Customer Reviews

Blackberry Belle

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Twilight Singers' album Blackberry Belle is one of the best albums of 2003. This band, formed in the wake of The Afghan Whigs' 1999 break up, is a marriage of a variety of musical styles. Listening to the album, one can tell that frontman Greg Dulli was influenced by 70's soul, classic rock, and a bit of techno. The Whigs, now somewhat of a cult favorite, were labelmates with Nirvana and Soundgarden at Seattle's Sub-Pop. While those bands were clearly categorized as grunge, The Afghan Whigs could not be put into any clear division. This is the same problem in trying to define The Twilight Singers. Dulli loves being seen as a rogue and , I believe, his wide palate of musical tastes is what makes this album so special.
Blackberry Belle begins with the slow and dark ballad, "Martin Eden" and ends with "Number Nine", a song of the same proportion. The middle eight songs, while not exactly all out rockers, are much more up- tempo pieces of aural delight. The songs "Teenage Wristband" and "Feathers" could easily be big successes if backed by radio and video stations. In fact, "Teenage Wristband" is possibly the best song of 2003. The song begins with a piano interlude which suggests The Who's "Baba O'Riley", before building into a rocker about adolescent lust complete with backup vocals from Appollonia Kotero of Purple Rain fame.
Greg Dulli's lyrics perfectly coexist with the music they accompany. His songs of loss, longing, sex, and temptation flow flawlessly throughout the album's 45 minutes. In "Feathers", Dulli sings "You're gonna crawl, my precious / I'm untethered / waving in the wind like feathers", with the accompaniment of a sexy clavinet and rhythm section. This is the kind of music that one feels and not just hears. The listener is concerned with both the beauty of the lyrics and music.
If there is one album you buy in the new year, Blackberry Belle should be it. Light some candles, open a bottle of wine and crawl in front of the fireplace with your partner. This album will keep you warm and wanting more in 2004.

Easily one of the best albums I've heard in a long time, Blackberry Belle is a unique blend of Afghan Whig's '1965' and Twilight Singers' first album, 'Twilight As Played By...'. However, upon listening you immediately hear it's originality. Nothing quite like this is being done by anyone. The music is unpredictable, yet expertly maneuvered by Greg Dulli, and it feels like he sweeps it straight through your soul on every track. His lyrics are as haunting as ever, and the album's production is outstanding.

Dulli has made brilliant albums before, but this classic album is sure to be his best yet. I eagerly await for the buzz over this album to hit full force (and there will be a buzz). Dulli is a talent that deserves more recognition, and this album is sure to be a milestone album in rock.

Where Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers first outing, Twilight was almost an effort to be different than the Afghan Whigs, Blackberry Belle takes a step back towards Dulli's roots.

Blackberry Belle sounds like what the Afghan Whigs might have done had Dulli not halted the band several years ago. Dulli is strongest when working with-in a Whigs context and this CD delivers the goods in a slightly sublime way. There are not particularly strong songs on the cd that scream out to be a single, but when listened to as a whole it is a well crafted and well thought out album that resonates with a genuine organic sound. This was the critical thing that was missing from Twilight.

If the sound Dulli worked so hard to craft with the Whigs is your thing, then I can not understand why you are reading this review. Buy it. Open up your Amazon box when it is delivered. Pop it into your stereo and turn it up.

What can I say? I've been listening to Dulli since the Whigs days and he just keeps evolving, hybridizing music and building using his resources of amazing musicains...The guy's a genius and if you can't tell that from the album see him perform live and try to prove me wrong...

I bought this CD just because it was Greg Dulli and I love the Afghan Whigs. I wasn't even a huge fan of the first Twilight Singers album. Check out the other reviews to date - they are very accurate. This is a beautiful CD and worth every penny! Rich textures, beautiful melodies and the usual Dulli melancholy!

I always hear people saying that they want something different, that it all sounds the same. No one writes their own stuff, it's all cookie cutter, big business has gotten in the way of the artist, etc.... Well nothing gets in the way of this album. The first time you listen to it you may fall in love with 3 of the songs, the next time 5 or 6, and then by the third or fourth time you listen to it you will invent reasons to jump into your car so you can listen to it again. Its changes are such that they catch you off guard your first few times through. When you've "read" the album enough, the changes, melodies, words, and passion become addictive and a background to your day. That may sound a little over the top, but I'm only echoing what many others along with myself have been saying for years: the lack of radio play and attention to this band has cheated unaware music fans out of the treasure that is Dulli's work. Blackberry Belle is not Gentlemen or Black Love, nothing ever will be, this album is different but no less special. Its beats are more complex, the single guitar note that threaded through many Whigs songs is replaced by funkier progressions, the screaming lyrics might be a bit lessened but the intensity doesn't take a step back. And Dulli is still Dulli, a master of securing emotion within every syllable.

Starting this review, I must admit that I miss the Afghan Whigs, one of the finest bands ever to come out of my city, Cincinnati. That said, Greg Dulli's current band, the Twilight Singers, is slowly finding its footing, and "Blackberry Belle", their second album, testifies to that.

"Blackberry Belle" (11 tracks, 44 min.) is a mood-piece, no question about that. It only takes you the opening piano bars of the lead-off track " Martin Eden" to realize that. "Teenage Wristband" is one of the few up-tempo tracks, and rocks great. The mesmorizing "Decatur St." is another stand-out, my favorite track on the album. Thankfully the CD comes with the songs' lyrics, which are an important aspect of Dulli's songs. The overall feel of the album is helped greatly by the sequencing of the tracks, which move along at a nice clip, even the slower songs. No unnecessary filler here.

Given the widespread acceptance of alternative rock in the early and mid 90s, it still amazes me to this day that the Afghan Whigs never found a larger audience (I don't think any of their albums ever broke the Billboard 200). Times have changed, and surely this album will not go beyond a small but core audience. A shame, really.

the last time i saw greg dulli(in person) was in the studio. i was waiting for my drummer to decide whether or not he could live with his performance on some tracks and decided to relax a while in "the lounge". greg was also taking a break from some new tracks. we exchanged greetings and sat a spell. i slowly peeked up from my origami monkey...there he was...playboy in one hand, glass of some brown liquor in the other. ciggy hanging from his lip. gut drooping over his belt. hair looking like he just rolled out of the car seat he slept in. i couldn't help but giggle over the fact that this man was considered by some to be the embodiment of sex, but if your out there wondering how, never having heard his particular whining, out of key, groaning hateful and somehow miraculous work... man you don't know what you're missing. gregs voice is every grudge %#@$ i ever inflicted on a cheating girl friend. every love/hate pounding i ever performed on those i thought would never deserve me. he is the orgasm that borders on pain. he tells you that all your dirty little secrets are alright with him, and don't we all want someone to tell us that?

After 5 years, I still can't stop listening to this album. It's just that good. I won't listen to it for awhile and then when I do I go on marrathon runs of listening to it for days, even weeks at a time. I always find something new. Or I'll listen to it back to back with Amber Headlights, wich was the first draft of the album. It's that good. In an age when there's so much crap out there, it's nice to know I have this album, wich was bought of a whim while I was stationed in Korea.
Buy it if you want a really good future classic.

Buy this CD. The songs are excellent,as per usual. This CD is more rock, with the same enjoyable dispostion... to quote from track 6, Decatur St. "I'm one of them sad boys who's hypnotized by girl's who walk the walk..."or track 5 The Killer.... "I want you to burn me til I feel it..." ... need one say more?