Customer Reviews

Become What You Are

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
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2 star:		(1)
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Juliana Hatfield is a true talent in an age where all too many female singers are nothing but seemingly soulless, talentless beautiful shells. She has enough true emotion and grit in her songs to take on a hundred phony Christinas or Britneys - so it always makes me sad to go to a used CD store and see 5 or 6 copies of both `Become' and `Only Everything' on the shelf. What are these people missing? What's not to love?

If you're looking for true female talent and emotion, this CD is a fantastic starting point. As a huge fan of Juliana's work, both on her own and as part of the magnificent Blake Babies, this remains my favourite of her albums. I'm sure it has a lot to do with where I was in my life when I first discovered this album - a bored, daydreaming, moderately small-town high school girl, feeling unsure of myself, my surroundings, my future, as so many high school students do. "Feelin' Massachusetts" was my ultimate theme song for a good long while - I identified with it more than I did with any other song at the time. It addressed my longing for something new and interesting, my desperately wanting something "more."

Then came the other songs - each of which hit me with the force of a thousand lighting bolts. "My Sister" resonated each time I had another fight with my older brother (before we "grew out of it", of course.) "Spin the Bottle" was a reminder of every crush I endured, most of which now make me cringe. The entire album, from start to finish, seemed to emulate my life.

Years later, as a happily involved, employed 24-year-old living in the "big city", I still pull this album out and find something to relate to. Even if it's not painful crushes, small town blues or fights with my brother, there's always a time where I need music I can relate to. This album is always one of the first I pull out of my collection. And even if I'm feeling good about everything, I can still vividly recall the days when these songs made me feel that Juliana was reading my mind.

If you're looking for whiny love-gone-wrong songs, bad drum-machine beats or fancy choreography, go look up Britney Spears. But if you're looking for a strong, honest, vulnerable album - you've come to the right place.

Conventional wisdom states that the followup to an artist's debut is lacking when compared to the debut. Usually, that first album consists of songs they've been working on for years, whereas the followup is thrown together in a hurry. Of course, this isn't always the case, particularly with artists emerging from bands.

Case in point: Juliana Hatfield's "Become What You Are".

Performing with a trio of bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Phillips, with herself handling the guitar duties, Hatfield's sophomore effor does something her debut did not. It lets go of the Blake Babies legacy. Sonically, its as indebted to the Pixies as the jangly pop of the Blake Babies-- loud, in-your-face, overdriven guitars and slicing basslines over which Hatfield confidently delivers her lyrics, giving her voice a resonance it lacked on "Hey Babe". But more to the point, it began the legitimization of Juliana Hatfield as a guitar hero-- it seems so long ago, but in 1994, women didn't appear in guitar magazines as anything more than a novelty, but Hatfield was too good to be denied.

This is apparent right from the start, opener "Supermodel" is a slab of punky alternative with a fantastic vocal and clever songwriting. In fact its pretty much this that makes the album what it is, moving from semi-environmentalist jangle pop ("For the Birds") to venomous meditations on homelessness and mental illness-- which in Hatfield's native Boston often go hand-in-hand (moody rumination and album standout "Mabel") to popularity contests (goofy pop song "Spin the Bottle") to Henry Rollins and over sexuality (breezy pop turned heavy alternative monster "President Garfield"). Along the way, there's a dark hit song ("My Sister"), a punk song about gun-toting women ("A Dame With a Rod", which features one of Hatfield's best early guitar solos and a moody closer ("I Got No Idols"). What's fairly incredible is the stunning level of quality on the album-- there's no filler, no stuff clearly pushed by the record company, just all really good material.

This album is really essential listening for any alternative fans, its one of the best of the genre and as many of her peers have received mainstream recognition, Hatfield remains unfairly in a cult status, and its downright depressing that this is out of print. Highly recommended.

Become What You Are came out during my first year of junior college and it was one of my favorite CDs at the time. I think my mom got sick of me playing it over and over. Listening to it 11 years later, I figured I had outgrown the music. No way! It still sounds great! From pop sensations like "My Sister" and "Spin the Bottle" to rockers like "A Dame with a Rod" and "I Got No Idols" to slower tracks like "For the Birds" and "Mabel" it is a fun album from beginning to end. The lyrics are sophomoric at times, but the music is so catchy, you don't notice them and end up singing along to silly lines like "I want his power inside of me. And I'm not talking about a piece of meat, I'm saying something really deep." Every song here is great but "Mabel" is my favorite. The lyrics are actually intriguing on this track ("Check out that lady she's talking to herself, check out that lady, she's gonna go to hell") and it starts out with a slow, almost haunting sound and then rocks out at the end. "President Garfield" is also an interesting track although the lyrics become very weird at the end. Fun sidenote: "My Sister" gives reference to the Violent Femmes and the Del Fuegos, "before they had a record out. before they went gold." Become What You Are is a very enjoyable album and I recommend it to anyone who likes "alternative" rock.

As a recording artist Juliana Hatfield is a bundle of contradictions. Her guitar-playing gravitates towards the grungy garage-pop variety, but her singing is pure sweetness, all girlish and eager; she says women are naturally inferior guitarists to men, yet she writes some wonderful guitar parts and is underrated as an acoustic player; she's written some fantastic songs, yet often on the same album where these gems appear, there are also moments of bewildering weakness.

Become What You Are is as filled with polarizations as Hatfield herself. On one hand it contains a slew of strong songs -- breakthrough hit "My Sister", its intro being hands-down Hatfield's best guitar performance and its vocal melodies twistily engaging; "Spin the Bottle", a successful evocation of the giddiness of an attraction, a party, a romantic game between a playful couple; and "For the Birds" has some gorgeously written lines ("...Tried to wake her up/She wants to sleep...") and a remarkable chorus that should stay in your head for days.

And then some other moments are surprisingly clunky. When Hatfield tries too hard to rock out, she often falls into Nirvana-esque repetition and stops paying attention to the words she writes. "This Is the Sound" and "I Got No Idols" are absolutely hookless, dull repetitions of clumsily written lyrics and a boring melody, and "Dame with a Rod" and "Supermodel" don't really utilize her girlish, chirpy vocals well. Though Hatfield can come up with some great fuzztone-guitar riffs, without nuances to support them, her vocal technique sounds incongruous to the churning electric guitars.

Still, this is a staple album in '90s alternative music. Hatfield's most consistent work is on her next one, the solo (bassist Dean Fisher contributes), Only Everything.

This was Juliana Hatfield's best and most popular CD, and it included her breakout hit "My Sister". She was one of the trailblazers in "bubblegum grunge", making the combination of "girl"-ish, innocent vocals and driving Nirvana-era grunge guitar really work. I rediscovered this CD in my collection just the other day and popped it into the dash, and to my pleasant surprise it sounds just as good now as it did 11 years ago. I highly recommend this one, if you can find it.

In 1993, Hatfield's friend and former bandmate, Lemonhead Evan Dando, was flopping about at festivals, wearing dresses and being the NME's darling, and jangly American indie guitar rock was in. And Hatfield was really the only female in her field, so she really shouldn't have found it so hard to break through in the UK at a time when Throwing Muses and Belly were having top 10 albums.

Unfortunately, the press was a little too preoccupied with Hatfield's proclaimed virginity and relationship with Dando to give the music a proper listen. Shame, because Become What You Are - recorded as the Juliana Hatfield Three with bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Phillips - is a simple and brilliant record that she's yet to match.

Much has been made of Hatfield rarely going beyond the lines of her stock template. Granted, a cursory or superficial listen to Become What You Are could leave you thinking one song sounds much like another, but the unfussy formula works well enough to warrant many repeated listens. And no song outstays its welcome. Lyrically, she's at her strongest on this set, confessional, witty and on the right side of obscure.

The opening track, Supermodel, is a catty dig at the transitory careers of overpaid catwalk stars ("the highest paid piece of ass, you know it's not gonna last...), while the girly Hatfield is at play on My Sister, describing the love/hate relationship with a fictional sibling ("I would do anything to let her know I care, but I am only talking to myself cos she isn't there"). Her wry lyrics are matched at every corner with strong hooks and basslines.

Hatfield's cutesy/tough-girl act continues in equal measures: the deliciously venomous and punchy A Dame With A Rod, on which Hatfield avenges an attack on a woman ("You're gonna rot in the ground"), sits next to the unworldly girl on Feeling Massachussetts ("Take me somewhere I really wanna go... introduce me to someone really cool"). Hatfield does twee best on Spin The Bottle, although it's a bit of a throwaway moment. We should assume Hatfield wasn't taking her own story about kissing movie stars in closets at parties too seriously. It is nevertheless the most commercial cut and, given the right promotional push, could have been a hit, although it's appearance on the Reality Bites soundtrack did give it a new airing.

Standout track President Garfield - allegedly an ode to rocker Henry Rollins - is almost two songs in one: the first two minutes a slow, contemplative amble down the streets of Washington, the latter half a bass-heavy brooding review of the hero ("Neck like a tyre, iron man...I'm only human, I am weak, I want his power inside of me"). Things get darker still on the closing I Got No Idols, an intense, two-minute lament from a woman eager to stand on her own too feet.

The album went hugely underbought, of course, and the live reviews didn't do her any favours. Britpop was just around the corner and everyone in the UK momentarily ignored most of what was coming out of the US. Even the Lemonheads, who were actually selling quite a few records at one point, quickly disappeared off the radar.

For the follow up 18 months later, Hatfield was solo and with a little more angst on her plate for Only Everything. A solid set, it was more varied than Become, and could have been its equal had Fleur De Lys, Dumb Fun and Dying Proof fell on the cutting-room floor. 1998's Bed was a disappointing affair, while 2000's double whammy - the acoustic Beautiful Creature and the aggressive Total System Failure - would have been better as one, shorter album. 2004's In Exile Deo is unlikely to turn the sales tide, and she seems to have spent the last couple of years listening to Sheryl Crow records. Presumably the innocence and simplicity of early material doesn't sit comfortably with a woman in her late thirties.

Hatfield will make more great records, but the quality of Become What You Are and much of former band The Blake Babies' output seems an awfully long time ago now.

I really hate to say this but I almost wish Juliana Hatfield would just make maxi-CDs instead of full lenth EPs. I totally dig her stuff, especially the juxtapositoning of her sweet voice (one that I could truly never get tired of) and often crunchy gitar. The only difficulty she seems to have is culling enough quality stuff for an album. When Juliana hits it with a really good song, she blows everyone away. Unfortunately, it doesn't happen that often, and not nearly as much as I'd like to hear.

This has been a favorite album since I was in high school. Julianna's voice is unique, with a childisth quality. This album is very playful, organic and upbeat. The songs are like stories and I would recommend it to anyone looking for that perfect rock CD to blast while cleaning the house or driving too fast. :)

Everyone who is a child of the early 90s should have this album. Very very good and I still listen to it weekly even after 10 years. I recommend picking this one up for your "trying to be cool" younger relative. Makes a great holiday gift!

"Become What You Are" is an appealing nineties rock album, featuring a power trio of drums, bass, and Hatfield's grinding electric rhythm guitar. Her girlish voice floats above the fray, giving voice to disillusionment and loss of innocence. Songs like "Supermodel" and "I Got No Idols" deftly show that the singer (and many of her fans) see right through the world of advertising and glitz that surrounds us. "My Sister," a touching tribute to a (fictional) older sister, is another of the album's standouts, as is "Feeling Massachusets," which brilliantly captures the boredom of teenagers and young twentysomethings. Most of the album sounds the same throughout, and Hatfield's lyrics occasionally resort to simplistic, trite rhymes, but these are just quibbles about an album that I do recommend.