Ani Difranco - Revelling/Reckoning
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Free Music Notes for Revelling/Reckoning
Free Music Review: Just beautiful-- a (hopefully) bias-free review
Hit: 5 Stars
...reviewers are notoriously biased. It's funny how almost EVERY CD in its vast catalogue is a 4-star "masterpiece." So I will try to dispel some of that with my review. Then why do you give this album 5 stars, you ask? Because it deserves it.
I am only now a huge Ani fan. I have Living in Clip and was drawn in by it. Aside from that, I haven't had much exposure to her unique style. I bought this album purely by the suggestion of Rolling Stone magazine's stellar 4 AND A HALF-star review. And I am amazed.
I knew that this album would turn out to be great, yes, when I heard "Garden of Simple"'s line: "I was standing in the garden, and I had a machine that made silence." Within a week of buying it, I have only NOW moved on to disc 2. That's what kind of record it is. Some have criticized the record for letting the horn-based sound of the album overcome Ani's great guitar talent. I would argue that this album is not "horn-based" at all. They're on it, but they by no means overwhelm it.
What really struck me about this album is how beautiful it is.
Ani goes through her superb musicianship with the assurance of a master, and it gets so good toward the end that it's almost like "Hey, watch this" lyrically ("School Night"): "She went over to his apartment clutching her decision/ and he said 'Did you come here to tell me goodbye?'/ So she built a skyscraper of procrastination,/ and then leaned out the 25th floor window of her reply./ She felt like an actress just reading her lines,/ till she finally said 'Yes, it's really goodbye this time.'/ Far below was the blacktop and the tiny toy cars./ And it all fell so fast/ and it all fell so far and she said/ 'You are America, but that is not all,/ you are also a stiff drink and I am on call./ You are a party and I am a school night./ I'm digging for my keys but you are my porchlight./ And you'll never know dear just how much I loved you./ You probably think this was just my big excuse./ But I stand committed to a love that came before you/ and the fact that I adore you is but one of my truths/ so I'm going home." Phew. I know that was a little bit longer a quote than you're used to, but how aBOUT that punctuation?
The sound is much less aggressive and angry than Living in Clip, and not that she wasn't great there, but it's good to hear her do things differently. The feel of this record is more vulnerable and gentle than I've ever heard from her. The melodies are luscious, her voice is less abrasive, and her guitar work is more subtle but by no means less sophisticated. The music is also much less political than it has been in the past. It's a much more personal and confessional record than LPC, Up Up Up Up Up Up, or To the Teeth.
I write this review knowing that any true Ani fan has already got it. Of course they do, and rightfully so. But Ani DiFranco is a gifted artist who deserves more recognition. I have no doubt that this will turn out to be one of the very best in a year of very good records. If you stumbled onto this review out of curiosity alone, have a listen to "Garden of Simple" and tell me it does not move you.
(And for the love of god, see her live if you are even a casual fan. I can't tell you how satisfied I was to see her in person right after the September 11 attacks criticizing America instead of unabashedly praising it. Imagine how you would react if you saw someone come out on a stage and give you this: "Cause take away our Playstations and we are a 3rd world nation/ ruled by some blue blood royal son/ who stole the Oval Offive in that phony election./ I mean, it doesn't take a weatherman to look around and see the weather--/ Jeb said he's deliver Florida folks, and boy, did he ever./ And we hold these truths to be self-evident--/ Number One: George W. Bush is not president./ Number Two: America is not a true democray./ And Number Three: The media is not fooling me./ Cause I am a poem/ heating hyper-distillation,/ and I have no room for a lie so verbose." The Cincinnatti show back in April was almost identical to the album version of "Self-Evident," if anyone was there, or cares.) But anyway...
Free Music Review: Better for you than Broccoli
Hit: 5 Stars
R/R is my favorite Ani Difranco album by far. Collectively, here are the the best songs on any of her albums other than "Living In Clip" (which was her best stuff from the early years). All artists mature over their careers, as well as build on what they've already accomplished. The songs on R/R cut every bit as deep and exude the same intensity of emotion as have songs on earlier albums. The difference here is that you have to take a little longer look to see whats there. The insightful, poignant tone of the lyrics of the songs of Reckoning(esp. Bold Move/So What/Sick Of Me/School Night/That Was My Love/In Here) can be described as majestic. It's like, when you get it, you get the same rush as you did the first time you realized that the stars are really larger than pinheads, or if you hike uphill on a wooded trail all day only for the trees too open up to you a panorama of such depth that it seems test the limits of human comprehension. I was incredibly moved by this record, which unfortunately is an experience that I don't have too often anymore. I can't write this review without mentioning the incredible horns that decorate many of these songs, as well as the electric guitar interludes spacing several of the songs. The horns are amazing. They compliment the other elements of the songs so beautifully. The electric guitar parts are a change of pace and a chance to breathe as the record rolls on. I don't think this is an album for those without much patience or who require immediate gratification. These songs take a while to get into, a little effort to appreciate. The payoff for giving this kind of music a chance is enormous, however, and will without a doubt enhance the quality of your life.Reckoning is a slightly different beast. Less contemplative(on the surface, at least) with a slightly quicker pulse, it is a wonder ful companion disc, but it is not, in my opinion, the stronger of the two. The standout songs (garden of simple, marrow, whatall is nice) carry this disc nicely. "Garden of Simple" bears a flickering witness to the fact that ani does indeed have a sense of humor. "WhatAll Is Nice" contains my single favorite line(s) from any song here: "and you were not a . . . (dot dot dot) / waiting for me to complete you"
Buy this album and support artists who try to help you grow, rather than exploit you through saturation marketing techniques and repackaged recycled product that is even less relevant the second and third times around. You won't hear many of these songs on the radio, but if you own this record, you'll hear them over and over again on your personal stereo. Peace, and, Thanks Ani!
Free Music Review: A masterpiece!
Hit: 5 Stars
I knew it was a good sign when I had problems getting into this CD on first listen. All of my most favorite music ("desert island" CDs) were difficult at first. The first thing I thought upon listening to the first track off of "Revelling" was "ooh, her old fans are going to HATE this!" Very few tracks on the whole double album sound anything like "Out of Range" or "Imperfectly" or any of her more purely folk albums. And although I love all her music, this new direction is, IMHO, a good thing. Revelling has some wonderful music moments with insightful and flowing lyrics, but Reckoning is the deeper and more ultimately satisfying of the two discs.
Like Ani, I have been married for about 2 years and can appreciate a lot of the angst, confusion, joy, and bewilderment at being joined with another human being in such a "legal" way. Probably my favorite song is "School Night" (although the critic from Spin cited this as one of the songs she should have left off). For me the song explores the idea that "your one true love" is a farce. There is not just one person in the world that you can love enough to marry, but in the song, she grapples with the fact that she intends to honor her committment even though she also loves this other person. It struck home with me, especially the lines "and you'll never know, dear/just how much I loved you/you probably think this was/just my big excuse/but I stand committed/to a love that came before you/and the fact that I adore you/is just one of my truths/so I/I'm going home/to please the one I so love pleasing/and I don't expect/he'll have much sympathy for my grieving/but I guess that this is the price/that we pay for the privilege/of living for even a day/in a world with so many things/worth believing in".
For those of her previous fans that are put off by her new direction, well too bad. She is a human who is changing like we all are. She still does things her own way "on her own" and without bowing to any corporate interest/label. I suppose I can even more fully relate to her because she is grown up now (and so am I...we are about the same age). She is quite simply the most honest and genuine artist I know about.
Free Music Review: Beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is one of several examples I own that show just what happens when the wrong artist makes a great album at the wrong time and in the wrong way.Allow me a moment to explain myself. This album is, in my humble opinion, one of the 20 greatest albums I have ever heard. I've not heard 5% of the music out there, I'm sure, but I've heard enough that to be in my top 20 is no small feat. But it is an extreme growth and change for Ani, and it shows the downside to having the kind of fevered, intense fanbase that she does. They fell in love with a young girl singing songs that spoke to them, or that stated their own political views with passion, and many are having a hard time accepting that there might be more to Difranco than that. A good number have already jumped ship. It's as silly an argument now as it was when Dylan went electric, but a lot of her fans are just mad that she's not making Dilate 2, or that she's trying new things. Go figure.
Reviewers haven't been much kinder, because many of them too fell in love with Difranco in the mid-90's, and they haven't like anything since. So, you see, Ani's majestic, sweeping, devestating Revelling/Reckoning, her best work to date, is coming at a terrible time for her. If it came 10 years from now, it would be hailed, and if it had come out in 1994 it would have blown people away. If some unknown artist had made it, critics would line up to rave. But now it's just the prettiest pink stone you've ever seen, sinking in a sea that is grey.
I could spend all day rambling about the implications, hints, and outright statements in the lyrics. But that would be stupid of me. I could go on and on about the incredible arrangements, or how the horns add to her sound, or the differences between the two discs, or the album art. Instead, just let me say this:
Ani Difranco made one of the most beautiful, powerful albums of all time, and it's destroying her career.
Free Music Review: I reckon you'd better read this
Hit: 5 Stars
For those of us who have disturbed our local air molecules with DiFranco's tunes throughout college, grad school and now as quasi adults: Rejoice and break out the cash ani has brought us to a higher level. Revelling and Reckoning delight our ears with their crisp and artful production qualities, effortless blend of new timbres and harmony, and words that splash enlightenment over our tired vision. I know it's not acceptable to compare such an independent artist with others, but for these c.d.s I just have to say that I hear Bill Frisell like guitar lines and blended harmonies, the well crafted song form of Joni Mitchell and the sound of miles' muted tumpet in her voice on 'revelling'. Reckoning and Revelling have so many nuances of harmony and color that they should be noted: accordian/guitar, pedal steel, those amazing sax/clarinet trumpet/flute duets and poetry that makes you remember all over again why her music was so important to you to begin with. Listen intently to "What what what what," for plain old righteous fun, "School Night" for lyric perfection, and 'Grey' with the potent image of the Lake Erie shoreline in the middle of February- and you'll realize that you are truly experiencing music at a higher level because this musicians pays attention to the details. For those of you who are serious about listening to quality music and have respect for the righteous babe and her voice, forking over the 17 bucks for this one will be a no-brainer. Some of you other folks maybe aren't quite sure yet. That's ok- go to a few sites and read the lyrics or listen to a sample- a few verses in and you'll be hooked and happy.