Customer Reviews

1000 Kisses

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3 star:		(3)
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I attended a concert earlier tonight at Joe's Pub here in NYC where Griffin performed most of the tracks from 1000 KISSES live. That, after weeks of daily aural intake of an advance copy of the CD. Seeing Griffin perform live will always be one of my favorite things. Greedily, I always leave her shows wanting more. But, happily, I'm always filled to brimming with the quality and honesty of what she delivered.

I've been hooked on this remarkably talented artist's music since the folky LIVING WITH GHOSTS was released nearly 6 years ago. FLAMING RED came two years later and shared a similar quality of songwriting with its predecessor, albeit with a bigger, bolder sound behind it than LIVING WITH GHOSTS.

Now, 1000 KISSES curls easily into the ear with a little of both those previous outings evident.

Before the wrapper is even off the CD, the first thing most listeners will notice is that 1000 KISSES offers the fewest vocal tracks from a Griffin album to date (Track 10 is an instrumental reprise of "Mil Besos," which I'll get to later). But Griffin has never been one to opt for quantity over quality, which one would be foolish to hold against her when what she presents is so solid and whole just as it is. As has been happily reported in industry magazines, this is undoubtedly Griffin's most honest and emotional album yet. And that's saying a lot considering how much those qualities were already evident in her previous work.

A number of fans balked at the forward-thinking approach to production on FLAMING RED, complaining it was too beefy, too rocky. Those folks should be pleased to know that the production this time around certainly leans more toward the organic sound of Griffin's debut CD. But it should be noted, the sometimes jangly barebones structure of LIVING WITH GHOSTS has been refined in 1000 KISSES, with much of that credit going to the production and instrumental talents of Griffin's trusted guitarist, Doug Lancio.

I've never had any complaints about Griffin's style or the way she chooses to best highlight her work. She's adventurous. Thank goodness for that. That spirit continues today. To me, the most exciting aspect of 1000 KISSES is the addition of a couple of successful forays into places previously only alluded to by this increasingly ubiquitous singer/songwriter with the eternally charming talent of reminding us of the familiar and forgotten.

If there's a weak point in the album, it's "Chief." Griffin reports that the song was inspired by someone she remembers from her childhood. As such, I'm sure it's very personal to her, but I don't know how well that feeling translates to the listener. It's a perfectly good song, but not one to which I believe a large number of listeners will be able to relate on their own personal levels. At worst, it will glide by unnoticed.

But, even in the unlikely event that you end up hating that song, the rest of the album more than makes up for it. I won't go into every track, but a few tracks deserve special acknowledgment.

In "Making Pies," Griffin lovingly tips her hat to her childhood neighbors, the working women who schlepped to the Table Talk pie factory each day to churn out pies. This wonderful song was supposed to appear on SILVER BELL, the album Griffin was working on when she was dropped by her former label. Fortunately for all us, this track survived the frutrating snafu that kept its original mates from being included on 1000 KISSES. I have a mental short list of favorite Griffin songs and this is easily in the Top 5 now; in fact, it's probably coming in at 2. This song expertly shows Griffin at her most economical as a songwriter and most poetic as an artist.

Several reviewers have called 1000 KISSES Griffin's most "personal" album yet. To some, it might seem odd to read that sort of comment, especially given that Griffin has included three cover tunes on the 10-track album. But she made her selections wisely. Each of the covers Griffin chose to cover not only fit perfectly with the mood and maturity of the album, they are beautifully transformed by the ways of her voice.

Springsteen's "Stolen Car" sounds like it was written for Griffin to cover. She's able to put a softly bittersweet and entirely feminine spin on what had already started as a tender heartbreaker from a man who was lost somewhere in his own life. Not even Melissa Etheridge's "You Can Sleep While I Drive" can match the quiet emotion Griffin puts into this one.

"Tomorrow Night," for which Griffin credits Bob Dylan for teaching her, is one of two tracks on the album about which I'm most enthusiastic. If you enjoyed the smoky, jazzy feel of "Go Now" on FLAMING RED, you'll love Griffin's treatment of "Tomorrow Night." It swings slow like a Patsy Cline piece. I'm excited to see Griffin stretching her wings further into her own spot-on interpretations of jazz, blues and gospel.

And then, finally, there's the title track. Well, it's not really the title track. It's the old Tejano standard, "Mil Besos," from which the English-translated album title was pulled by Griffin who humbly blames the decision on being a 'gringa.' But there's no need for her to be humble, especially for her decision to take her cellist's advice and tackle Spanish lyrics. With sultry flair and a hint of bombast, Griffin puts her stamp on "Mil Besos" and leaves the listener, once again, blown away.

Thanks for the KISSES, Patty. You and your music are beautiful.

On "1000 Kisses," Patty Griffin manages the difficult trick of producing a hard-hitting album of accoustic songs. Bruce Springsteen's "Nebraska" has always been the benchmark for such efforts, and "1000 Kisses" stands up nicely next to that masterpiece. Griffen even covers The Boss's song "Stolen Car" from his album "The River" and manages to move it into "Nebraska" territory. Of the original songs on the album, the opener "Rain" sets the tone, while "Making Pies," "Long Ride Home," and "Nobody's Crying" are the other gems.

Emmylou Harris puts in a guest appearance, which is fitting since the sound of this album somewhat resembles Harris's recent solo work. The only drawbacks are the album's brevity (10 songs, less than 40 minutes) and the fact that the last two cuts, the Spanish language version of the title track and a short instrumental number, really don't work. Otherwise, this album is as haunting as any that has been released in the last few years.

Overall, an accoustic tour-de-force from an artist with talent to burn.

It was a long wait, but the new release by Patty Griffin, 1000 Kisses, is a lyrical and musical masterpiece. Easily the most powerful release of this year, or perhaps of many years, it is a bold display of complex lyrics, textured arrangements and a singing voice that strings the listener along, begging for more. One of the many highlights for me is the opening track Rain, it starts softly, builds in complexity, with beautiful spiraling layers of music and vocals rich with emotion, letting one down gently again at the end, like a roller coaster. Patty Griffin again shows with Stolen Car that only she can sing a Bruce Springsteen song better than the Boss himself. But it is the originals that steal the show on 1000 Kisses. Making Pies, Be Careful, Long Drive Home, with otherworldly harmonies from Emmylou Harris and the stellar Nobody's Crying pack enough emotional punch to keep one listening to this CD over and over again. I cannot say enough about the quality of this singer and this recording. I just hope that we don't have to wait as long for the next one, I wish someone could/would release Silver Bell!!!

So my story with Patty Griffin is I saw her at a Landmine Benefit concert in Chicago. I swore before the concert I knew all the performers, although I could not name a song by Patty. Then she sang her first song of the night. Afterwards, my beloved Steve Earle said "Yikes!" before he tried one of his own songs, realizing what a formidable act he had to follow. I realized I had never seen or heard of Patty before, and I had to have more. I bought Living with Ghosts, and fell in love with the album, in particular the song Sweet Lorraine. However, with 1000 Kisses, in my humble opinion, Patty surely bests Living with Ghosts. Thanks to Dave Matthews for rescueing Patty from record label limbo. I love this album. My favorite song is "Long Way Home", a song of total irony. Here is a sad song about a funeral and burying a love of 40 years, and my 6 year old daughter is dancing a jig to it. "Be Careful" is a total chick song - who hasn't felt so vulnerable when in love. The mournful tune "Rain" breaks my heart while Patty's voice soars. "Tomorrow Night" puts most broken-hearted lounge singers to shame. "Chief" boasts a Dave-Matthews style tempo change as it ruminates on the dreamer in us all. Patty, with the voice from heaven, has crafted one of her finest albums yet!

"Living With Ghosts" blew me away. For the most part, "Flaming Red" left me cold. It wasn't the rock elements that thew me (I'm mainly a rock listener), it was that the arrangements and production seemed to destroy the beauty of her voice and mask her words. Still you want artists to grow, not feel like they have to keep producing the same sounds over and over again just because everyone liked the way they did it the first time. With "1000 Kisses" Patty has definitely grown in a positive direction. While it's not as in-your-face stunning as "Living With Ghosts," it's filled with instantly engaging songs of gentle beauty and quiet pain. "Making Pies" and "Be Careful" are instant gems. I hate to say she's matured because that sounds so stuffy, and I get the feeling she's still a rocker chick at heart, but with this CD she's taken the edge off her anger and is instead focusing on what she's learned from being in a more accepting place, and if that's "mature" it's lovely.

Patty Griffin's music is like that favorite novel or favorite movie, that you read or watch, just knowing that the sad ending is going to break your heart, again. But the sheer beauty of her music just makes you glad to be alive, to be able to experience it and hear it. This album returns more to the acoustic style of "Living with Ghosts" which was the best album I'd heard in 20 years... "Flaming Red," her second album, is fantastic though it initially gave me a slight hard-rocking jolt following the bare, acoustic "Ghosts." I just got this album today and have listened to it over and over. "1000 Kisses" is her most polished album to date and showcases her extremely well, backed by talented players and Emmylou Harris. Her lyrics tell vivid stories, frequently heart-breaking, and her voice... it's beautiful. I can't imagine anyone who loves female vocalists being disappointed in this album. It's fantastic. As much as I wish Patty happiness, I hope she continues to write with such depth of emotion. Clearly she's a woman who understands grief.

Having much more in common with her debut (Living With Ghosts) than her "electric" 2nd CD (Flaming Red), Patty Griffin's new disc has a directness and simple beauty. Her songs on 1000 Kisses paint pictures of country life ("Making Pies"), the fragility of love ("Rain"), reflections and regrets ("Long Ride Home") and various other subjects, all done in sepia tones and sung with a kind of tragic sweetness. Her two choices of cover songs, Bruce Springsteen's stark "Stolen Car" and the lovely Spanish ballad "Mil Besos," fit in well with the rest. The arrangements and production emphasize Patty's voice and acoustic instruments - mostly acoustic guitar, but also piano, accordion, violins and cello. The result is an intimate and revealing CD that charmed me and had me wanting to hear it again. I do miss the rock 'n' roll of Flaming Red, though, and hope Patty returns to it again soon.

Wow!!!

Patty Jean Griffin returns to the music world with nothing less than what a Patty fan would expect. An album full of new material, and not a "bad" song in the bunch.

True, the loss of "Silver Bell" due to the ignorance of the mega-labels only in it for the $$$ was quite a tragedy. One day, maybe those songs will surface on record, but for now we have "Kisses". Somehow, for now, I don't think anyone who owns this beautiful CD feels slighted.

With the poetic lyrics, beautiful texturing of instrumentation, great production, and of course.. Patty's achingly beautiful heartfelt voice, this CD is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Being a fan for 6 years now, and the veteran of well over 20 Patty shows, "Living With Ghosts" WAS my favorite Patty CD, and maybe it always will be. I had heard she was going back to the "acoustic/folky" sound, & I feared she was just doing that to re-live the magic of the also critically acclaimed "LWG". Thankfully, I was wrong.

Kisses clocks in at only 39+ minutes, and at 9 songs (excluding the instrumental). Only 4 of those are actual "new" Patty songs. "Long Ride Home" & "Nobody's Crying" are classics, known best & adored by the faithful that drive anywhere & everywhere to see this amazing woman perform. "Nobody's Crying" is easily up there in the top 3 songs I've ever heard, and is actually MUCH better when played live & with just her acoustic guitar.

With these 2 songs included on the CD, it presents a new listener with 2 amazing songs from a catalog of literally dozens of AMAZING unreleased songs that have been penned by the best songwriter of our time. It's just a shame that those songs will never see the light of day to be released on an actual released record.

I'm also not a big fan of cover songs, especially when someone covers a song by such an amazing talent with such personal & heartfelt lyrics as Bruce Springsteen. "Stolen Car" is without a doubt the best cover of a "Boss" song that I've ever heard, & is easily a highlight of this CD which really has NO lowlights.. unless you have a problem with it starting over again after it's over (which I don't).

I'll end this review the way I started.. "Wow!!!"

How did I survive before I discovered Patty?? She combines folk, country and lyrical depth to forge her own unique musical magic. Listen to "rain" to indulge your melancholic, introspective side, "mil besos" to feel uplifted and care-free or "tomorrow night" if you're just feeling plain nostalgic. My favourite track is "nobody's crying"; the lyrics express the fear and uncertainty experienced when a loved one dies, and the longing for their safe passage: "may you dream you are dreaming in a warm soft bed,/and may the voices inside you that fill you with dread/make the sound of thousands of angels instead". My only initial criticism was that her voice sometimes seemed a little grating and insensitive, but eventually found this added a raw, emotive quality (best exemplified in "Living with Ghosts"). I recommend this album to anyone who has a soul - and then buy "living with ghosts"...that's an order! Let's hope "Impossible dream" lives up to its predecessors....

Though this album is better than 99% of the music out today, I thought "Flaming Red" was a masterpiece. When she rocked, SHE ROCKED! When she toned it down, she showed off one of the most beautiful voices on the planet. I liked the contrast presented in "Flaming Red."
With "1000 Kisses," Patty goes back to her first album but more polished. She has many shining moments: Rain, Stolen Cars, Making Pies, Long Ride Home. Powerful songs with an incredibly powerful voice. Very few artist can even come close.
I saw her on Sessions on 54th on Trio last night, then saw she had a new album when I was wondering around a record store today. She played a song on the show called "Silver Bell" that COMPLETELY BLEW ME AWAY! I was disappointed not to find this track on this new album.
I WANT MORE! I WANT MORE OF ALL OF IT...the acoustic, the straight-forward in-your-face rock, the beautiful voice...ALL OF IT! "Flaming Red" was awesome, "1000 Kisses" is an incredible appetizer for what Patty Griffin has to offer.