Customer Reviews

Down Here

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most people will recall Tracy from her MTV buzz clip for the track, "Mother Mother" off of her first full length album, "The Burdens of Being Up Right." But if you don't actually own one of her albums then you don't know what you are missing.

Tracy is a classically trained violinist who can craft beautiful pop songs like "Second Wind" or gritty little rock numbers like "Behind Every Good Woman" and "Meathook." This cd even shows improvement since the last. There seems to be more flow to this one.

One thing I've always liked about Ms. Bonham is that she can work her violin into the music. Make it a part of something. Other groups such as That Dog and The Rentals (incidentally it's the same violinist) tend to stick violin solos here and there.

This is an all around awesome album. I'd recommend it to both guys and girls. It's certainly not 'chick rock.'

And if for no other reason, pick it up because she is a really nice person!

Tracy Bonham blew me away when she released the amazing debut "Burdens of Being Upright", and I listened to the album continuously for months. When I feel like rocking, I take it out still. This album, after only 4 full listens, completely eclipses the debut. She's grown so much in terms of songwriting and melodies (and her violin is perfect), but her lyrics are still the beautiful poetry they were on 'Burdens'. This album is more like therapy than anything. My therapist thinks it's funny, because I refer to Tracy as my shrink during our sessions. Freed is a very self-aware and honest track, and the violin intro is beautiful. The single Behind Every Good Woman has got to infuse every woman out there with fresh energy and strength. Or maybe it's just me? No matter; the bottom line is, Tracy has made it clear that she's not a one-album wonder with this flawless disc.

I have a tendency to not like more than one album by an artist, but tracy bonham is as firy and passionate on this cd as she was on her first. her wit and sarcastic edge are not lost either. from the feminist feel-good song of the century "behind every good woman", which jars it's way through your brain as it is undoubtably catchy and interesting, to "jumping bean", a bouncy, exhilarating song of self-proclamation, to the pensive and meaningful "give us something", this album will take you places.

A lot of the either reviews here talk about Tracy Bonham's need for a better producer, stronger songs, more focus, etc. I agree. She has great potential but some of her lyrics are heavyhanded and/or commonplace. The music is well-crafted with a lot of variety in the hooks, but the hooks are not all that original. I think Tracy has a great voice and her violin gives some interesting color to the songs where it is heard. Let's hope that her next CD will show more development.

Tracy Bonham proves she has a softer side...for maybe two tracks. The rest is pure alternative rock with weird, edgy lyrics and a fine grasp of JUST how well violin fits in with rock. (Yellowcard needs to team up with her...)

Her voice is still infectious, you can't get around it's uniqueness. Her lyrics this time are a little more...purposeful. We are left with songs like Meat Hook though, where we feel just a bit confused. Jumping Bean seems like a sequel to Navy Bean (even mentioning it in the song!) and Behind Every Good Woman is an anthem to just about anyone.

Not that she *exactly* tours much anymore (but I anticipate she will with her new album dropping soon) but if you can see her live, do it. It's an experience that only barely surpasses just how amazing her discs are.

What can you say? Tracy is definitely a unique type of rocker. A classically trained violinist turned rock? It's possible and she does it BRILLIANTLY! She finds a way to sneak a little violin action into nearly every song on the album. Plus, the best thing about the album is the music if FRESH (and still FRESH almost 4 years later)! She constructs great chords, awesome and shifting melodies with plenty of key change twists and turns. This style of music, very unique to Bonham, will keep you guessing and keep you spinning the disc. Yeah, the lyrics may be a little light in substance, but the rockin' songs make up for every shortfall in lyrics.

My favorites on the disc are: Freed, Every Good Woman, Fake It, Down Here, Meathook, Thumbelina, well...pretty much every song is great!

Tracy, it's been 4 long years since this release!! When is your next one coming???

On Burdens of Being Upright, there was more pop flavor and more tasty hooks than on Down Here. BUT... Down Here still manages to be a better album. The instruments here play a greater role in expressing the feeling behind a song, so the album has a more visceral feel. Bonham is a fearless feminist, ranting about makeup and plastic surgery on "Fake It", and telling some unfortunate guy in no uncertain terms that the relationship is over on "Jumping Bean." But Bonham is much more than angry. She sings about her struggles with life in general on "Second Wind", and worries about wanting the right things on "You Cant Always Not Get What You Don't Want." One caveat: the album ends rather anticlimatically on two mellow tracks. On the other hand, former Soul Coughing bassist Sebastian Steinberg plays bass on most tracks. Steinberg is one of the best rock bassists of all time, and his contribution to Down Here makes the album even better than it would be.

Wit has its place in life, but I'm not completely sold that it works in music. The term "witty rocker" makes me cringe. I like the rhythms to be simple, dumb, and dirty and the lyrics to be passionate without being cloying. But here, it does work, because it's not just the lyrics that are intelligent, but also the creative instrumental arrangements, song structure, and melodic stylings that are catchy and refreshing. This album sounds like Liz Phair's "Whitechocolatespaceegg" crossed with Jon Spencer's Blues Explosion, with emotionally-relevant lyrics.

Several songs are standout depending on what you're looking for, but what makes this album worth your money is the versatility of the band and diversity of tunes, which successfully merge Bonham's classically-trained influences into an alt-rock format and yields a highly listenable, cohesive album.

Although I've enjoyed Tracy Bonham's hard driving rock ever since her indie-label days, I have to admit that my hopes weren't too high for this album after her hit-and-miss "The Burdens of Being Upright". What I expected was another album of two or three great tracks surrounded by a lot of feedback driven noise. Nonetheless, I expected those two or three great tracks to be worth it (as they were on the previous album), so I put my money down. Much to my surprise, "Down Here" absolutely blew me away.

While she knows how to rock out, her strength has always been when she marries the rock to strong melodies. The very first track of Down Here starts off with intelligent lyrics and wonderful melody... and a very smooth shift between the gentle ballad verses and a driven chorus with hard-edged guitar underneath. The second song, "Behind Every Good Woman (lies a trail of men)" is a feminist anthem with both a sense of humor and a sense of determination. Bonham and producer Mitchell Froom understand the power of quieting down and then ratcheting up the tension.

Bonham's voice has always been one of her strongest assets, but this albums really allows her to showcase her range. The way she croons the gentle and beautiful ballad "Second Wind" (which contains the album's title lyric), you would never expect that the same woman could belt out the dynamic and rough Every Good Woman. And, while bouncy numbers (insofar as any of her songs can be called "bouncy") like "Meathook" rip on the ear with startling originality, other songs like "You Don't Know Me" evoke the best memories of what the Beatle's had to offer.

Alternating between scathing and playful, the lyrics are always intelligent and worthy of the voice that sings them. The production values are excellent, and I'm pleased to report that Mitchell Froom enables Bonham to sound more like herself on this album; that is to say, he brings out the best in her, rather than trying to recast her in someone else's mold. (His efforts with some other artists, most notably Vonda Shephard and Sheryl Crow, have often felt more like he was trying to make them sound like Suzanne Vega, with whom he had first done his best work).

I highly recommend this album. As the year 2000 draws to a close, Down Here is still playing in hot rotation in my cd changer... and has been since the album came out in April.

Reading the reviews, I was skeptical that TB's new CD could eclipse her last effort or meet the high expectations set by the TB fanclub-like comments left by others. After one listen, this is easily the best CD I've purchased this year. I was expecting a softer introspective sophomore effort, but I was pleasantly surprised by TB's edgy, memorable songs. Definitely check this one out!