The American

Angie Aparo | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Melisma/BMG
• ASIN: B00004NHDD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,590 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Green Into Gold

2. Spaceship

3. Hush

4. Cry

5. Third Time Around

6. Free Man

7. Gravity

8. Beautiful

9. Memphis City Rain

10. Swell

11. It's Alright

12. Wonderland

Editorial Reviews

Music Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strongest all-around album I've yet encountered, July 6, 2004

By 

Jeanette "school librarian" (Sacramento, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American (Audio CD)

Angie is one of those impossible to pigeonhole into a single genre, so it seems he is forever writing great music that no one ever hears, because he really doesn't have a target audience. He's also one of those with equally strong sound/rhythm to his songs as lyrics; he isn't tilted one way or another. His other albums are really good, but this is the only album for which he had high production values, so for most it ends up being clearly his best. If there isn't at least one song on this album that speaks to you, well... you probably don't like music very much. This album simply oozes quality.

1. Green Into Gold (7/10): Good starter. Won't blow you away, but has strong lyrics and tends to stick in your head. Unlike most of these songs, you'll like this one more immediately as opposed to it growing on you.

2. Spaceship (10/10): This is the best song on the album, period. He hits notes I didn't think humans could hit without enhancement in this song. Simply amazing.

3. Hush (8.5/10): If this was never a single, it should've been.

4. Cry (9.5/10): Faith Hill won a Grammy for her cover of this song, and Angie's original version is quite a bit better. What does that tell you?

5. Third Time Around (8/10): This song doesn't really know if it's country or pop. If you like pop this might get you interested in country, and vice versa. You'll probably skip past it the first play-through, but it grows on you.

6. Free Man (9/10): One of Angie's personal favorites, and I can see why. You may gloss over it the first couple times through the album, but once you give it a chance you'll wonder how you missed it.

7. Gravity (8/10): One of the more emotional, and pop-ish songs on the album. Very clean sound, slightly less lyrically complex than most of the other songs.

8. Beautiful (9/10): Maybe the best lyrics on the album. One of the top few tracks.

9. Memphis City Rain (7/10): Vocal-heavy, slow, relaxing song. Deceptively simple. You could meditate to this.

10. Swell (8/10): More especially strong lyrics, with an extremely in-your face chorus. Has a very odd flow/feel that doesn't seem like it should sound good, but you'll keep playing it again anyway.

11. It's Alright (5.5/10): Strange. Not terrible, but this song doesn't really seem to know what it's trying to do.

12. Wonderland (8/10): This song serves as his proof of what a great singer he is, as he is accompanied for the most part by an acoustic guitar and violin only, and both are in the background supporting his voice, rather than the other way around. He used a live version of this song for this album, too, and the fact that he can get this kind of sound live makes it all the more impressive.

18. The American (8.5/10): Talk about a worth-it bonus track... this song is simply very strong in every aspect.

Yeah yeah, lots of high ratings, I know. But like I said, this is the strongest overall album I've ever heard. "It's Alright" is probably the only song I don't consider to be a very strong track. Pick this one up, no matter what kind of music you listen to. Trust me.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When I die and go to heaven, I expect to hear Angie's voice, March 11, 2002

By 

Jennifer D. Cunningham (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The American (Audio CD)

This album is a breathtaking piece of work that showcases one of the most talented artists I have heard in years. There are not enough superlatives in my vocabulary to praise Angie and his album. Like others, I heard Spaceship on my local radio station and proceeded to find out the name behind the voice. When I bought the album, I thought it was the best money I had ever spent on a CD. Songs like Wonderland, Hush, and The American made my soul ache, and I love the raw sounds of Gravity, Free Man, and Swell. I have to stop myself from singing along so I can just listen to Angie's divine voice. Please, this man and his music need to be heard. And having met him and seen him perform live, I know that he truly deserves every word of praise he receives. Buy this album now.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take A Piece of The Sky..and give it to Angie., June 13, 2000

By 

"verbosemermaid" (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The American (Audio CD)

I work in the music industry, and it's not everyday that I'm wowed by a new artist. I first became aware of Angie Aparo after someone suggested that I listen to "Spaceship," his first single. I loved the song - it was catchy and different - but it by no means prepared me for what the rest of the CD was like.

I saw Angie perform at three consecutive Matchbox Twenty shows during their recent promo tour, and was lucky enough to meet him as well. He's one of the nicest men I've ever met and one of the best performers I've seen. Playing for a crowd that had largely not yet heard of him, he had everyone in awe and after each show I heard major positive buzzing about him.

"The American" is a CD full of beautiful music. "Spaceship" is, in my opinion, the weakest cut off of the record. Slipping into Angie's voice is like climbing under the covers with your favorite person. The songs are diverse but all have a dark, edgy sound that is complimented perfectly by Angie's beautiful voice. It's hard to choose favorites from a CD chock-full of stand-outs, but the tunes that I find myself repeating even more than the others are "Cry," "Wonderland," "Hush," "Gravity," and the record's title track.

"Cry," a song for everyone who has ever been hurt in love, was my instant favorite after seeing Angie perform live. Once I got the CD, I fell in love with the others, most especially "Wonderland," a majestically gorgeous ode to Aparo's daughter that should have the world swooning.

Bottom line - Angie Aparo is going to be a classic. He's phenomenal, and every self-respecting music-lover should have this CD in their collection.