CD-Charts Position 61
Average Rating:

Painted from Memory

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach

Release Date September 29, 1998
With a reputation so rooted in the turtle-necked, nicotine-infused lounge lizardry of Hal David, Dionne Warwick and the zero consequence hedonism of Southern California affluence - the prospect of a Burt Bacharach tag-team with the much rougher and far more tumbled Elvis Costello would have seemed to be an Irwin Allen disaster in waiting - a wildly ironic vanity project with all the nervous energy and awkward body language of an arranged marriage.

Well, a strange thing happened on the way to that opposites don't attract scenario - Bacharach and Costello made a remarkable record that after a decade of repeated listening has only become more vibrant and powerful. The vastly different approach of both artists makes little difference ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 62
Average Rating:

Polaroids: A Greatest Hits Collection

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Shawn Colvin

Release Date November 23, 2004
A great collection of fine tunes, with the unique style and arrangements of Shawn Colvin. You wouldn't mistake her for anyone else. Some of the material reminds one of more recent work by Joni Mitchell. This might be due to the musical influence of Larry Klein who has worked with both artists and is featured on some tracks of this recording. A particular treat is Shawn's rendition of Lennon & McCartney's "I'll Be Back". Its hauntingly beautiful and simple guitar work, and a slower tempo than the Beatles' original version allow the listener to savor the lyrics, as only Shawn Colvin can so sweetly and heart-breakingly deliver them. This is a very good recording and certainly a must for the collection of any true Shawn Colvin fan.

CD-Charts Position 63
Average Rating:

What Would the Community Think

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Cat Power

Release Date September 10, 1996
2 1/2

Although her debut was a tad more earnestly raw then subsequent releases, the banality of her writing and playing always bored me out of my mind. Even more mysterious is why I invested in her as an artist, constantly wanting to believe critics..Was her one brilliant song, where she managed to combine simplistic, minimalist habits into something sublime, in V for Vendetta? Marshall was always unnecessarily hoisted to the top ranks of indie rock, and was in no small part because she was female and rocking out with a degree of vulnerability that appealed to various demographics, but perhaps the actual songwriting was not as objectively looked at as should be. I'm a fan of minimalist balladry as much as anyone else, but doing that genre justice ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 64
Average Rating:

Strange Little Girls

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
from: Atlantic / Wea

Release Date September 18, 2001
When I first got this CD a few years ago I wasn't able to appreciate the substance and style of this CD....now I have matured so to speak into my 30s I really LOVE it! It's absolutely enchanting...her unique voice....takes me to another world! She's a great songwriter/singer!!!

CD-Charts Position 65
Average Rating:

Somebody's Miracle

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Liz Phair

Release Date October 04, 2005
This album, like all of Liz's albums, is just too utterly good for me to sit here and embark on some long-winded, cliche riddled review. Yawn! However, as with anything worth taking a gander, the music...the artistry of that music, will ultimately speak for itself.

CD-Charts Position 66
Average Rating:

Dry

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: PJ Harvey

Release Date June 10, 1997
I really wanted to like this album. I really did, I'd heard about how great this album was supposed to be, I had bought Rid of Me and Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea and they're brilliant. Absloutely brilliant. But I bought this one (which was quite a bit more than either of those). I was shocked. Complete and utterly shocked this was a PJ Harvey CD! The lyrics were fine, but the music was TERRIBLE. There were no hooks, it was just kind of there. I didn't like this CD at all, and would prefer if it didn't exist, but to my sadness it does. One star because its PJ Harvey, the other because the lyrics are good.

CD-Charts Position 67
Average Rating:

Whip-Smart

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Liz Phair

Release Date October 01, 1996
I remember this from way back, but the songs aren't like I remember them to have been. I have to skip tracks alot to keep from going insane! All in all, there's still about 5 songs that I really love on the CD.

CD-Charts Position 68
Average Rating:

Out of Range

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Ani DiFranco

Release Date July 26, 1994
This is the only early Ani album where I feel like the review I am writing now will be quite different than it would have been had I written it years ago during my initial exposures to it. This is the early Ani album that has held up the least over the years, in my opinion. As is the case with many of Ani's albums, this one has some of her best tunes ever. Performance-wise though, there is something about this album that doesn't hold me as much as her other early ones still do.

That's not to say that it is a bad album at all. Buildings & Bridges, Hell Yeah, and You Had Time are great performances of some of my favorite of her tunes. It's just that in the years since... take Overlap for instance. In terms of commercially available versions, the Overlap on the Living ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 69
Average Rating:

0304

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Jewel

Release Date June 03, 2003
I've been a fan of Jewel's for many years now, I'm absolutely loving her latest album "Perfectly Clear" - it's since writing a review for it and reading reviews for it and her other albums that I thought I'll have to write one for her "0304" album.

I've had the album since the week it was released and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, yeah the front cover is quite 80's and the disc is bright pink, which is different to all her albums, but Jewel said she wanted to make a Pop album and that is what she did, Avril Lavigne has been criticised for the same thing over her latest album. Why is it that if the music is Pop then automatically it must be a "sell-out"? Two things that Jewel that Jewel is on a high level with is her vocals and her songwriting, and this album is no different, "Stand," ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 70
Average Rating:

The Will to Live

CD-Charts > Music > Singer-Songwriters
by: Ben Harper

Release Date June 17, 1997
Execellent album. Ben Harper incorporates many different styles of music and does it well. Overall the album is fairly spiritual in content without being over the top. I cant tell you how much I love this album. In the top 20 of albums from the Nineties.