For You, and I Shall Believe.

Hard to believe this album is over 11 years old. 11 years and I still don't get tired of playing it. That sure doesn't happen too often with debut albums.

Energetic
When Sheryl Crow emerged in 1993, few people would be able to guess what the blue-eyed music teacher from Missouri would accomplish. However, her debut album, "Tuesday Night Music Club", put the critics to rest with its string of radio hits and impressive songs. At the time, few women were on the inside of the rock world, and none of them had successfully combined folk and rock. Crow was paving a new way for future female artists like Meredith Brooks, Jewel, and Alanis Morissette.

The album immediately conveys a sense of something different with its first track, the soulful `Run, Baby Run'. Featuring the sounds of a lounge club mixed with rock, it is both laid-back and bluesy. Radio hit `All I Wanna Do' is a quirky look at life in Los Angeles as seen through the eyes of a foreigner, and `The Na-Na Song' is a psychedelic journey through pop culture.

However, the three greatest tracks on the album are two ballads and its greatest hit. `Leaving Las Vegas' was written by Crow and Bill Bottrell after a friend wrote the novel; after the release of the film, it soared to new heights. With a memorable chorus and honest lyrics ("Such a muddy line/Between the things you want/And the things you have to do"), it captures the spirit of the film. Ballad `Strong Enough' is about the insecurities every female faces when she wonders if she has too much baggage to be in a loving relationship. `I Shall Believe', my personal favorite, is a heart-felt look at the blind comfort we all reach for at some point - wanting to hear that things will be all right, even if they realistically won't.

Few debut albums stack up to "Tuesday Night Club". It is full of soulful lyrics, memorable melodies, and an energy that is rarely seen in music. Though it was Sheryl Crow's first album, it is also perhaps her best album. With not one bad track on it, this record is one to enjoy time and again.

The real scoop
There's one and only one reason why this project attained such success, and thus, launched what has been, by most accounts, a stellar career for SC. And that reason is/was Kevin Gilbert.

In the beginning of this vapid, arid, non-musical torpor into which we seem to have fallen, there was a singer/writer/producer so gifted, it's entirely justified to draw comparisons to the works of Collins/Gabriel, Lennon/McCartney, and Becker/Fagen. But, apparently Kevin brought too much raw talent to the table to be easily pidgeon-holed by the major labels (a requirement if you're going to be signed).

Kevin brought SC to the Tues. Night Music Club as a vocalist/keyboardist. That's how she came to the attention of the majors, who were, thereafter, easily able to box her up for general consumption. Meanwhile, his career languished, and not long after, Kevin's life came to an entirely unnecessary, and sadly 'premature' end. It's interesting to note that Kevin was scheduled, at the time of his death, to fly to Britain, to audition for a spot in Genesis -- a move which, had it succeeded, would have doubtless brought his phenomenal gifts to an industry and listening public sorely in need of them.

I only found out about kevin after his death in '96, and I'm still blown away by the loss of an artist of his magnitude, at so young an age.

Go to www.kevingilbert.com, and check out "Toy Matinee", "Thud", and "The Shaming of the True". Find out where the REAL talent behind this release lay. And imagine what might have been... ... Read more

Asin: B000002G1T
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. American Trad Rock    3. Pop    4. Pop/Rock    5. Rock    6. Singer/Songwriter   

Exile in Guyville
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (21 December, 1999)
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Features

• Explicit Lyrics

Reviews (83)

Very good but not as some people make it out
There is some very good songs on the CD but its not as great as many people make it out if you like Liz Phairs newer more pop oriented cds you will hate this cd.
If you like allot of what many more edgy alternative related groups were doing in the early to mid 90s you will like it

Before she sold out
Liz Phair started out with a collection of edgy songs with steel lyrics and inventive melodies. The words that she expresses in this album are so tortured and true in many respects. This is a classic cd that works its way back into circulation often. She does not sound like the same artist who put out the more recent junk.

A Classic
I just bought this cd 4 days ago and I can't stop listening to it! It's incredible how good this sounds 10 years after it was made. Liz Phair is really an intersting person and it's really great how provacative she made this record, with the cover and the music itself. Still the record is filled with many calm mellow songs that are very mature for a debut effort. I highly recommed this to PJ Harvey fans, and for those who enjoy this album I highly recommend PJ Harvey's "Rid Of Me." Get them both today! ... Read more

Asin: B000040JF0
Sales Rank: 3483
Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative/Indie-Rock    3. Indie Rock    4. Lo-Fi    5. Pop    6. Rock    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Four-Calendar Cafe
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (02 November, 1993)
list price: $11.98
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Reviews (57)

A different Album from The Cocteau Twins
Some songs on this album reminded me of songs from "Treasure" (Pandora, Lorelei). This Album is better than I expected it to be, based on reading reviews. The songs are mellow and happy and relaxing. Very easy to listen to. It's not like anything else that they had released at the time, and some have considered it to be a transition album.The sound is different than from earlier releases, and it's definately happier sounding than albums like "Treasure" or"Head over Heels". This album is great to listen to on those really nice spring days, spending it outside. I could probably recommend this album for new fans because it's so easy to listen to, and it's a good place to start. Other fans might recommend "Blue Bell Knoll" or "Heaven or Las Vegas",for first timers, but to appreciate those albums, I think that it's a good idea to have some background and some personal history with the band before getting into those albums. Overall, Cocteau Twins fans might not rank this one as their favorite, but this album is in no way sub par to their other releases, definately worth a look. I liked it very much, even if it's different from my personal favorites by them.

FCC: Where Great Bands Go After Passing Their Prime
I am a huge Cocteau Twins fan, and have been for two decades since my early teens. But after "Blue Bell Knoll", the Cocteau Twins have been on a leisurely downward slope, tripped up by the occasional and anomolous stand-out track (here, "Summerhead") on a collection of otherwise bland and vacant releases.

Four Calendar Cafe garnered the band, from what I could tell, their most commericial success in the U.S. I was shocked and not a little disappointed to hear "Bluebeard" on a huge local radio network during the album's release. Of course, mere air play on commercial radio is not in and of itself a negative thing. But the song, coupled with its commercial accessability, bear testament to the loss of intensity and magic inherent in the Twins' later work.

Frasier still sounds amazing, no doubt about it. She has the voice of a thousand angels. And the band sounds good as well; Guthrie is and always has been a brilliant musician. But FCC is another example of many recordings that evidence a superior band's decline into mediocrity. (See also the later releases of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Cult, etc.).

It's not bad. It's just not good.

Ranks among the best etheral albums
I must say first that I am biased because this album holds a bigger meaning for me. I found love in Key West one summer, and this album was definitely etched in my memory forever.

All emotions aside, I must say that musically this album is a rare gem. Very etheral, chill, and romantic, the Cocteau Twins sweep you away with Four Calendar Cafe.

Listen with the lights low, candles lit, and be prepared to clear your mind. This album is amazing... I am so glad I discovered it in one of the best places on earth. ... Read more

Asin: B000002V21
Sales Rank: 44568
Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Ambient Pop    3. Dream Pop    4. Pop    5. Rock   

Good Humor
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (08 September, 1998)
list price: $11.98 -- our price: $11.98
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Editorial Review

Saint Etienne have unbelievable musical cred. Indie-poppers love them for covering the Field Mice's twee classic "Kiss and Make Up" and rediscovering the reclusive '80s girl group the Dolly Mixture. Electroniacs dig them for being early movers in the disco revival. Everybody else loves them for being our generation's ABBA. But it wasn't enough--they wanted to cash in on the Northwest grunge scene by signing to Sub Pop! Fear not. Good Humor is a far cry from grunge. It is the cleanest, lightest, loveliest confection to grace any American label in ages, let alone the heavy, crunchy one. Longtime Saint Etienne fans will notice the clean focus of the electronic arrangements on Good Humor as well as the fancy horn section and the amazing, woozy bass playing of their Swedish producer, Tore Johansson. Haul this record out to bring back your favorite summer day or when you're wishing life were like a Mentos commercial. --Lois Maffeo ... Read more

Reviews (44)

Hip
This album is very hip. I enjoyed its sound. It reminds me very much of the Cardigans album "Life" (which I loved).

blissful
having been a fan saint etienne for many years, i've amassed quite a collection of their stuff. in fact, the only frustrating thing about the saints, other than they're lack of touring in the states, is the vast amount of music and remixes that they've released. when this cd was first released in the u.s., it came with a bonus disc. unfortunately, there weren't that many as it was a limited run. so if you are intending to buy this, as it is one of their better albums, you MUST search for the bonus disc edition, even if it means buying it second hand, as many agree that the songs on the bonus disc are better. you'll pay less, because it's used, and even better, you get more saint etienne for your buck.with that said, this album has replaced So Tough as my favorite project by the saints and even though it is their most poppy cd to date, the sounds are entirely blissful.

Put yourself in the best of humour!
This is truly a charming, refereshing album, meant for you to soak up the enjoyment.
All though it is by no means a "heavy" album, the lyrics do not insult your intelligence, and are especially thoughtful in the last song.
Each song has a memorable melody and spiffy, sort of 60s-sounding arrangement.

Fans of the Cardigans earlier work should certainly fall for this album as have I!

Treat yourself today :] ... Read more

Asin: B00000AGAS
Subjects:  1. Alternative Dance    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Britpop    4. Club/Dance    5. Dance Music    6. Electronica    7. Indie Electronic    8. Indie Pop    9. Pop    10. Rock   

Spiderland
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (31 March, 1994)
list price: $13.98 -- our price: $13.98
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Editorial Review

Although this Kentucky combo had a short lifespan, its influence has been extraordinary, presaging the underground "math-rock" revolution and spawning spinoffs such as Tortoise and Gastr Del Sol. But don't go thinking that the foursome is a mere footnote: The bracingly dense, dizzyingly complex songs that vein this, their second full-length release, perfectly capture the smarter face of early-'90s thug-rock. Yes, Slint's sound is descended from punk, but its members--particularly guitarist Brian McMahan--never subscribed to the "keep it simple, stupid" philosophy. Spiderland is so rife with breakneck tempo changes, off-kilter chord progressions, and bizarro-world themes, you'd be hard-pressed to go a listen without discovering something new. --David Sprague ... Read more

Reviews (74)

I don't know...maybe I just don't get it...
Repetitive...boring...artless...

Being a Louisvillian, I start out *wanting* to like a Lousiville band. When I've heard this many good things about a band, I want to love them. But it just didn't fall into place. Each riff is painfully heavy and dull. There is nothing that stands out to me as anything striking or even moderately interesting here. Maybe I'm a lone anomaly...maybe I just don't "get it." Bottom line, I wish I had my money and time back. But who knows, maybe it will grow on me...

How could they duplicate "Spiderland" live...
I thought to myself as Slint had reported they were reuniting for a one-off tour.As I waited in line for Slint tickets, I wondered to myself over and over..."How in the world could they ever hope to live up to my expectations."Spiderland" is indeed one of my favorite records of all time, and they come off as one, if not the most talented bands of all time.So, as the day finally arrived to see Slint live, I had my doubts.I had read they practiced every day for a month and a half above the Metro in Chicago for the ten or so dates they were playing, and I believed it.How else could they hope to come close to duplicating "Spiderland" live.Still, doubts lingered until they took the stage.Anyone who was lucky enough to have seen Slint live on their reunion tour can now safetly say that they did not dissapoint.They were so good in fact, that the crowd was in complete silence as they played.People were soaking in every note and every word that these guys played.David Pajo showed us why he is one of the most creative guitarists, while Britt Walford was out of his freakin' mind on drums.I have seen many a show, and I have NEVER, and I mean NEVER, seen a drummer as precise and amazing as Britt.This guy kept a pace that was so incredible, it was almost impossible to keep my eyes off of him.I believe there are still a few dates left on the tour, so don't miss out.You most likely won't be able to see a show as amazing as this again, as I believe Slint is done once again after this tour.Thank you Brian, Britt, and David.Along with the Pixies reuniting, you have made my wildest dreams come true.

I MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!
What? Slint reunited? Whoa, time for a look back on Spiderland.

Tweez was decent, but damn, Spiderland was a revelation, a beautiful, disturbing, involving masterpiece of six epics. This record, for better or for worse, started the entire math rock movement and to this day, the record destroys all of the Slint Jr.'s the appeared after their demise.

It's a shame Slint broke up when they did. Spiderland leaves one wanting more, something which the self-titled EP sort-of did. "Breadcrumb Trail" utilizes a loud mid-section that's angry and carefully calculated. "Nosferatu Man" set the template for everything June Of 44 and the like have done since. "Washer" is a darkly gorgeous epic with an incredible climax. And "Good Morning Captain"? Do I even need to explain. One of the best indie rock songs ever composed.

The record is mixed low on CD, and it's short, but that's no excuse for not owning this. Spiderland deserves all of the heaps of praise it's amased over the years, if you give the record a chance. ... Read more

Asin: B0000019HU
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock   

So Long So Wrong
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 March, 1997)
list price: $17.98 -- our price: $13.99
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Editorial Review

Many bluegrass musicians have incorporated contemporary elements into their work,Jim & Jesse, the Osborne Brothers, and Mac Wiseman among them., but Krauss's contemporary bluegrass contains particularly heavy doses of pop, folk, and modern country. Whatever style she chooses, her flawless voice and her crack Union Station cohorts usually maintain a high standard. The instrumental "Little Liza Jane" and the traditional "I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers" prove their instrumental chops, and songs like "No Place to Hide," with an impressive fiddle turn from Krauss herself, effectively mold modern elements into the bluegrass idiom. However, others such as "It Doesn't Matter" and "Deeper Than Crying" have very little to do with bluegrass at all. A mostly solid contemporary-bluegrass album, except when the contemporary drowns out the bluegrass. --Marc Greilsamer ... Read more

Reviews (49)

Set your CD player for Auto Repeat, its finger pickin good.
How can one be critical of such perfection seemingly sent direct from his holly bosom. OK!, I know? That isn't exactly helpful to those new to the AKUS phenomenon. I'll try to be level headed about this. If you are reading this, you are looking for guidance, so for those who have resisted buying any AKUS until NOW... Shame on you! But OK, if that be the case, you're best bet for a high saturation of OUTSTANDING ballads is "New Favorite" which has some good B-grass also, or "Forget About It" But this is void of any B-grass whatsoever, (how'd that happen?). For the most balanced album with STRONG Ballads AND B-grass, "So Long So Wrong" is your good first choice. If you prefer the older works of AKUS (lots of B-grass) but can't decide which to buy, your best bet is "Now That I've Found You" without question. Unless you have a specific song title in mind, "Lonely Runs Both Ways" may not be your best first purchase. Stellar performances on ALL titles are to be found without question. Myself? I heard AKUS the first time in 1992. I was awe-struck, and remain so with each release from Alison or AKUS. When god shines, HE SHINES. One day I hope a CD of all of Alisons singles from movie sound-tracks etc... will be released. I own every Alison "album" released so far, other than the occasional wayward single. I can say the same for Dan & Rons works also. Jerry!... lol, Dude, nobody has enough money or time to buy everything YOU've put your personal touch too. However, I can nearly always detect your sound & style, sight unseen whenever I hear it, ". Alison & the group are beyond mere descriptive phrases. Certainly they are perfection, in humility, talent, taste, execution, communion and musicianship. Yet, these words are only glimpses of the greater power one can sense from every utterance AKUS make. Thank You Alison, Dan, Ron, Jerry, Barry et all...I appreciate your music sooooo very much.

Alison stays true to Her Artistic Vision
Ever since Elvis began his famed recording career with a Rockabilly cover of Bluegrass Bossman Bill Monroe's signature "Blue Moon of Kentucky" Bluegrass has been regarded by *some* as the poor barefoot hayseed step-child of Country Music.Acoustic Guitars and Banjos and Fiddles were overwhelmed and swallowed up by Electric Guitars and Peddle Steel Guitars.A successful Bluegrass album sold maybe 30,000.The "dirty little secret" in Nashville was that the Bluegrass musicians were the ones who could really PLAY, so talented bluegrassers who wanted to make a decent living became Nashville studio musicians.Bluegrass fans, who are often as fanatical about the music as a religious zealot is about their religion, considered such musicians to have "sold out", and so it was that artists like Ricky Skaggs, Bill Keith, Marty Stuart and Vince Gill were considered.Once big fish in the small Bluegrass pond, they were thought by Bluegrass Purists to have compromised their artistic integrity to become Country successes. (Was it ironic that Ricky Skagg's first Country Hit was a "countrified" version of Lester Flatt's "Don't Get Above Your Raisin'?")

The purpose of this review isn't to give even a thumbnail history lesson of the evolution of Bluegrass and a comparison to more popular and "mainstream" forms of music, but it is important in having a complete appreciation of this album to recognize the historical rarity of a "popular" or "breakout" Bluegrass artist or band or recording.In the past half-century before Alison Krauss the number of Bluegrass recordings which received any degree of popular airplay could be easily counted on one hand:
Flatt and Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - the music used as the musical theme to "Bonnie and Clyde".
Flatt and Scruggs "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" - the theme to "Beverly Hillbillies"
"Dueling Banjos" - from the soundtrack to "Deliverance"
"Rocky Top" - by the Osborne Brothers
"Fox on the Run" - by the Country Gentlemen

Then along came Alison Krauss, with her stunning crystalline voice that caught the attention of the Bluegrass community while she was still a teenager.

She recorded several albums which were among the most well-received in the Bluegrass community leading up to 1995 when her label, Rounder, persuaded her to put together a few new recordings with mostly previous releases, some as "guest star" on other CDs to come up with the compilation "Now That I've Found You"(It may have been called "Greatest Hits" for an artist that had HAD a "hit").

That CD stunned everyone, sold 6 million copies and suddenly Alison Krauss was the hottest female voice in Nashville - winning a handful of CMA awards.

Under the expectations of THAT success Ms. Krauss and her band, Union Station, went to the studio to record the follow-up album.

Many on either side of the "Bluegrass Purist" fence were expecting the next CD to be the "Sell-Out" CD - full of steel guitars and guest duets with Barbra Streisand.

What came instead was THIS CD, "So Long So Wrong", an album that celebrates the Bluegrass heritage that these musicians hail from in addition to showcasing the extraordinary contemporary talents of Alison and Union Station.

Newcomers to Bluegrass expecting a recording with nothing but Alison's voice were likely put out a little that some GUY was singing the lead vocal on several of these cuts.Alison knew that Dan Tyminsky was an extraordinary vocalist YEARS before Dan was chosen to do the singing voiceover for George Clooney in "O Brother Where Art Thou?"

The CD is one of the prominent ones that Alison jokes about in which her lead vocals are predominantly on beautiful but sorrowful ballads like "Deeper Than Crying" and "Find My Way Back to my Heart."These tracks are beautiful and they're NOT "straight bluegrass" for you purists - Ron Block trades in his trusty 5-string for some tasty acoustic guitar work and these are closer to folk or even just "unplugged pop" than to bluegrass.The Dan Tyminski tracks are rollicking rip-roaring bluegrass monsters like "I'll Remember You, Love in my Prayers" and "The Road is a Lover".

This CD is one of the very best by Alison Krauss and Union Station, and that is saying something.If you're a fan of Alison, or maybe you just heard something about "those musicians on the O Brother soundtrack" this is a recording you just have to add to your collection.

A+: Excellent Songs, Singing, Musicianship
If you like New Grass or folk, spirited American acoustic, banjo and fiddle, you'll like Alison Krauss.If you don't have anything by her yet, So Long So Wrong is the album to get.I've listened extensively to her albums, and I rate this one the best so far.Excellent selection of melodic numbers.She's never sung better.Her musicians are in very top form.

An outstanding set. ... Read more

Asin: B0000002O5
Subjects:  1. Bluegrass    2. Contemporary Bluegrass    3. Contemporary Country    4. Country    5. Pop    6. Progressive Bluegrass    7. Traditional Bluegrass   

Amber
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (24 January, 1995)
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Editorial Review

The dense, mathematical music Autechre pioneered on their debut album Incunabula is given a new twist on their follow-up, Amber. While percussion took center stage on their previous works, highly evolved melodies and textures dominate here. The spirit of electro still lives in the muted beats, rhythmically complex and strangely funky. But they don't merely provide a background; they meld seamlessly into dense layers of strings, wandering synth hooks, and massive shards of white noise. It's highly intellectual, but by no means is it unemotional. While tracks like "Glitch" and "Peizo" are dense and impenetrable, most of Amber covers emotional territory from quirky and upbeat ("Slip") to melancholic ("Nine"). This highly emotional "machine music," continued to great effect on their later albums Tri Repetae++ and LP5, makes Autechre one of the few genuinely memorable artists of modern electronic music. --Matthew Corwine ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Ae's Ambient Coda
"Techno" music - when broadly defined as music derived from modern technology - ages about as well as any other specimen of the computer industry.What sounded fresh and futuristic five years ago now strikes jaded ears as tone-dated and often quaint, obsolete by the rampant revolutions of the tech-industry.Only a few songs, and a few artists, transcend the narrowly-set parameters of "techno," in terms of musical construction and overall lasting appeal: indeed, if anything, the set structure by which electronica in crafted - the standard build-up/climax/build-down - practically ensure that, foundationally, what's for sale now is the same as all that for sale five, ten years before, with only the technology of production itself having improved.But, as I mentioned, a few artists do break the mold, composing music that is both challenging and genre-defying, 'ageless,' consistently adventurous to willing ears.Most of these artists, viewed in hindsight, are classified with the IDM subculture - "Intelligent Dance Music", designed for headphones rather than dance floors: basement-level cyberpunk geeks wholly contrasting their sun-bleached Ibiza counterparts; tricky time-signatures, dial-distortion and glitch-hop chaos shredding the rigid 'struggle for pleasure' structures of mainstream trance and progressive house.Ten thousand huge trance 'choons' have come and gone, relegated to wholesale bins, while albums by Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Boards of Canada are constantly discovered by neophytes, year after year.

Autechre reign, somewhat infamously, at the top of the IDM pantheon. In the past ten+ years this Sheffield duo have crafted a formidable oeuvre of sonic exploration, shifting from an early, complex ambient sound - one that reached its peak here, on *Amber* - to the fringes of avant-garde experimentation.The contrast between early and current Autechre recordings constitute a bewildering, caustic journey of extremities, but when the various albums and EPs are listened to in order, Ae's artistic trajectory makes sense, and gives credence to the notion that these guys are so far ahead of their time that, like Mozart and Bach, their music will resound far beyond this current era; I can see mathematicians and music-students two hundred years from now revering the fragment textures and shatter-glare of *Confield* and *LP5* as highly prescient.

Early Autechre is easier-listening, there is no question about it, and this album is considered by many to be their finest moment.Arriving not long after the gloomy, winter-swept *Incunabula*, Autechre's second album *Amber* instantly displayed an evolved sense of composition, a greater confidence in terms of range and ambition.Far more varied and immediate than its predecessor, I consider it the 'warm' to *Incunabula*'s 'cold', and a more satisfying overall listen.

*Amber* begins with the industrial pulse of 'Foil,' all rust-crusted tones and tweaked percussion, a theme-song of an oil refinery, the dynamics morphing from subtle tribal rhythms to harsh gear-squalls.A dark bass-roll introduces 'Montreal,' and tiny elements - chattering highhats, bongos, glitch efx - gradually weave into the main percussive riff; twinkling notes and low ambient tones slowly drown out the clatter.'Silverside' follows this gentle decline with an undulating melancholic theme that is allowed to drift into fulfillment before a distorted vocal and snare-dominated riffs smash through the bottom end.At the end, the theme reaches a cautious resolution: out of it bounces the irresistible 'Slip,' an anomaly to the Autechre catalogue, being both major-key and sublimely ~happy~; it's probably the most overtly catchy song they've ever written.

'Glitch' is aptly named: a fractured synth-line plays over an assortment of chirping, squeaking rhythms, building into an echo-washed breakdown.The next song, 'Piezo,' enters obtrusively and reaches a tension-filled impasse with its flanged drum-pattern and random gurgles; the annoyance is then soothed - somewhat - by a standard ethereal ambient passage, *Incunabula*-style.I tend to dislike 'Piezo' for the first three minutes, then, inevitably, find myself caught up in its twisting, whiplash momentum, seduced by its emotive payoff.'Nine,' a splintered sequence of tones, beautifully off, is gradually overcome by a sinister machine-cry, and flows directly into the opening notes of 'Further,' which also sounds out-of-time until a percussion-riff storms in abruptly, the muted drum/harsh snare revealing its meticulous structure.The drum patterns disintegrate at the end, echoing into the firmament amidst thunder-quake growls; phased synths keep the structure together, and hold on well past the final bass-boom.'Yulquen' is classic ambient music, dreamy tones washed over a soft pulse, the melancholic haze of it making the subsequent subsonic reverberation and multi-tap crash of 'Nil' all the more dramatic - the theme, emerging in intervals as the rhythms decay to momentary silence, sounds like the weeping of a machine, eerie inhuman and yet incredibly effective.There is no respite, no moment to stop and seek human connection, at this point - the final song 'Teartear' pounds into being with palpable anger, and no resolution is made: the song fades, squalling, into the distance.

*Amber* can be viewed as an ambient coda for Autechre, for from this point on their music steadily becomes more percussive-dominated and abstract.And even this, Ae's most accessible album, cannot be viewed as happy, life-affirming music - sorrow and rumination dominate the album, and even the cheerful 'Slip' is underlined by a melancholic impression - but it is masterfully composed: intricate, beautiful, challenging and timeless like few other entries of the genre. Highly Recommended.

AuTESHre
If you look at the middle of Autechre's name you will see 'tech' which sounds kind of like 'tesh' and when I say 'tesh' I mean like John Tesh.While Autechre's music is not even close the same style as Tesh's they share a common parallel, they're both dreadfully boring.Autechre are known as masters of the mundane, which brings me to my first point, why would anyone be interested in the mundane especially in something that is supposed to be as engaging and exciting as music.Autechre play a bunch of instrumental ambient electronica songs.Electronica can in some cases mean electronic tinged rock, and at other times old men's techno.I'd have to lead to the latter.None of the songs lead anywhere.I can see sitting through songs to get to a grand conclusion, but long after this album was over I sat in my room listening to nothing, in hopes some hook, some reason to listen to this album would be realized.Then it finally hit me, this music would be perfect for yoga, or some kind of gay interpretative dance, or when your cleaning the house.It is great background music.But so are those 'Sounds of The Ocean' and 'The Ambience of The Forest" discs you see at Target and Walmart for a couple bucks.If you want good background music I suggest you go to your local Target and pick up five of those discs rather than spend it on this 'acclaimed' music.

Somewhat of a let down, but still great.
I am generally a fan of Autechre's later stuff (2000 and on), so I was naturaly dissapointed at this album. But, all those differences aside, this is still a damn great album. It has to be one of the most atmospheric albums I own. All of the songs seem to have the same sort of emotions to them (i.e. sadness, mourning, etc.) Even because of that, it still never becomes monotinous.

This Is a great album, overall, and is highly reccomended to any beginner in this genre.
... Read more

Asin: B000003RGY
Subjects:  1. Ambient    2. Ambient Techno    3. Dance Music    4. Electronica    5. Experimental Techno    6. IDM    7. Pop    8. Post-Rock/Experimental   

Nine Objects of Desire
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (10 September, 1996)
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Reviews (31)

Timing Is Everything
Timing must be everything.Within the same week I picked up this excellent 1996 set at a garage sale, fell in love with the addictive "Caramel," and then heard the same song from the trailer of the new Mike Nichols film "Closer" starring Julia Roberts & Jude Law.With its samba beat and lyrical imagery, "Caramel" is a gorgeous track, "It won't do to dream of caramel, to think of cinnamon & long for you."Vega does a terrific job on many of the tracks here including "Headshots" with Steve Donnelly's haunting electric guitar, "He's just a poster, but he's everywhere.A face under a street lamp ripped & hanging in the air.""Casual Match" has a great insistent beat with Vega's haunting half-whispered vocals."Lolita" also percolates with a bopping rhythm track."Tombstone" is another catchy track, "I don't need to see the gates of famous men, but I do try to see the kingdom every now & then.""Nine Objects of Desire" boasts a number of sterling tracks.I'll wait to see if "Caramel" is included in the soundtrack for "Closer," but perhaps this set will again get some deserved exposure.Enjoy!

Great from beginning to end
In Nine Objects of Desire Suzanne Vega is a songwriter on the very top of her game.Intelligent songwriting is a quantity in very short supply these days and Vega makes it look easy, with each song telling a different story.One would think that the music might suffer when so much attention has been paid to the lyrics, but this is not the case, musically each song is very well crafted.Many of the songs have a haunting or spooky quality to them, perhaps most exemplified by "Headshots," which probably got the most radio airplay, but they are all very evocative."Nine Objects..." is what every album should be like, no clinkers among the bunch.

Off Center Songs That Fly Softly Through The Ears
Suzanne Vega has been releasing recordings of a compelling emotional vulnerability, for a dedicated and enthusiastic public, during much of the past twenty years. Recently, she has completed the work of hosting a public radio series, "American Mavericks" with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.The series is comprised of some 13 one-hour long programs, featuring the histories and performances of amazing, iconoclastic, tradition-breaking classical composers of the 20th century.

A few years ago, around 1992, she teamed with producer Mitchell Froom on an album which poetically described the slightly elevated temperature of her quietly yearning human fire, 99.9F. That album's sound yielded for her music such hybrid classifications as "industrial folk" and "techno folk".The relationship between the two musicians flourished and Vega married Froom in 1993.By 1994, their first daughter Ruby was born.

Marriage agreed with the couple and smiled on their next collaboration together, 1996's "Nine Objects of Desire".Here we can see Suzanne Vega and Mitchell Froom producing an astonishing body of work, at the peak of both their artistic careers and their personal lives.This recording consists of songs which intertwine the sensitive vocal poetry and intricate guitar work of Suzanne Vega with Mitchell's Froom's intensely hip and sweetly sensual production methodology.

The music invites us on a journey which is thoroughly tender, yet carefully aggressive, warmly sexual yet sometimes dissonant. A journey which is both traditional and avant-garde all at the same time. Suzanne's voice is slightly off-center and because of that, it blends into a range of different soundscapes, revealing what a listener might not otherwise expect.

"Nine Objects of Desire" is a collection of twelve extended sonic moments of attentive communion.It is the ripe fruit of a music born through the spirit of a deep love, coupled with an easy trust.All fans of Suzanne's music should own this recording, it's one of her best. ... Read more

Asin: B000002G60
Sales Rank: 22034
Subjects:  1. Folk & Traditional    2. Pop    3. Rock   

Mortal City
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (23 January, 1996)
list price: $16.98 -- our price: $14.99
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Editorial Review

This 1996 album was a breakthrough of sorts for Dar Williams, moving her from the obscure folkie circuit to the obscure alternative singer-songwriter circuit. Mortal City comes closest to capturing her live show, and many of the songs here--"Iowa," "The Family," "The Christians and the Pagans"--have become live-set favorites. Like Williams herself, this disc is sentimental, sincere, and emotional; it's an album about growing up. When Williams titles a song "The Pointless, Yet Poignant Crisis of a Co-Ed," you know she's not writing fiction. She also could have called it "Catcher in the Rye," but that title was already taken. --Charles R. Cross ... Read more

Reviews (72)

My favorite album by Dar
I have all of Dar's albums, and this remains my favorite one.

The title song, Mortal City, is an interesting story about a very very cold apartment without either radiator heat or electricity.Been there, done that, in Brooklyn apartment buildings.There's an element of romance (more or less, not really) but the main story is the love shown by the city to hospital patients.

The song Family is so sweet, so achingly sweet.Let your love cover me like a pair of angel wings.You are my family.

Southern Cali Wants To Be Western New York is cute.It is a song of respect, maybe of nostalgia, for New York.I'm told it is about Buffalo.Snowy Buffalo.And yet, Dar isn't too fond of the snow in February, is she?

Iowa is a favorite of mine also.She woke up from a nightmare that she couldn't bear - that her lover was walking out on the hills of Iowa and not thinking of her.That line is very meaningful to me, and reminds me of someone I still love, from my past.It's sad when something like that comes true.

This Was Pompeii is beautifully crafted lyrically.We are placed in Pompeii as it is being destroyed by the famous volcano.By the end of the song we see that Pompeii's destruction is comparable to the singer's personal tragedy, her divorce.

Crisis of a Coed is a cute story about Dar's Sagittarius boyfriend in the arms of a woman protesting the cruel use of fur.Yes, Dar, I agree that the fur is already dead.

February is the most striking song on the album, the one that seems to grab everyone's attention right away, even those who aren't fans of Dar.I have never really been very affected emotionally by the depression of winter, so I can't feel what she is going through, and my first impression was that she wasn't even talking about the depression caused by a New England winter, but using it as an allegory as she used the volcano of Pompeii as an allegory.After all, we do know what a flower is; it isn't something we forget.Dar's singing is haunting.My only depression associated with winter is having to shovel the damn snow that the town authorities shove in front of my house to clear the street.

Christians And Pagans is another cute story, making a point about religious tolerance.Dar's politics aren't as up front as my goddess Ani DiFranco.Tolerance is nice though.

This album has so many of my favorite Dar songs, though all the other albums have gems as well.You can't skip Honesty Room's two gems, When I Was A Boy and The Babysitter's Here.

Dar is my favorite discovery
I discovered Dar via my iPod and of the hundreds of songs I have purchased, she is my favorite discovery.My favorites on this album are Iowa, As Cool as I Am, and Mortal City.I bought my daughter this album along with concert tickets for her and a friend as a BDay gift, and she thought it was awesome.

Frankly, I was a little disappointed
I had heard several Dar Williams on the radio and decided to take the plunge and buy this album.

Frankly, I was a little disappointed.

What makes Dar Williams so good -- her personal reflection and honesty -- can be a bit much in such a big dose!I listened to it on several road trips, so I gave it a fair shake and now it is sitting in my collection gathering dust.

Maybe when I'm feeling a little depressed, I'll give the CD another spin.It's very emotional music so probably you have to be in the right emotional place to listen to it.

That being said, "Mortal City" (the song) really is a great little piece of story telling. ... Read more

Asin: B000002ZCC
Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Folk    3. Folk & Traditional    4. Pop    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Ben Folds Five
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (25 July, 1995)
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Editorial Review

Like the best guitar heroes, Ben Folds, pianist and leader of a guitarless trio called the Ben Folds Five, commands and fuels his small, tightly wound ensemble with an authoritative, nearly virtuosic style. Folds, based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, borrows from everywhere but lends new inspiration and insight to the instrument's possibilities--he's the Jimi Hendrix of the baby grand. His frenetic keypounding eclipses old-time styles from honky-tonk to Jerry Lee Lewis rag, and he outplinks megastars such as Elton John and Billy Joel while sifting them both through the mondo hammerings of classic pop-loving alternative keyboard bashers like Todd Rundgren and Squeeze's Jools Holland.To complement Folds-the-pianist's clean and bright ivory tinkerings, Folds-the-singer's clear and dynamic tenor swirls through Folds-the-songwriter's very capably crafted, sugary pop gems. "Philosophy" starts with a rolling Joel-like intro, slips into a Rundgrenish verse and chorus--complete with the perfect Beatlesque harmonies of bassist Robert Sledge and drummer Darren Jessee--and then breaks out in an overdriven piano quote from Gershwin in the climactic solo. "Underground" Sgt. Peppers us with faux theatrics and then plunges into a soul-gospel groove about the joys of the alternative rock scene. "Uncle Walter" is a character sketch Ray Davies wishes he wrote but couldn't; "Boxing" is an imagined confab between Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell that Tom Waits wishes he wrote but wouldn't. The rest of Ben Folds Five's debut achievement just does what any other timeless summer record should: it makes you feel sunny enough inside to last all through the year. --Roni Sarig ... Read more

Reviews (108)

The voice of a generation
I haven't really come across many artists or a paticular style that could define the current teens through early twenties generation, but Ben Folds can. He takes his listeners through the problems and challenges of growing up in a fun and creative way. Break up's, drunken mistakes, getting stuck with the uncle who tells BS stories, all can be found here. Lyrically there's always something for you. He keeps the album fun.

By the way, don't forget that this guy is absolutely ridiculous on the piano. I discovered Ben about 2 years ago, and he still never ceases to amaze me on how well he plays. He can play at insane speeds with catchy tunes. It's a completely different sound from the guitar dominated pop/rock scene. It's a cool sound.

This is the first album from Ben Folds Five, and while thier hit cd is "Whatever and Ever Amen" this cd i believe is equally as good. This is also the most raw album from BBF , and that's why it is my current favorite. I think now that Ben Folds is a solo artist he lost some of the lightheartedness that he has in this album. "Rocking the Suburbs" is also a great album that has a beautiful sound ,but it's a heavier sound.

Some highlights: Jackson Cannery (a great opener)
Philosophy
Julianne (funny and prolly the best song)
Best imitation of myself
Uncle Walter
Boxing ( a commentary between Mohammed Ali and Howard Cosell, which brings the cd to a proper ending)

Ben Folds is the perfect combination of lyrical, brillance and writing talent, combined with a great musical ability. He's one of the current best.

20-Somethinghood
Ben Folds Five's first self-titled album is a homage to what seems to be a new stage in life: 20-Somethinghood, the period between adolescence and "real life."Many albums have covered adolescence, dating, cliques, fashions, finding yourself amid changes.But Ben Folds attacks the period after when all these questions are supposed to be dealt with, but in today's world a lot still go unanswered.

You think you have a secure identity, but you find the people around you changing until you second guess yourself.It's a time when you have your closest friends, but they always seem to slip in and out of your life as everyone tries to make their path.Everyone keeps moving, including yourself.You chase "the" relationship.You pass from crappy job to crappy job.You try to finally conquer the demons of High School. You try to regain your lost childhood.

Many of Ben Folds's lyrics read like letters, especially the brilliant "Alice Childress" and "Where's Summer B?" songs so intimate you think you've opened someone's mail.Ben sprinkles his songs with delicious humor as on "Juliane," a celebration of a mistake of a one-night stand, and "Uncle Walter," a song about a tongue scolding Ben receives from an absent girlfriend's drunken uncle.Ben assaults the trends of the mid-90's, the Grunge Era in "Underground" and Yuppie Psuedo-sophisticates in "Sports and Wine." Ben has a wonderful flair for making the little things people take seriously seem absolutely ridiculous and the tiny minutiae seem incredibly profound and intimate.All this culminates in "Best Imitation of Myself," where he simultaneously proves and debunks his own genius.

All this set to vitruoso piano refreshingly devoid of pretension with Robert Sledge serving as both Bass and Guitar with the same instrument to amazing effect.Darren Jesse completes the groove (Whither the other two?) of a trio that, in the day, was one of the 90's most captivating, rocking live acts.Folds caresses, attacks, seduces and kerplunks his 88 mistresses into Sonata, Honky-Tonk, Pinball Wizard, Sunday School Sing-A-Long, Wrecking Ball, Lounge Lizard and Kiddy Toy Piano often all within the same song.

"Ben Folds Five" is nearly to post-Adolescence what "Quadrophenia" was to adolescence.It captures the Mid-90's 20-Something experience without getting mired in its clichés, like a bad episode of "Friends."Its sardonic time capsule should stand the test of time.Even when the particulars of Grunge and Sports Bars are as dead as Zoot Suits and Leapers, you can still feel the timeless emotions of the period through them.There will always be the stupid trends you follow for no reason.The Cool Guys you can't ever believe you thought were cool.The endless routines and rituals you go through waiting for that one minute of connectedness that will show you your real path.

Lovin It
If you haven't heard this album you don't know Ben Folds as a musician, simply because you can't start in the middle.I knew of this album when it was first released, can we say hooked.I am writing this because i just read some over-pretentious reveiw by some guy who thinks he knows this album.EVERY SINGLE SONG is excellent, one of the only albums i can put in my car and not take it out for a week.It covers the gambit of feeling, good times, somber times, bad times(though not a lot), and just plain fun. Whatever you do HEAR this album. Don't just listen, HEAR IT!!!! There is a difference and if you don't know the difference you don't deserve this album.Or maybe you should buy this album and learn what hearing music really is. To close, in my personal opinion Ben Folds is one of the best artists i have ever heard(not open for discussion).Buy as much of his music as you possibly can.Buy it all. ... Read more

Asin: B000000IDJ
Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock   

The Shuffleboard Queens
Average Customer Review:
Audio CD (07 May, 1999)
list price: $12.99
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Editorial Review

This Philadelphia singer is in love with language. Verbiage spews out of Deirdre Flint as if she were a caffeine-addled linguist. Unable to resist good fun and the choice pun, Flint trips and traipses through life's little indignities with unabashed zest, addressing everything from cheerleaders to footwear to large bosoms (or the lack thereof). One particularly delightful couplet: "I'm well-bred and you're, well...not." Seven words, seven syllables...devastating. --Steven Stolder ... Read more

Reviews (27)

4 1/2 starts
My best friend sent me this CD and told me to listen to Shuffleboard Queens immediately.So what I want to know?Did Deirdre go to high school with me?!The lyrics are mirror images of what my friend and I went through back in the 80's.So funny...

Bright and Uplifting
I really enjoy the music on this cd. Although it is funny the first time and that part of its initial charm is really shock value, this type of banter and wit is not common in music, I think that the music remains enjoyable. For me, the enjoyment stems from Flint's genuine and straightforward performances. Not only is the music solid and the lyrics entertaining and well-written, but Flint is so sweet, sprightly, and sincere in her delivery, you feel taken in and uplifted as she pokes fun at herself and the pitfalls of being a woman in America, and details her coming of age and good and bad times.
When I hear the beginning of cheerleader, for example, I want to sing a long and it makes me feel buoyant when I'm in a bad mood. I don't think it's gimmicky at all, actually. It does have a different narrative feeling than most folk music, pop music, rock or anything except musical theater. Ah, maybe that's the attraction.

NDA alum
Hi!I am a 9th grader at a school in Villanova PA.Deirdre graduated from my school in 1985 and she played about 7 songs for us the other day.I was so excited. I listen to her over and over again.This is a great investment.She is funny and witty. ... Read more

Asin: B00000J6UV