Beautysleep [Enhanced, Extra tracks]

Tanya Donelly | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 19, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Extra tracks
• Label: 4ad / Ada
• ASIN: B00005UCZP
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,202 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tanya Donelly - back with a vengeance!, February 19, 2002

By 

whminor "whminor" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautysleep (Audio CD)

Tanya Donelly's latest effort is a moody triumph. After taking a break following her solo debut - 1997's underrated Lovesongs for Underdogs - Donelly returns after the birth of her first child with an introspective album that combines sharp, insightful lyrics and some of her best singing ever. And fans of Tanya from her Belly and Throwing Muses days needn't worry - she still rocks (just a bit quieter these days, like many of us). Come the end of the year, this will be on numerous top ten lists - but don't wait until then to pick up a copy.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some performance flaws, but great songs., March 3, 2002

By 

D. Mok (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beautysleep (Audio CD)

Tanya Donelly writes terrific songs. Always underrated, whether as second fiddle in Throwing Muses or in her own band Belly, Donelly is a quirky but poetic lyricist, and her melodic sense is infallible, melding Beatlesque tunes with a touch of Goth, country, and college rock.

Beautysleep is not Donelly's strongest work, but it remains intriguing. As its title implies, this is Donelly's most mellow album yet, but she retains her trademark playfulness and colourful lyrics, and her instrumentation remains quite innovative. In fact, at times, Donelly exhibits a new and not-so-welcome tendency to overuse non-musical effects. But the songs are so well written and so assured that they are still highly enjoyable.

The one weakness of current Donelly material is her singing, and it's what caused her work to become so overlooked ever since Belly's Star album in 1993. On Star, Donelly relied mostly on a strong, even midrange that got across the strength and resilience of her songwriting remarkably well, and provided counterpoint to her quirky songwriting. Starting with Belly's sophomore album King, Donelly has increasingly lapsed into an overly girlish, sugary chirp that really pushed the sweetness factor of her music into overdrive. On Beautysleep, it's often grating to watch her go into the "baby's coo" mode of singing. It's a weakness I hope to see her address, because her music deserves better. A rediscovery of her rockier edge would also be nice. For now, though, it's still great to see Donelly working.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A record of rare beauty and spirit, November 15, 2003

By 

giovanni (Greece) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beautysleep (Audio CD)

Fifteen years after the first Throwing Muses offering and ten after the unexpected success of the spooky fairytales of Star , Tanya Donelly finds herself in the awkard place of not having much of an audience to adress to . Even so , she seems to be happier than ever . " Thank you thank you my darling girl and her dad my true blue dream of sky " she declares on the sleeve of her latest offering . She's the mother of a little girl and wife to bassist Dean Fisher now . She doesn't seem to care at all about topping the charts or getting covers to flashy music magazines. Maybe that's why Beautysleep is her most haunting , magical album yet .

There are so many discreet details about this album's songs which makes them so special and exciting to listen to : child-voices on " Life Is But A Dream " , a choir piece at the end of " The Wave " , tender melancholy wordplay on " So Much Song " . Donelly has a sensitive soul with a rich darkside and even though " The Night You Saved My Life " is a perfect indie-pop track which could have easily put her back on the radio top ten , it's when she sings those mystical lullabies when she's most affecting like " Moonbean Monkey " and the ethereal " Another Moment " , a melody about finding self-confidence .

We fans will scream that this is her best work yet and one of the best records of the last few years by a female artist and it's been eventually ignored but there's a line on " I'm Keeping You " which seems to perfectly describe what Donelly thinks about her sudden stardom followed by media indifference "...there's something that you learn on a tight-rope / just outside the spotlight there's a big net waiting for " . The girl who once gave us " Honeychain " is now a woman and thanks God , she hasn't stopped writing music .