Customer Reviews

Educated Guess

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'm baffled by the negative reviews posted by a few people...This is an awesome album. Frequently, I'll listen to a new album and start thinking about which songs are hits and which are misses, and there will always be some songs that you have to hear a few times before you come around...but this album is that rare experience where the first song blows you away, and every song tops the one before it. From those first few plinks on the guitar on "Swim", to the lyrical genious of "Educated Guess", and the rough and tumble opening of "Origami", this is the true Ani DiFranco. Maybe some of spoken word poetry won't suit everybody's style, but it's hardly enough to knock the album down to a 1 or 2 star rating. It just goes to show that if you go into an album with expectations, you're bound to be disappointed. But I've learned that with Ani, if you just take what she gives you, you'll experience things that few other musicians are capable of. Great Album.

I feel so confused that so many Ani fans gave this album such an unflattering review. I guess people don't take kindly to thier favorite feminist icon using an album to expose her soft underbelly and show that even a "righteous babe" can have heartache.

This album is a return to everything pure that might have been lost in some previous albums. Though I gave a good review to "Evolve" as well, it often lacks the subtly, grace and raw honestly that is ever present in "Educated Guess". She is on her own on this one, in a very literal sense. This album was recorded, played, produced and mixed all by DiFranco for the first time ever. Not since 1994's "Out of Range" & "Puddle Dive" has our little folk singer gone into the studio with nothing but her guitar to play, her soul to bare and plain old moxie. This is not a big band album. There are no tricks, aside from her singing her own back-up. There are even a hand full of poems thrown in that bring us back to the days of her self-titled release and "Not So Soft". And not since 1998's "Dilate" have we been so privledged to feel so touched by and so related to her pain.

The album is not entirely depressing. "Bliss Like This" is a bubbly and misleadingly upbeat number that gives a listener a mixture of longing for a happier past and hope for a happier future. "Grand Canyon" is an inspiring patriotic poem that reminds us that it is the citizens that form a country, not solely it's politicians.

To simply write off this entire recording because DiFranco isn't reaching through the speakers and grabbing the American male by thier collective junk is simply ignorant and insensitive to the mood and timing of this release. We can't all be aggressive and bold at all times. The prococious modern woman is not anymore immune to heartache, remorse or deflation than she was 50 years ago. This album, though painfully reminiscent at times, is moreso a reminder of how even the mighty may fall- but the truly strong can learn to stand again everytime.

Wonderfully written, with precise, often simple melodies wherein every note and nuace seems completely intentional and delicately handled. I would not go as far as to say that this album is my favorite of hers, but it is definately close to the top of the list.

Ani did this album completely alone. The fact that they're recorded on an 8 track brings a new hollow & haunting element to these songs. It doesn't sound like anything she's done before. The general mood of this album is sorrow, dread, & solitude. You can tell Ani was going through something terrible in her personal life (divorce) & the lyrics are definitely darker than they've ever been, she says on the devastating "Bodily"..."Emptiness has it's solace in that there's nothing left to take."...or on "You Each Time" which features terrifying imagery such as:

"so my heart finally broke
it was so long bent
and it broke in three places
when it finally went
it wanted only to say what it meant
so it suffered every punishment
now it lives in a shack outside of town
and only the wolves are out there listening
and in her dreams they chase her down
their moonlit eyes are glistening
and it is you each time
it is you."

This is a very dark chapter in Ani's collection, but it's definitely worth it. There's a raw power to "Educated Guess" that's comforting to me in moments of weakness & fraility in my own life.

this album is a perfect example of what makes ani such a consistently relevant artist: it's yet another leap forward musically, lyrically, emotionally. she does not repeat herself, she has made a habit of pushing her work forward, often much faster than her audience can handle.

Educated Guess has some of the trademark ani elements present in it: inventive guitar, excellent song structure, and lyrics that are strong as well as sad. it is the first album that she has made in about ten years that finds her entirely alone in the studio, tho recent albums have featured a handful of solo tracks. you can hear her singing to herself (literally and figuratively), trying to fill the space left by her beloved bandmates and friends. but she is quiet, and her singing is sometimes more "arranged" and "conducted" than it has been previously. there are several spoken word tracks, and on them she is just as brazenly political as we fans would have her be. i can't remember the last time (and maybe there never was a time) that she used the word "feminist" in a song, but in the vast and triumphant Grand Canyon, that's exactly what she does. she has come clean and recorded the word that underlines so much of her life and work, which is perhaps a significant revolution for the revolutionary herself.

the opening poem sets the record up: "life knocked me off my platforms," she admits, and then proceeds to play and sing alone for thirteen more tracks. her sorrow is evident and it has taken a long time to come to fruition, but while her heart may simply be a muscle that is now sore, she is no less passionate or committed to life / art.

on Educated Guess, her music, like her ideals, remains dynamic and essential.

this record is stunning. listen hard.

I came across Ani Difranco's music through covers by guitar slinging folk girls, woman who were quite good at what they did and honored their influences. Then I listened to Knuckle Down, just last year. I was like, oh, so this is Ani Difranco. An all-powerful Amazon warrior, not just some sniveling girl (to quote the girl herself, all irony intended). With needs. And, I think, that is what Educated Guess is about: needs, needs not met, needs that expose us, and, finally, make or break us.

If you're a fan of Difranco, you should appreciate this disc. It plays like a workshop, working through themes and ideas in her Ani accents, the language, the music, etc. Educated Guess shows the artist at work on some heavy emotional stuff, personal themes that are still open-ended enough to let the listener in. I think the disc and Knuckle Down are A and B sides of a whole emotional/creative gestalt. What she voices in Educated Guess is presented much more stylistcally in Knuckle Down, the more accomplished release only because she band jams and has polished the material with a bit of emotional distance.

Educated Guess is about working through, feeling your way as an artist. Origami articulates succinctly what went down in this girl's heart. A powerful, accomplished woman will surely find it difficult to be with someone. That other person has to complete you in some way, and, well, we know that story. Animal is a sweet swipe at our fatted-calf way of life. Really, you hear the Difranco politics stated clearly, quietly, beautifully. And You Each Time ends with Ani's voice looping back through like a delicate heartbeat that goes on after the music and all else dies.

If there's one thing you take from this release it's Ani's voice, looping in and out in all variety of echos and choruses. She sings to herself and questions herself and answers herself. Her voice is worked through effects in that whacked way she uses perfectly in Knuckle Down. It's all here, the creative tools and stuff that she uses in Knuckle Down, her mature masterpiece.

She is certainly working, experimenting here, pushing herself as an artist to not avert her glance. She's hard on the other in her lyrics, yeah, but hard on herself because, you know, when it just doesn't work out, what do you have then. Very internal, this stuff, dark and at times smothering. Discovering that you can be, and actually are, happy either way, after it all goes down, the love love thing, is problematic to most anyone. The effects of love and loss and life.

Taken together Educated Guess and Knuckle down show an artist in spiritual and emotional crisis and share a sort of creative catharsis. This is definitely mature work. Educated Guess the workshop, Knuckle Down the showpiece. But any Ani Difranco fan should appreciate Educated Guess. I guess it might depend on why you listen to her. She's a smart lyricist and a sly guitarist, doing very cool, jazzy runs and picks. Don't expect the world conqueror here. This is about the human Ani in defeat, emotional wounds exposed, keeping company with herself, working through in a groovy way. Accompanied by her guitar and that ever looping voice in chorus, high and low and scatting and squeaking, singing, telling stories, calling herself out as she shape shifts into something new.

Ani's latest is timidly beautiful. The lyrics are ingenious as usual, but the instrumentation speaks of a shift. Her last album was called Evolve, and I think it is the duty of Ani's fanbase to do just that. The mood is perhaps more subdued and less fiery than in other releases, but in tracks like "Animal" and "Grand Canyon" classic Ani principles are present.
Ani has always been a fearlessly introspective writer, and these songs are no exception. The emotions dominating her pesonal life cannot help but pervade her art, anything less would be disappointing. As always the hooks are insanely catching, and given the chance will dominate your stereo. Speaking of domination, the quiet demeanor of this record deserves several listenings. This is a collection of subtleties and after thoughts, evanscent passions and violent whims. Do yourself the courtesy of allowing its unabrasive nature to be revealed. Listen not only for the maturation of a working artist, but for the kind of unabashed candor that would do us all some good. Don't warn the masses against the CD without devoting the time to make a temperant judgement. "Swim" "Origami" and "Bubble" are highly recommended. Those who have been begging for more spoken word have been heard. Invest some thought, and make an educated guess.

When I first listened to this album, I saw it as a challange from Ani. To me, she was checking in with her fans, and seeing how many of us will still adore her when she is stripped down naked, raw from her recent breakup, minus the horns and "glitz", if you will, of her last few albums; in short, back to the basic incredible songwriting and always original guitar that got us hooked in the first place. She also added a new element of frequent back-up vocals, all harmonies not heard or sung by any beginner, and all done by herself. This album is Ani, straight up. And I realised as well that I had gotten a little soft. At first, I felt that maybe these songs were missing something. They were somewhat abrasive, very minor, very raw. But after conciously feeling aware of Ani's challange I diligently listened to the album through 4-5 times consecutively, and I saw the light, in a big way. This is an album for Ani fans who are willing to accept levels of growth not seen from many artists. In Educated Guess, she has put her "self" out there in a way I have never seen her do before. I am left with an ache from this disk. Similar to the "acheing in your chest" she speaks of in "You Each Time", I imagine. Ani has done her best work here, I think, because she has allowed us to feel where she is at. She is at a new level, and I BEG of you Ani fans: Give this disk a second listen, and a third, and a fourth...and you will find yourself with a whole new admiration for the Goddess of folk-rock. This album won't leave my CD player until I feel I have soaked up enough of that "it" that is indescribably Ani - which Educated Guess is oozing with.
And although I am more amazed by it with every album, she never ceases to bring me to my knees.

I purchased this album based on all of the references to Ani returning to her accoustic guitar roots.

What all of those reviews really don't tell you is that Ani is seriously hurting (apparently over her divorce) and that the album reflects this significant pain.

Most of the tracks are dischordant. Calling them dissonant would be too kind. This album is clearly trying to represent emotional distress and it does a good job of that.

It's just really hard to listen to. At first it sounds like it's out of key but then as you pay more attention you can hear that the arrangement is purposefully at the edge and clearly invokes a vision of what you might find in nightmare (or how you'd feel after a particularly bad breakup).

I give Ani a lot of credit for putting this album out and I'll buy the next one too. Had I known what I was in for I wouldn't have purchased this one though. I'm just not enough of a Ani die-hard fan to be able to enjoy this album.

If you think you are up to the challenge go for it. At least you won't be surprized (like I was) when you get into it.

If anyone knows Ani DiFranco they know that she is an extremely talented woman. If you own any of her CDs, or all of them as I do, you know that each one is different. Ani's music isn't about staying the same throughout the years, she strives to learn and grow thoughout each album. This album takes some time to get used to, as do all of the rest of them. To be a fan of Ani DiFranco you need to have an open mind and grow along with her. If you're not that flexible you wont like this CD because as I said earlier it does take a little getting used to. Personally, I bought it the first day it came out and I didn't particularly have any opinion one way or another, but after listening to it the first time I thought I would give it another go and let it loop around. Other than a few given days, its been looping around in my cd player ever since.

In one far too simplistic word, this album is "different" than those of the past, for so many ways. If you are expecting this new solo album to be a return to the days of Like I Said or Out of Range or any of the 90s solo stuff, it certainly isn't. What it IS though is another step up the evolutionary ladder. It is a natural progression coming off of Evolve; heavy jazz influence (which explains the large stacked chords and often dissonant harmony), as well as other elements of funk and folk that make her music so unique. Though "different," there are things very much the same about this album, and that is the beautiful musicianship, the raw emotion, amazing lyrics and poetry, and an even deeper, more intense feeling that she truly poured all her life-blood into this album. It is there- and it is evident in so many ways if you really listen to it and have an understanding of the process; where she came from that has made her be where she now is. Abstract, I know- but it's the evolution of an artist- how could it be anything but abstract?