No comments about Invisible Hitchcock.

No comments about Let a Good Thing Go 2.

1 comments about Comedy.

1. Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly sets high standards for himself but lives right up to them on Comedy.

   He has written 15 of the 18 songs on this double album and most of them are gems. "Don't Start Me Talking" is as good as any other of Kelly's hits. "Stories Of Me", "Wintercoat", Brighter", I Won't Be Your Dog Anymore", "I Can't Believe We Were Married" and the inspiring "From Little Things Big Things Grow" are just some of the tracks that show off Kelly's lyric talent.

   Even Messenger Steve Connolly's "Leaving Her For The Last Time" stands up well in very good company.

   Like all good storytellers, Kelly keeps his tales relatively clear and simple.

   There is more than an hour of music on Comedy, but it goes very quickly.

5 comments about Tidal.

1. I still remember when this cd first came out, back in 1996 (around that time). This cd captures some of the best music in the 90's. So take a trip down memory lane and enjoy this.
   
   Fiona's subsequent cds are also good. She is very talented vocally and with the piano.



2. I just love this album...beautiful, intense and powerful. My newest favorite is Arrica's new album,La La Lost. Check her out if you like Fiona.



3. Released in 1996 at the height of the female singer/songwriter movement, Fiona Apple's startling debut, Tidal, blatantly refused to be stereotyped as another "wronged-feminist" record. Not to say Fiona shies away from the topic of relationships, (some of the album's best songs deal with angry lovers, unhappy trysts, and lonely nights) she just approaches them in a unique and beautifully raw way. Throughout most of the album, Fiona's sultry alto purrs, snarls, and laments over polished piano and orchestral melodies as electric guitars and heavy drum beats bring the sound together. This interesting fusion of alternative rock and jazz creates one of the saddest, angriest, and sexiest albums of the past few decades.
   
   To Fiona, emotion is a weapon. Showcasing this with Tidal's sinister opening, "Sleep to Dream," Apple's angry, uneven alto sneers down vehemently upon her uncaring lover, backed by ethereal beats and claps. The mood takes a somber shift as Fiona's voice changes from contempt to grief. "There's too much going on/But it's calm under the waves/In the blue of my oblivion." Fiona cries out in "Sullen Girl," a track recalling Apple's experience of being raped. "Shadowboxer," arguably one of the best songs on the entire disk, is also the most polished one. Here, Apple puts her piano to good use, while her voice moves to dangerously low octaves.
   
   This segues into the ever-so-popular "Criminal." Fiona's confessional lyrics (I've been a bad, bad girl/I've been careless with a delicate man/And it's a sad, sad world/When a girl will break a boy/Just because she can) are amazingly complimented by the almost menacing alt rock sound. Made famous by its raunchy video, Criminal won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
   
   After "Criminal" the album slows down. "Slow Like Honey" has Fiona's silky voice linger over a hesitant piano. Beautiful in its simplicity, this track is arguably one of the quietest of Fiona's. The album hasn't gone completely still, however, as evidenced by the up-tempo sixth song, "First Taste." Definitely the most uneven track on the album, "First Taste's" lyrics sometimes feel forced, and the vocals don't seem to really flow that well with the rest of the music.
   
   "Never is a Promise," the next song, is pure heartache. A ballad in every unconventional way, this orchestral gem remains to be one of the most heartbreaking tracks I've ever heard. Fiona's true knack for musical poetry comes through here: "You say I need appeasing/When I start to cry/But never is a promise/And I never need to lie."
   
   Fiona's tragic, "The Child Is Gone," is another work of sheer brilliance. The track's beautiful strings blend well with her somber arraignment, while its follow up "Pale September" continues in the same pattern, though lyrics alone give "The Child is Gone" a bit of an edge over its successor. Concluding the album is the amazing "Carrion." Uneven, brassy, quiet, loud, sexy, sad, happy, angry, contemplative, and dark, this is the best song to summarize such an amazing musical journey. Truly one of the album's best moments.
   
   Hardly as quiet as Tori Amos's irrevocably dazzling Little Earthquakes or as screechy as Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill, Tidal is a powerful debut by a talented singer/songwriter, who is stunning in not only her rawness, but also her ethereal beauty. If you're in the mood for a lush, haunting, and all around superb album, pick up Tidal. I promise you won't be disappointed. [4.5 stars]



4. With her rich alto voice, talents on the piano, and poetic lyrics, Apple's 1996 debut album, Tidal, remains her best album yet, in my opinion. Rich in hit singles ("Shadowboxer," "Slow Like Honey," "Sleep to Dream," "The First Taste," "Criminal," and "Never Is a Promise"), the album also resulted in a Tidal-wave of controversary following Apple's fiery comments at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and 1998 Grammy Awards ceremonies. "Gotta love that Sullen Girl," I thought to myself at the time, and my opinion hasn't changed. There's not a bad Apple in the bunch of album tracks on Tidal:
   
   1. Sleep To Dream
   2. Sullen Girl
   3. Shadowboxer
   4. Criminal
   5. Slow Like Honey
   6. The First Taste
   7. Never Is A Promise
   8. The Child Is Gone
   9. Pale September
   10. Carrion
   
   G. Merritt



5. Have not heard much from Ms Apple except for radio play. Ordered three compact disks at once. Have been working my way thru them. Neither good or bad. Interesting production.

No comments about Voyager.

4 comments about Everywhere.

1. This CD single has a really amazing version unplugged of All you wanted and Goodbye To You. I have millions version acoustic of both of them but this unplugged version sounds so much better. The guitar sound is a big difference. Michelle's voice is GREAT! I fall in love with her voice over and over. I don't think they did take her voice from the original TSR and mix with new sound guitar. I think she totally recorded it again. And believe me I listened to TSR ina countless times.

   This is a must buy and collect for Michelle Branch hard core fan. Her voice is just soooooo incredibly amazing!




2. This cd is awesome. It hasn't yet left my cd player. I love the unplugged versions of "Goodbye To You" and "All you wanted" This is a total must buy for all Michelle Branch fans!!!



3. The "unplugged" version of "Goodbye To You" is vastly superior to the version on her album, The Spirit Room.



4. This tune makes the purchase worth it. Very simple musically, except for the bridge (which is a perfect bridge for the song). Driving chord progression. What is catchy and unique is her singing style, which is strikingly attractive. Good background harmonies. Fun song that makes you know she is passionate about singing it. This is soul on a cd worth buying!

1 comments about Hidden Things.

1. These are Songs by Paul that for some reason or another never made it to any his Album Releases from the his early days {1986-1991). The two exceptions are "Bradman" and "Pastures Of Plenty".
   
   But, that said, if this Collection of B-Sides, Live Recordings and Out-Takes were Written and Recorded by any other Artist, they would have titled this one; "Greatest Hits". These are Great Songs and Fantastic Performances.
   
   There are some real Gems on "Hidden Things". My favorite is; "Other People's Houses" a wonderful Talk/Song about a Boy following his Mother, while She is working cleaning houses. "Pastures Of Plenty" is a Woody Guthrie Tune, that Paul brings New Life into, with his Great Voice & Acoustic Guitar, it is Bright AND Haunting at the same time. "Beggar On The Streets Of Love", sounds like the best Busker at the Underground Station you ever heard. "Sweet Guy Waltz", is Ghost-Like and Epic, this is a Masterwork that I'm surprised to say has never been Stolen by another Artist [To my knowledge}, this one Screams "Hit Single".
   
   There are 18 tracks on "Hidden Things" and there is not a Duffer in the bunch, this is 71 Minutes of Great Paul Kelly Music not to be missed. This CD "Hidden Things" should not be hiding from your Music Collection...Buy This...FIVE STARS !!!

No comments about Forbidden Software Timemachine: Best of the Creation Years, 1987-1993.

No comments about Get Happy [LP VINYL].

No comments about Cornflake Girl.