Nicole Atkins - Neptune City
List Price:
Our Price: $1.65
You Save: $11.33 (87%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.68 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Music CD Cover
Artist: Nicole AtkinsEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-10-30
Music Label: Red Int / Red Ink
Soundtracks:
- Maybe Tonight
- Together We're Both Alone
- The Way It Is
- Cool Enough
- War Torn
- Love Surreal
- Neptune City
- Brooklyn's On Fire!
- Kill the Headlights
- Party's Over
Free Music Notes for Neptune City
Free Music Review: Nicole Atkins: Catch Her...If You Can
Hit: 5 Stars
After a half year's delay, Nicole Atkins and the Sea's long-awaited official major-label debut, Neptune City, is finally here. Those of you who are familiar with her prior EPs, 2004's Party's Over and last year's Bleeding Diamonds, have heard many of these songs before, but this time, they've received star treatment from producer Tore Johansson (New Order, Franz Ferdinand), a host of studio musicians, and finishing touches provided by none other than mixman extraordinaire Rick Rubin (the cause of the delay...I think I'd delay my record too if Rubin wanted to get his mitts on it). Old fans, I urge you not to miss out, and potential new fans, you've gotta get this record.
If you're in the latter group, with a glance at Atkins' striking yet unsmiling face peering out at you from the cover's dreamy, pasteled artwork, you might readily dismiss her as just another lightweight chick singer-songwriter. Don't do it. Nicole Atkins will connect with you. No matter how hard you try to distance yourself, her lyrics reach into your psyche and say, "Hey! I've been there, too. And it's okay. You'll be fine. Just look at me. I turned out all right; you will, too!"
Atkins' music has been described as soaring, and this CD is no exception. Johansson rightly supports her very big voice with lush arrangements and equally big sound. It's very Phil Spectoresque, especially on tracks like "The Way It Is" and "Party's Over." The stripped-down version of "War Torn" on Bleeding Diamonds bears very little resemblance to the version here. However, Atkins' compositions hold up remarkably well whether you are hearing them on the CD with the full complement of Sea musicians (the four Ds: Dave, Dan, Derek and the other Dan) plus the orchestral session help hired by Johansson, or whether you're hearing Atkins play them solo acoustic in a local coffeeshop somewhere in Monmouth County.
The tunes cover a vast degree of territory geographically, emotionally and stylistically, but Atkins' powerful, confident alto ties them all together in a complete, balanced package of treats for your ears. Obviously, it's her voice that makes you sit up and pay attention, but the tracks' pace and variety will keep you guessing. The band dives right in with the cautiously optimistic rocker "Maybe Tonight," takes it down a notch with the lamenting "Together We Are Not Alone," and in the CD's pièce de résistance, "The Way It Is," starts slow but builds to a crescendo of passion and longing, virtually daring you to stop listening. The bombast, strings, and unrelenting "Fourth of July, Brooklyn's on Fire!" hook in "Brooklyn's On Fire!" is the tonal antithesis of the quiet, reflective title track. And "War Torn"'s solemn strings underscore a glimpse at the sad end to a relationship ripped apart by circumstances beyond anyone's control.
Like many artists, Atkins makes wry observations about places she's been and people she's met and translates them into song. She grew up in Neptune City, went to school in North Carolina, spent considerable time in Australia, lived in Brooklyn for a while, and is now back in Asbury Park. Songs like "Cool Enough" capture the wanderlust in a young girl; in lines like, "This place has got nothing that I could want...so take me with you," you feel her desire to get the hell out of Dodge. Though young, she's also wise enough to realize that "Someday, I might feel different." And sure enough, after trying on other cities and countries for size, she's ended up right back in Asbury Park, just next door to the place which, as she said in "Neptune City," she wasn't sure if she could go home to again.
Welcome, back, Nicole. Go ahead and tour the world, but please keep coming home to Jersey where you belong.
Alternative Rock Music CDs
Music Genres
Top music charts in Alternative Rock Music CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $397.77
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $199.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Top Rated Albums
First Aid Kit - The Lion's RoarRelease date: 2012-01-24; Music CD
Best price: $8.46
Price in other shops:
Sarah Jarosz - Follow Me DownRelease date: 2011-05-17; Music CD
Best price: $7.79
Price in other shops:
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness BluesRelease date: 2011-05-03; Music CD
Best price: $7.54
Price in other shops:
Lisa Hannigan - PassengerRelease date: 2011-09-20; Music CD
Best price: $9.46
Price in other shops:
Honeyhoney - Billy JackRelease date: 2011-10-24; Music CD
Best price: $8.11
Price in other shops:
Rachael Yamagata - ChesapeakeRelease date: 2011-10-11; Music CD
Best price: $8.41
Price in other shops:
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Tell MeRelease date: 2011-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Lana Del Rey - Born to DieRelease date: 2012-01-31; Music CD
Best price: $7.72
Price in other shops:
Bleeding Diamondsby Nicole Atkins
Published: 2006; Music CD
Best price: $3.38
Nicole Atkins - Mondo AmoreRelease date: 2011-02-08; Music CD
Best price: $4.68
Price in other shops: