Editorial Review

Granted, it was her timely cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that gained Tori Amos instant notoriety--if only because we all got to hear what Kurt was actually saying. But that track pales before Amos's cover of "Thank You"--a thoughtful rendition that reminds us just how many dimensions Led Zeppelin's music had. Also found on this 1992 EP is Amos's take on the Stones' "Angie," as well as "Winter," a beautiful ballad in which the artist lives up to her reputation as the American Kate Bush. On the other hand, the "Crucify" remix isn't particularly crucial--especially when compared to the more adventurous mixes Amos would commission for subsequent singles. Read more

Features

Reviews (64)

Stones? Nirvana? Zepplin? She's Got You Covered
The Crucify EP, more than a single and less than an album, was my first taste of the way Tori worked back then.She was probably the most prominent and consistent EP-artist in the '90s, as nearly every single she put out was released in this format, with at least two, and usually three or four, extra, non-LP songs on it.If you were a completist, as I was (and still am), this made collecting Tori both frustrating and quite rewarding.To wit: while you would always get a profound feeling of accomplishment from finding some, say, UK release of 'Silent All These Years' in the import section of the local Sam Goody or Hastings, there was always, in those final years before the internet and sevices like this, at least one that you just couldn't get no matter how hard you tried.The Crucify EP was never one of these; ever since its release, it has always been right up front with the LPs, where you can always find it.
Magical
Tori and piano provide a short, yet sweet 5 song collection.
Memoirs of a strange little girl...
Love it. This version of Crucify definitely tops the already excellent version on Little Earthquakes, and Winter is simply stunning.
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Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Pop/Rock    3. Pop    4. Popular Music    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

While Brendan Benson may be best known for receiving the fervent patronage of fellow Detroit natives the White Stripes, the songs on his second album display little of Jack and Meg's garage roar. Rather, Read more

Reviews (32)

A marvelously affecting power pop album
I have a rule that I never review an album that I haven't heard at least ten times all the way through.If you scroll through my various reviews and notice just the music, I invariably give albums either four or five stars.This is mainly because albums I really dislike never fulfill the ten-times rule.I bring this up because on the first two or three hearings of this album I wasn't terribly impressed.I didn't think it a bad album, merely one that I wasn't going to be able to listen to ten times.I stuck with it, however, and somewhere around the sixth listen everything clicked.Now, I am a huge fan of power pop and have been since discovering Big Star, the Raspberries, and the Shoes ages ago.Now the thing is, those bands all blew me away on a first listen.This one took longer, but I'm simply delighted that I stuck with it.
Catchy intelligent power pop

Prepare to sing along!
Let's be frank here: anyone who likes popsongs with lots and lots of hooks, catchy melodies, beatle-like chord canges, and(often silly) lyrics about girls, should buy this album right away and never stop enjoying it immensely. At least that's what I did. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Indie Rock    2. Pop    3. Pop Underground    4. Popular Music    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

How can someone so unpredictable behave so predictably? Every time PJ Harvey releases something sophisticated and clean like 2000's Mercury Music Prize tipped Read more

Features

• Explicit Lyrics

Reviews (104)

i use to sit upon this rooftop in seattle
staring out at elliott bay watching the glow of the moon overshadow the water and when id listen to the end of pj harvey's album uh huh her... the last four songs always would make me cry. i was immediately taken to the place that had always been apart of me. if you'd like to relive my view, please listen to these few songs... close yr eyes and imagine yrself among the most beautiful waters you've ever seen.
Surprised
I really enjoyed "Rid of Me" for a few years, and thought that was so good and was probably all all she had, like I 'got' her music. Well, buying "Uh Huh Her" was worth the risk, even after listening to samples. GREAT stuff to add to her gutteral, rocking, striking crie de couer repertoire.

PJ at her most intimate
First I want to say I'm not a music critic and this is my first review, ever.I'm gonna try to be as eloquent as my fellow reviewers, but it's not easy.I can, however, gush on about
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Indie Rock    3. Pop    4. Rock    5. Rock/Pop    6. Singer/Songwriter   

Reviews (26)

Too Slick?
Admittedly 'Fat City' was my intro to Colvin. At the time - 14 yrs ago - I thought it was 5+ star worthy.
No sophomore slump
I got hooked on Shawn Colvin when a friend connected me with her first album, Steady On. I picked up her sophomore release, Fat City, when I saw it in a store having never heard a single song. I was thrilled to find that it was even better. "Fat City" is an overlooked gem and one of my all-time favorites. Her song "Climb On" turned up as the original theme song from the TV show Party of Five before they switched to the Bodean's "Closer to Free". It's a shame she didn't get the boost that the Bodean's got from that exposure. It amazed me that Shawn's music got much less attention than similar but not-quite-as-talented singer/songwriters such as Jewel. Shawn's later albums may be more well-known, but I think this is her best overall.

Under rated & Over looked
I first heard "Round of Blues" on modern rock radio (Philadelphia's now defunct WDRE 103.9)soon after the album's release date (late 1992/early 1993.)I only heard it a few times before it was dropped from the station's playlist.

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Contemporary Folk    3. Folk & Traditional    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Rock    7. Rock/Pop    8. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

On her second solo album, Amy Ray pulls no punches. As she sings in "Rural Faggot," "I know you want to know the truth, and I'm the dyke who will give it to you." It's an anthem worthy of Bruce Springsteen (one of the many here) within a song cycle that revisits high school rites of passage in the South while coming to terms with sexual confusion, desire, and identity. For all of Read more

Reviews (10)

one excellent cd
I love this cd so much! The lyrics hit right in the gut and the songs are set to beats that really reel you in. Put it out for good, cover for me and let it ring are my favorites but there's not a weak song on this album period. I love the stripped down sound, the high school choruses, everything. Amy, you're great!

LOVED IT!!!
amy ray is such a talented artist and i love all her music.i litsen to this cd all the time it never gets old to me...thats how great it is.i loved all her work with the indigo girls but shes good as a solo artist as well.all the songs are great from start to finish.so if you want to support some real music...then pick this cd.you wont be disappointed trust me.

Don't miss this one, it rocks
Game on, this is good stuff!To be honest, I wanted to like Ray's first solo Stag a lot more than I did, which is why I walked, not ran to Prom, But then that was before I caught the Indigo Girls last summer, where Ray and her mandolin wowed the crowd with the anthem Let It Ring.It was the first time I'd heard it and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Punk    4. Rock    5. Roots Rock    6. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Give Poe credit for overcoming obstacles and delivering a second album as ambitious and loaded as Read more

Reviews (293)

A haunting experience
Poe's Haunted is one of the best start-to-finish albums out there.It is suitable for any situation... driving, at a party, or even relaxing with your favorite hookah.I wait anxiously for Poe to disentangle herself from the corporate red tape and finally lay a 3rd work of art on us.

Near perfection!

How much does PoE rock?
in the year 2000, i did study abroad for the first time, and in an effort to pack lightly, i took only one small cd case worth of discs with me. the crown jewels of the collection were jeff buckley's grace, kate bush's the dreaming, carl orff's carmina burana, and PoE's hello. i listened to them constantly, especially on the bus when we took day-trips. (i did add french purchases, as well...most notably teri moise)
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Reviews (130)

I can't believe the guy could be entirely dead
While Hello lacks the overall storytelling ability that made Haunted such an amazing listen, nothing else is different. Poe's vocals still shine in a laid-back, almost not trying sense. The lyrics are extremely clever and unflinchingly honest. Any fan of Poe's would expect nothing less. However different Hello is to Haunted, this is still undeniably Poe.
How much does PoE rock?
in the year 2000, i did study abroad for the first time, and in an effort to pack lightly, i took only one small cd case worth of discs with me. the crown jewels of the collection were jeff buckley's grace, kate bush's the dreaming, carl orff's carmina burana, and PoE's hello. i listened to them constantly, especially on the bus when we took day-trips. (i did add french purchases, as well...most notably teri moise)
Tallent without limits
I can't imagine anyone not being able to relate to this music in some fashion.Best lyricist since Jim Morrison.Every song is a work of art. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Pop    3. Rock    4. Rock/Pop    5. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Though not the songs that would put her on the pop music map--that would come with 1987's Read more

Reviews (26)

Sophmoric work is still a gem
Suzanne Vega is always worthwhile to listen to. These early recordings give us some insight into her past and how she made it into our ipods today.

The First is the Best
My first acquaintance with Suzanne Vega was at age 12, with 'Luka'. I had known Vega made an album before 'Solitude', but the only songs I'd heard were 'Marlene' and 'Queen & Soldier'--both superb. Twenty plus years later, I've had the sheer delight in hearing Vega's entire first album.
crystalline masterwork
Suzanne Vega's debut is one of the 80's most overlooked and underrated treasures. Remarkably assured for a debut, the almost ethereal melancholy of this album denies any real comparison; it is unfailingly unique. Opening with "Cracking", a semi-spoken word piece piercingly scored with acoustic guitar and airy synthesizer, a tone is set that is mesmerizingly maintained throughout. The tone is crystalline, and its brittle beauty is remarkable in its timelessness. There have been some who have criticized the lush production and "new age" synth work, this criticism now seems dated itself; the instrumentation is utterly true to the spirit of the music and lyrics. In "Freeze Tag" the contrast of folk guitar and synth continues, again with haunting effect. "Marlene on the Wall" is almost lighthearted (in contrast), and "Small Blue Thing" does the remarkable trick of turning self-absorbed bathos into a gorgeous elegy. The three highlights of the album (besides the chilling "Cracking") are "Some Journey", "Straight Lines" and "The Queen and the Soldier". "Some Journey" is as erotic as anything she has done, and features some great Darrell Anger violin at the end. "Straight Lines" is a smartly unsentimental tale of a woman's suicide, with lines like "She is streamlined, she is taking the shade down from the light, to see the straight lines."
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Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Alternative Folk    3. College Rock    4. Contemporary Folk    5. Folk & Traditional    6. Pop    7. Popular Music    8. Rock    9. Rock/Pop    10. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Tori Amos's idea for Read more

Reviews (397)

Hey, hey, listen people......
Grasp it.Feel it.If you can't go through, just sit back: the frequent combination of Amos + Adrian Belew soundwise is more than enough food for the soul.

Experimental, but worth your time and money
I liked the albums Tori wrote herself better than 'Strange Little Girls', yet I think this was a very interesting experiment/concept.
Strange in deed
I'm not big on the covers,,, The best track is Rattlesnakes, that could have been a Tori song,, Next Bonnie and Clyde off the wall and right up her alley,, Strange little girl is also good,, the rest eh.. This Cd is is ok for the fan who has a lot of her work and just want's to check in and get caught up on older and possibly best forgotten about experiment..love ya Tori, but only a few worth your effort on this one...Chris ... Read more

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

Editorial Review

In 1977, Elvis burst out of the gate with a series of poison pen letters set to music. It was wordy, angry, and as catchy as a cold. And the man was prolific; he kept writing and recording like a man possessed, bringing forth a stream of great songs that showed not only an encyclopedic knowledge of music, but also a passion for it. From "Alison" to "Everyday I Write the Book" it was almost impossible to fault what he was doing, and even harder to select a few songs as better than the others. This best-of, which cuts off in 1986 with the Read more

Reviews (23)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Costello has had a long and distinguished career as a singer/songwriter.In fact, he is such a good lyricist that like Bob Dylan, his talent sometimes is overlooked.I believe this CD gives a good survey of his early to middle work.One of my favorites here is 'Good Year For the Roses.'

The best single disc collection.
"Elvis Costello" was a name I always heard, but I never really made a point to listen to his music. Then I got this disc, and now I often make the point. These 22 songs are incredible, and I wish I gave them a chance sooner. I was also suprised by how many songs I knew, even if not by title. This includes his hits "Alison", "Watching The Detectives", "Pump It Up", and "Everyday I Write The Book". But what's really great, is that most of the other tracks are better. "Oliver's Army", "Man Out Of Time", "New Amsterdam", and "Brilliant Mistake" are amazing. It's hard to believe this is out of print. I guess people will have to get the 2-disc "Very Best Of Elvis Costello" instead, which I assume may be twice as good.

Quite possibly the best songwriter of the entire rock era.
"The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions" contains some infuriating omissions--I particularly miss "No Action" and "The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes," not to mention "Almost Blue"--but this is probably as complete as a one-disc collection of Costello's best can be. Costello has written some of the best tunes of anyone in the entire rock era, and as a lyricist puts the lie to the considered opinions of Alan Jay Lerner, Sammy Cahn, etc., who insisted that all rock songwriters were illiterates. Songs such as "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea," "Oliver's Army," "Radio Radio," "High Fidelity," "Alison" and "Every Day I Write the Book" are a treasure trove of incisive wit, cynicism and tenderness. Meanwhile, I understand there's also a two-volume "Very Best" that is probably the better buy, but this will more than do if your funds and time are limited. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. British Punk    2. College Rock    3. New Wave    4. Pop    5. Pop/Rock    6. Popular Music    7. Rock    8. Rock & Roll    9. Singer/Songwriter   

Features

• Original recording remastered

Reviews (12)

Great for hardcore fans, bad as an overview
Presumably when you put together an "ultimate" collection, you want to gather at bare minimum every one of the band's singles since those are most likely to be the songs that the biggest percentage of the fanbase will know.
You will ultimately want to own this
Had The Slip been able to get a decent record contract and be able to make the music they wanted, I can't even imagine how much more my life would be touched by their incredible talent and emotional insight.Unfortunately, I only have a few songs to fill the void I'm so desperately craving to fill, but had I not been able to attain them my music collection would not be full.This is an awesome collection, not for the already-released songs (which, by the way, are not the best of choices, methinks - where's "Love Like We Do"?Plus many, many others that could have enhanced the CD, but I guess since I wasn't the producer that wasn't up to me), but for the previously unreleased tracks.Invisible Man is just absolutely wonderful.The New Bohemians went to an entirely new level in this song, representing a definite growth.This CD also highlights Edie Brickell's eye to detail and the nuances that make her idiosyncratic music so very prosaically beautiful.It took me awhile to warm up to this CD but I finally "got it" and now I'm addicted to even the most outwardly skeletal songs like Zillionaire, which, upon subsequents listenings, reveals the depth that Edie never fails to deliver.

Edie shines
I bought this CD for the last half of the songs. Now I can burn a CD with all of my personal favorites on it. All I had to do was get this CD, each of Edie's prior CD's, and the Flashback soundtrack (for the coolest version of "Walk on the Wild Side" ever).
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Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock    3. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (30)

One of the best debut albums, ever!
DRY was PJ HARVEY's debut and in my humble opinion, one of the best debut albums from any artist, ever.Words cannot explain what an amazing album this really is.One would have to hear it to believe it.Over a decade later I still find myself going back again and again to this CD whenever I feel a need and it does the trick each and every time.I honestly love all her albums and while RID OF ME is still my favorite, I think DRY is her most creative, and an easier listen, making this album my top contender for that trip to LostIsland.All the songs are good, each raw with emotion yet still passionate, with a wide topic range, and all contain an interesting, melodic use of instruments and lushly beautiful lyrics.I won't go through each song because I feel my fellow reviewers have done a great job of that but I would like to share some thoughts on why I love this album so much.
"Gonna take my hips to a man who cares..."
PJ Harvey's debut album is raw, quiet, and gutsy. I guess you would call this an indie album, very subtle and low-key in production quality. Some great songs here, some of my all-time favorites are Happy and Bleeding, "Hour of season, happy and bleeding, long over-due too early and it's late too." Sheena-la-gig (hope I spelled it right!) is one catchy and fun song, "Look at these my childbearing hips, look at these my ruby red ruby lips..." Oh My Lover is a classic, "You can love her and you can love me at the same time." Plants and Rags, a gorgeous ballad, "Dreamt of man, he fed me fine food he gave me shiny things." Fountain is another standout, "On my hill I wait for wind..." The rest of the tracks are fabulous as well. Dry is the perfect album if you want a strong female singer and talented songwriter all in one, buy this hidden masterpiece!

A True Musical Genius Emerges With This Irresistable Album
"Dry" is P.J. Harvey's debut album, released in 1992 it was a critical success while it did modest on the commercial side of things. Harvey was a breath of fresh air to the industry and was that generation's Patti Smith. Her mixture of pounding riffs and raw vocals created one superb album, the multi-talented Harvey wasn't content with just singing she had to co-produce the album, play guitars and violin, and write all but two of the tracks (those two she co-wrote). There are standouts but the album is overall a solid effort and flows well.
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Subjects:  1. Alternative Pop/Rock    2. England    3. Indie Rock    4. Pop    5. Rock    6. Rock/Pop    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

Recorded prior to her Columbia signing, Colvin once supported herself by selling copies of this superb acoustic collection of material that would emerge on the Read more

Features

• Live

Reviews (14)

"Live '88", "Steady On" Live
I love Shawn Colvin, her sound is fresh, creative and original. Live 88' does not disappoint on any of these counts. However, having listened to Steady on for many years, I thought Live 88' might be the raw version - it is not. This set is polished and very, very similar to the studio recording. If you are a collector or unfamiliar with the Steady On album, Live 88' is well worth having. If you are looking for something new from an old favorite, you will be disappointed.

An unadorned diamond
Most of these songs subsequently appeared on Steady On, but that album's production - too lush and sweet - runs counter to the meaning of these gems.Here we see the other side of the spectrum in terms of production - a woman singing great personal songs accompanied by just her own guitar.These are the best songs that Shawn Colvin ever wrote by far.You'd have to go back to Joni Mitchell in the 1960s before you found anything better than this for this genre of popular music.
Emotion and Earthly Beauty
Having known Shawn Colvin just from her overplayed studio efforts, I was unprepared for this album, which not only approaches but achieves true greatness.She should NEVER return to the studio, given the capabilities on display here: a voice of lyrical sweetness and flawless intonation, perfectly integrated guitar playing of great imagination, and song-writing capabilities that are, if not exactly on the Joni Mitchell level (whose are?), impressively mature.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adult Alternative Pop/Rock    2. Contemporary Folk    3. Folk & Traditional    4. Pop    5. Popular Music    6. Rock    7. Singer/Songwriter   

Editorial Review

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Features

• Original recording reissued
• Original recording remastered

Reviews (19)

My favorite album of all time....and I'm a 40-year Beatlemaniac!!
"A Hard Day's Night" and "Abbey Road" take the #2 and #3 places on my all-time list, right behind this spectacular gem.The SEARING impression this album made on me has as much to do with the events of my young adulthood at the time as it does with the brilliant music I was hearing from the LP on my turntable.I won't bore you with details but here's the basics: my friend Jon turned me onto this album; it had recently been released and I had just broken up with the first person I ever truly fell in love with....and you know how dramatic/traumatic these things are to a 19-year old!The album perfectly mirrored my feelings in a particular time & place as no album had before or since.I don't mean to suggest that this is a set of maudlin "break-up" songs best suited for jilted 19-year olds; on the contrary, it runs a broader gamut of musical stylings and displays a bolder sophistication than had been present in his recordings up to that time....but it still includes his trademark savage guitar attacks and pointed, acid-tongued lyrics.The production is flawless, unique and quite striking.The essence of this album's profound effect on me is the seemingly effortless way that raw, hypersensitive, uncommunicatable emotions are magically transformed into aural beauty of the absolute highest quality.When the album first "got hold of me", I was listening to it literally 2 or 3 or 4 times a day....and this went on for months and months.Obsessed?You bet.
A riddle wrapped in an enigma
As others have written here, this is the album that bridges Elvis v1.0 and Declan v1.0.Whether it's the masterpiece where black and white turns to color (i.e. The Beatles' Revolver) is often debated.For my money, this is the best that Elvis/Dec would do for at least the next 15 years - his subsequent work, IMHO, being dabblings in this genre or that.
Not that good really
Elvis Costello had gotten us used to better than this. This is around the era when I started to lose interest in him completely. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Pop    2. Rock    3. Rock/Pop   

Editorial Review

Fiona Apple, brooding, brainy belter and capital-A artist of near forbidding depth, begins her much gossiped-over third CD on a lark. The title track, one of two songs produced by Jon Brion before the label dispute that prompted hip-hop producer Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) to step in, sounds like a Judy Garland number slathered with irony or something Rufus Wainwright might have had a hand in--strings soar, beats bump around skittishly, and notes require a ladder. But playful as it is, by the time the chorus kicks in it's clear why the world has missed Fiona Apple so much. Young female artists who have stepped into the spotlight since she fled it six years ago-- Nellie McKay andJoss Stone spring to mind for their cleverness and heat, respectively--seem slight in comparison. With every track ticked off, in fact,