Customer Reviews

A Curious Thing

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I learned that Amy MacDonald was releasing her sophomore CD A Curious Thing this year, I was very eager to hear what she would have to offer. I thoroughly enjoyed her debut This Is The Life, and I wondered what direction her music would take. Listeners hoping for This Is The Life II will probably be disappointed as her sound has changed. This is apparent from the opener "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" as it is produced slickly compared to the more sparse style on This Is The Life. It is electric with energy from the first notes as it carries through the first chorus and yields to a brief stringed accompaniment. There is also the heavily Coldplay influenced piano theme that repeats at different parts of the song. All combined it creates a broad, sweeping sound that was nowhere to be found on This Is The Life. While it is quite different, it is also really cool. The opener sets the tone for the CD as a more mature sound - even on songs that on the surface are similar to This Is The Life lack the degree of feisty attitude. Take "This Pretty Face" for example. It has the same saloon sounding piano that "Barrowland Ballroom" had from her debut, and the theme seems to be more of regret than bravado. Listeners will also find more musical complexity on songs such as "I Got No Roots". It starts out sounding like a ballad lament for the first minute but then it builds over the next 40 seconds into a bouncy pop rocker. This song also contains the line that gives the CD its title "And this life I lead/it's a curious thing". The song that would sound the most at home on This Is The Life is the peppy "Love Love". It is the song that also seems to suffer the most of the repetitive lyrics so common on This Is The Life. A whopping nine lines in the song contain the title phase.

I've hinted at this some already, but I think that the more significant change on A Curious Thing is the perspective that MacDonald seems to have gained. I would expect that the experience of success and touring has matured her in ways beyond the roughly two and half years between recordings. On "Ordinary Life" I can't help but think of other artists (such as Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Counting Crows Adam Duritz) who have found fame to be more than they bargained for - "I don't care about the spotlights/I don't care about the nights/All I wanted was an ordinary life." Other songs show a depth in both lyrics and instrumentation. I can't help but get a strong sense of loss listening to "My Only One". The string arrangements that serve as the primary backdrop create a bittersweet sadness that really supports the lyrics. Similarly "Troubled Soul" seems to be an earnest message to someone she knows who is hurting.

The one low spot on the CD for me is the ill-advised inclusion of the hidden track - a live recording of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark". Covering The Boss is risky business, and for MacDonald it doesn't pay off.

Overall, though, A Curious Thing is a very strong effort from Amy MacDonald. I was quite pleased with both the maturation of instrumentation and lyrical content. Some may find the changes too much, and I would encourage anyone in doubt to take advantage of online options for listening to full songs before buying. However, if you are open to change, I think you will be pleased with A Curious Thing.

Download this: Don't Tell Me That It's Over

After her fresh and exciting folk-rock debut album portending a bright muscial future to come, this is a real disappointment. It feels like Jim Steinman (of Meatloaf fame) meets Joan Baez -- the album is far over-produced and the vocals are lost in a wall of sound. There are one or two memorable songs here, and the lyrics overall are simplistic; that would be OK if the songs were presented in a straightforward fashion, but the bombastic and overpowering music (with really annoying echo-effects throughout) underscores how trite many of the lyrics really are.

So, I suppose they'll make a lot of money, sell out a lot of stadiums, and maybe Amy 3 will be a little better.

After slowly then fully falling in love with the first album I was indeed slightly disappointed by their second endeavor. But as with the first after listening to many times Amys vocals become clearer and more defined and the music becomes less muddled and more sophisticated. I am again truly amazed by Amy and her band. Although I am 55 years old I cannot believe this group has not become even more popular than they are, especially in the USA. I truly believe that their talent can easily take them into the realms of the best of the best of Rock and Roll! I haven't loved any group as much since the days of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Yes, Stones and on and on and on..

I got the 2 CD set. The new album, CD 1, "The curious Thing" is very good as good as her first album if not better!
The second CD is awful; "Live at the Barrowland Ballroom" she is off key, slow. If I had heard this stuff from her first I would had never come back to listen again.
Stay with the originals and you will love her.

Several years ago I saw Ms. MacDonald on the BBC's Graham Norton Show. I fell in love with her voice, and I've been following her career since. I don't know if I like her sophomore effort quite as well as her debut, but I've been listening to 'Curious Thing' for a couple of weeks now, and the music has not palled. I would recommend her highly.

This is currently the best selling album in Europe for the last two weeks. As promised a little bit of everything. A little more edgy than the debut album "This Is the Life", but absolutely delightful throughout. There are many highlights but "Troubled Soul" and "Your Time Will Come" are sublime with a lilting Celtic influence. There's only one think better than listening to this album and that's listening to Amy live. Catch her rendition of "Spark" for a special live recording that's available on YouTube, she is an incredible talent.

I couldn't imagine a follow up CD could be just as good or better than "This Is the Life", but "A Curious Thing" is so fantastic. Her debut was great, but I don't know, this may be better. I can't stop listening to it. The sound is basically the same and the lyrics are sincere and shows just how good of a songwriter Amy is. The band deserves a round of applause. The piano player is awesome--especially tracks like "Pretty Face" and "Don't Tell Me That It's Over." It's so wonderfule listening to an album that doesn't sound like everything else on the airwaves. She's unique and has her own sound. She is herself. That's why we all buy her music. There is not one bad song on this CD. If you can get your hands on the Switzerland or Finland import, it is well worth the price for the bonus track "Young Lovers." Only Amy MacDonald would give us bonus tracks and B sides that could be the next single. Did I mention this lady is brilliant?!!

I was really looking forward to the new CD of Amy Macdonald, after the superb "This is the life".
"This is the life" was a fantastic folk/rock CD and the voice of Amy was awesome.

After the first seconds of listening of "A curious thing", I was wondering where was the Amy I knew from his first CD.
Her great folk/rock style has turned to pop/rock (more pop than rock by the way), and above all her voice is now lost in this pop/rock soup. The result is that the emotion I am feeling each time I am listening to her first CD is not present anymore on this CD.

I am feeling so disapointed.

Sure the album is nevertheless enjoyable if you do not compare with "This is the life". But frankly Amy has lost her soul to the profit of a producer that seems more interested in selling Amy's records to as many people as possible than continuing with her original folk/rock spark (sure this new style is even more sellable than the old one).

I really hope that we will find back the original Amy in her next album.

(Sorry for my english, this is not my mother tongue)

Sophomore efforts are often the most difficult recordings any artist will ever put out. Particularly if your debut was a stellar success. Such is the case with the second CD from Amy Macdonald. A Curious Thing is not a bad recording. But if this were in fact her debut, few people would have paid too much attention. Not because it is flawed or otherwise unpleasant. Quite the opposite, it's too listenable. The production is clean and tidy, and sounds pretty much like other pop diva arrangements you'll hear on any given radio. The lyrics sing of 20 something angst, with overly simplistic rhyming laced throughout the 12 tunes. Well, 13 if you could the hidden "Dancing in the Dark" live track.

If A Curious Thing were on in the background, you'd probably tap your feet at points, and think the sound was pleasant enough. But there isn't anything here to pull you in, to make you want to stop and listen. No real stories here, no real emotions, and no new ideas musically or lyrically, either in content or presentation. It's not a curious thing, it's just how it goes when a person tries to follow up an effort that was very close to perfection.

Luckily for us, Amy is a young artist with what I hope will be many more releases for us to enjoy. I for one, look forward to her third effort.

Amy MacDonald's debut "This is the life" was filled with Folk/Rock tales of Poison princes and Footballer's wives and sold 3 million copies worldwide.

"A curious thing" takes off where that effort left off and while nothing is ground breaking (even the cover art is similar to her debut's), the songs are catchy with deeply observational lyrics and that voice that reminds one of The Cranberries' Dolores O'Riordan. Recorded at Paul Weller's home studio, he features on some songs.

Opening is the sunny Cranberries-style Rocker "Don't tell me that it's over" followed by the pulsing "Spark" (written for murdered toddler Jamie Bulger).

Some of the lyrics take a look at celebrity culture; "I got no roots" (which starts off as a ballad before picking up speed) has her singing "This life I lead, it's a curious thing, but I can't deny the happiness it brings", the bouncy "Next Big Thing" takes a look at reality TV wannabes and "This Pretty Face" has the lyrics "I don't care who does her hair / Or what clothes she wears."

Other standouts are the acoustic "My only one", the melancholic ballad "Your time will come", the piano ballad "What happiness means to me" (with a euphoric piano/string Coldplay-style coda), and the hidden acoustic cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the dark".