Poe - Haunted
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Free Music Notes for Haunted
Free Music Review: Musically, lyrically and conceptually...
Hit: 5 Stars
...this album is a masterpiece.
Hands down, no questions asked! I have owned this album since 2001 (I know Amazon says the original release date was 2004, but that is incorrect), having first heard "Walk the Walk" on the Internet and being in awe of just that one song ~ and making that song my own, personal life anthem. After eight years and two well-worn copies, it is an album that I listen to on a weekly basis, and once it's in my CD player, it stays there for days on end, and it occupies the #1 spot on my all-time favorite albums list ~ which is quite a feat in my book. If I were trapped on a desert island, this album is an absolute must-have for me.
Over the years, I kind of cherry picked my favorite songs, as they meant different things to me at different points in my life, and it wasn't until last year (if you can believe that) that I actually listened to it from start to finish, listening to the bits of dialogue in between, without hitting the skip button at some point. And that's when the deeper meaning of this album really sank in, creating a personal bond with this album that is unrivaled by any other. Today, I wouldn't even DREAM of hitting that skip button.
Conceptually, the album is unlike anything I've ever heard. It's wrought with emotion; anger, sadness, rebellion, acceptance, and finally, peace. For me, it's been my own little piece of audio therapy, as I have experienced many, similar conflicts in my own life with parental units. Other reviewers have noted the details of its concept, so I won't bore you with that. Musically, it is simply perfection; its flow is so deftly composed, intermingled with dialogue and philosophical viewpoints that setup each, individual song. Lyrically, I have to say, Poe is one of the most brilliant songwriters to ever come down the pike. She has such a beautiful use of the English language and her lyrics can feel like a sucker punch to the gut because they hit home so effectively, without apology.
This album, over the eight years I've owned it, has been a mainstay in my spiritual journey to come to terms with my own family. I've probably listened to it a thousand times, literally, and I never get sick of listening to it; and every time I do, I learn something new, I hear some little tidbit that I didn't before, and to me, that's what makes a masterpiece: you can listen to it a million times over, never tire of it, learn something new every time, apply it to that particular point in your life, and revisit it again later, knowing that its fundamentals will still apply anew, no matter where you are in life's journey.
It's an album I hope I'm still listening to when I'm old and gray...and "Walk the Walk" WILL be played at my funeral!!!
Free Music Review: A COOL CONCEPT ALBUM
Hit: 5 Stars
Rarely have I listened to a CD that I found all the songs worth listening to. Haunted by Poe, I found to be an exception. Although every song tells a different story, they all seem to bleed together to paint a very beautiful picture collectively. But upon shopping, you have to really pay attention because there are two versions of this CD. There is the regular version and the bonus track version. The bonus track version offers the "hey Pretty" remix with her brother reading excerpts from his "House of Leaves" book, which was a huge radio hit. The regular version does not have it.
From the beginning, I was thrust into the most fluid of landscapes. Exploration B kind of made the start of the journey slow, but it lated for less than a minute. Haunted grabbed my attention and jettisoned me headlong into uncharted territory (Hello was a good album and all, but it wasn't of this scope and magnitude). Most of the songs are 5+ minutes (Wild clocking in at 9+) Key songs that warrant a listen are as follows: Haunted, Control, Walk the Walk, Hey Pretty (regular version), Amazed, Could've gone Mad and the always hilarious Not a Virgin. If you get the gist of the whole album and the tribute to her late father the many interludes on the album are not so bad and themselves warrant a listen also.
I'm still not pretty sure what a concept album really is unless you count early 90's rap (Ice Cube especially) or the superb Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but Haunted played more like a book or movie rather than an actual album.
Although the "Hey Pretty" remix was making the radio rounds, hearing Haunted at the end of The Blair Witch 2 movie is what compelled me to give this album a listen, plus the fact that I found and still find "Hello" a priceless piece of modern alternative music history, maybe I'll review it at a later date. Get this CD and you'll become a believer.
Free Music Review: Ode to Pain and Hope
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't know how a person could listen to this album and not feel that (s)he has shared a great intimacy with Poe in this, her second album. From start to finish, this collection has a uniform feel, and it's uniformly excellent.
Like others here I ended up finding this CD accidentally almost, by first hearing of the book "House of Leaves" by Poe's brother, Mark Danielewski. The songs take you on a journey as the little girl in the composer deals with the death of her father, film instructor and academic Tad Danielewski. This is a heavily processed work - Poe spent a great deal of time reworking this music on a computer - but so what? It sounds great. The sister songs "Haunted" and "Control" are pounding, assertive songs. At the same time, you hear "the girl" inside the woman dealing with fear and near-madness. By the time we get to track 7, "Wild," we suspect that she's been so all along. I understand that she worked with a number of drummers on this project, but there's a uniformity of percussion work that weaves all these songs into a whole. "Not a Virgin" ("I'm not a virgin anymore/just thought you should know") has a "grudge anthem" quality to it, with a near country sound. And it's hilarious. As if to prove her point, she goes into the alluring and seductive "Hey Pretty," a "come hither" piece. The last half-dozen songs become more and more personal (the lyrics to "Lemon Meringue" should be stand alone poetry about dealing with adversity), and by the time we get to "If You Were Here," heavily interspersed with audio recordings of her deceased father to her as a child, it would be indecent to share that with her if we hadn't already been so far with our girl. Very moving, a good-bye and release.
So where has this woman gone? I'd like to hear more from her, if she hasn't already given it all.
Free Music Review: A Fascinating Journey
Hit: 5 Stars
I discovered this wonderful singer through a song called "Walk the Walk", which I fell in love with the second I heard it. Soon after, I got hold of the entire CD and realized that this is not just a great rock album, it's a story, a journey. Poe (Annie Decatur Danielewski) delivers each song in such a personal way that you can't help but get swept away by the enchanting music and the intriguing lyrics. Some songs, like "Wild", "Control" and "Walk the Walk" leave you feeling empowered and are very cathartic. Others, like "Haunted" and "5 and a Half Minute Hallway", have a dream-like feel to them. Then there are those songs that are simply a joy to listen to without having a specific agenda, such as "Spanish Dall", which is a beautiful combination of Spanish guitar and heart-wrenching lyrics, or "Lemon Meringue", which lives up to its promise that "this will be a good song" (as the funny guy in the intro says). At the forefront of it all is Poe's voice, mature and compelling, which carries each song with intelligence and grace. And as strange as this may sound, the songs are not the only thing that makes this album great. It also contains bits of dialogue between father and daughter, some of which appear at the beginning or end of songs, some are independent tracks, and all these bits add depth and mystery to the story told by this album.
So if you appreciate innovative rock and are looking for more than your average pop-rock sound that dominates today's charts, this could be the album for you.
Free Music Review: A superb blend of powerful performances and modern production.
Hit: 5 Stars
Poe's 1996 debut "Hello" was an intriguing mix of alternative, electronica, and production technique that scratched the surface of what she was capable of as a performer (something her live shows managed to capture far better). 2000's "Haunted" takes the ideas and techniques of Poe's debut and manages to fuse the directness and energy of her live shows to it, proving to be a much more satisfying listen. It also proves to be perhaps the best produced album of its time, effortlessly blending instruments, sounds and prerecorded triggers as it effortlessly slides from one sound to another.
What stays consistent pretty much throughout the album is an underlying current of darkness and mood but without having a sense of bleakness (bouncey "Lemon Meringue") and a seemingly endless pool of sensuality ("Wild"). Jumping rhythms and rattling beats ("Control"), Flamenco sounds ("Spanish Doll"), noisy guitars ("Terrible Thought") and acoustic ballads ("5&1/2 Minute Hallway") all blend with recordings of Poe's then-recently-deceased father's voice to form a stew that keeps moving, keeps grabbing your attention, and proves endlessly intriguing. What's quite amazing is that the album wasn't a bigger success (although it was likely Atlantic Records that gets that credit).
"Haunted" really is a miracle of production, managing endless waves of sound without sucking the life from the performances. For anyone interested in unique music, this one is worth investigation, highly recommended.