Customer Reviews

Crossroads

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Owning Tracy Chapman and Telling Stories, I decided to give Crossroads a go. Luckily there are ten songs, so there is an easy way to rate this

Crossroads: 10/10. A truly amazing and spiritual track that uses percussive instruments well and utilizes amazing vocals.

Bridges: 8.5/10 A slower track, yet filled with moving guitar and piano, backed with her obviously stupendous vocals.

Freedom Now: 8.5/10 I'm not sure, but I can see a bunch of guys singing this as they work on the railroad. A fin track, and it's dedicated to a guy a really like (Nelson Mandela) so let's add a point to 9.5.

Material World: 9/10 This track must have written itself. Resembling some works on Tracy Chapman, this is an enjoyable song.

Be Careful of My Heart: 10/10 This is one of the most beautiful tracks, with guitars and heart wrenching vocals.

Subcity: 9.5/10 When I read the lyrics to this song, I thought it would be depressing, but it has a fun tune and beat.

Born To Fight: 9/10 This a tough, spunky song, with lot of great saxophone. It is really great to sing.

A Hundred Years: 8/10 Probably the weakest song on the album, yet still has a catchy tune.

This Time: 10/10 What a beautiful song, that rings true powerfully, and makes me want to singalong each time.

All That You Have is your Soul: 10/10 Like Be Careful of My Heart, a truly beautiful track.

How does it add up?.....93.5% or a whopping A+ or five star rating!

It's a shame that when an artist, such as Tracy Chapman, wins a Grammy for Best New Artist, she is then forgotten. I have been a fan right from the beginning, in 1988, with "Fast Car." I was 15 then, and Tracy touched a nerve for me. I thoroughly enjoyed her debut and was quite pleased that she won a Grammy. However, her following albums, Crossroads, Matters of the Heart, New Beginning and Telling Stories have all been dismissed by critics and Top 40 radio (with the exception of Give Me One Reason in 1996). I believe that Crossroads was just as great as her debut. It has ten solid tracks from "Crossroads", "Born To Fight", "All That You Have Is Your Soul" to "This Time", "Bridges", "Freedom Now" and "Subcity." It's a shame that Top 40 radio and teenagers turn away from great music that also has meaning in its lyrics. Crossroads is a great cd to have in your music collection.

This sophmore release by Tracy Chapman proves that her firstalbum was no accident. If there was any doubt, this poet, lyricist,song writer, singer and guitar player is incredibly talented. Her unique voice breathes life into one awesome song after another. Every song tells a story, whether it is a love story, a parable of the evils of material gain at the sacrifice of relationships or racial indifference. These aren't "preachy" songs... and you can listen to them w/o even paying attention to the lyrics if you want... the sounds are soft enough to play in the background while you're at work, or rockin' enough so you can jack up the volume on your car stereo and sing along. Tracy Chapman has a unique sound that really can't be compared to anything else you've heard before. A tremelo in her unique-sounding voice, the sounds of 6 and 12-string guitars, soft drums and an occaisional banjo makes this a little bit country, a lot of rock, a pinch of folk and just Tracy Chapman.

I was listening to Telling Stories earlier today and then went browsing through my Tracy discography and remembered how much I loved the songs on this album, and the album as a whole. Tracy's mixture of seeing the world's sadness in a clear-eyed way and her determination to fight on with relentless optimism nonetheless makes me think of Barack's Presidential candidacy. What a combination. Listen to Crossroads, 100 Hundred Years, Material World, and, especially, All That You Have is Your Soul and be prepared to fight for justice.

Tracy's voice is wonderful, soulful and honest...but what is really amazing is her song-writing skill. Her lyrics always make you think about yourself and the world in which you live-- actually, quite a few of these songs have helped me out of dark times and given me hope that I thought I'd lost (specifically "All That You Have is Your Soul" --the final track on the disk). Some of her recent work cannot compare to this early album.

Track #3, "Freedom Now," and "Born to Fight" (track #7) are reasons enough to buy this CD. The lyrics are inspiring and the melodies are complex, but simple at the same time. If you like Tracy's later work, then you'll love this disk. The songs have the same deep feel, but they're presented in a much more positive way--the beat is up tempo and not as sleepy as her later works.

Buy this CD, you'll love it for sure.

I have loved Tracy since she debuted Fast Car back in high school and I love her more and more as the years go by. She never stops making excellent music that inspires and touches the soul....this CD in particular is a real winner. I actually consider it a blessing that she is not on the radio where her music would become mundane and ordinary. Instead it's only by hearing about her through others that people have the privilege of listening to her wonderful music where you just can't get enough and it just makes you feel good. She's the best and there's no one else out there like her. That's a good thing!

Tracy Chapman is a true poet. When you listen to her songs you know those words and that music comes straight from her heart. There is nothing superficial about this artist. The highlights of this CD are "Bridges(the Best Tracy Chapman song ever), Born to Fight, All That You Have Is Your Soul, and This Time. She puts so much into these songs. As you listen you start to feel all those emotions she must have felt writing the songs. If you like James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, and all the other "folk" singers, then Tracy is the modern-day artis for you.

I am totally a new devotee to Tracy... Other than 'Fast Car' and 'Give me one good Reason', I had never heard any other music of hers. I have to agree with the last review and say that it is a darn shame that some of her other work has not been as noticed. Oh well....the ones of us who are willing to give good music a chance have some of the best music around to listen to with her. Crossroads is an awesome buy ~~Highly Recommended~~

Accepting this great album into my collection would have not been possible if I did not search through the $2.99 tape bin at the local record shop. As soon as I played the tape I was in love. I was moved by the first 5 hits and two days later I bought the CD. I think the greatest part of listening to a new song is the feeling as if you heard the songs a hundred times. This album made those feelings possible.
I advise people if they own Tracy "Trapmans" debut they must add "Crossroads" to their collection. I am not a musician but know great music when I hear it.

When it comes to songwriters, I rank Tracy Chapman up there with the best of them. True, most of her songs deal with the same subjects, but you can at least depend on her music to deliver thought-provoking views to such serious topics as racism, injustice, freedom and much more. The booklet accompanying the CD contains the words to the songs. "Freedom Now", a song she has dedicated to Nelson Mandela, really stands out as one of the CD's main focal songs. The CD ends with a slower melody, "All That You Have Is Your Soul", causing reflection on materialism, truth, and life. The second stanza reads: Don't be tempted by the shiny apple/Don't you eat of a bitter fruit/Hunger only for a taste of justice/Hunger only for a world of truth/'Cause all that you have is your soul. In this CD, Tracy Chapman delivers her songs with a piece of her soul in each song.