Customer Reviews

Essex

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

 

 

Clearly, Alison Moyet has never found laurels to be a comfortable resting place. Rather than xerox the formula that yielded the critically acclaimed "Hoodoo" - with its Grammy-nominated `It Won't Be Long' - Moyet moved on to a sound that was infinitely more British. Tedious arguments with a label that tried to force her into a latter-day Streisand niche ensued, resulted in the re-recoding of this album.

Having washed her hands of calculated commercialism (to Sony's dismay), Moyet stuck firmly to her artistic guns. There would be no boyband fodder or over-wrought Celine Dionesque balladry. Some gritty guitar-based arrangements on "And I Know," "Ode To Boy," "Another Living Day" and "Boys Own" toughened up her trademark melodic pop sensibilities. Elsewhere, touches of sexy funk warmed "Getting Into Something", playful rhythms drove the hugely catchy "So Am I" and swooning strings added drama to a beautiful and poetic "Satellite." Lyrically, Alison was on top form, shredding a treacherous ex in "And I Know" before working her way towards "Boys Own,"a smart j'accuse in the direction of a sexist, image-fixated music industry. But it wasn't all twisted bitterness. Alison Moyet has a wicked sense of humour and while "So Am I" might upbraid a spineless lover, it does so with a wicked cackle ready to erupt. Overhauling Jules Shear's "Whispering Your Name," Alison enters fun central (and the UK top 20) with panache and a hint of levity. Then you have "Dorothy," a gorgeous acoustic eulogy for a beloved grandmother that neatly sidesteps the mawkishness typical of such songs by lesser artists.

Alison Moyet is not an artist for luddites or the impatient. She doesn't repeat herself and she doesn't pander to the imperious whims of labels or style snobs. Over the course of only five albums to date, she has produced a canon of work with remarkable scope. "Essex" marks a very definite point in her artistic trajectory. That it would take eight years for the next album - the glorious "Hometime" - to see the light of day is, on the one hand, a damning indictment of the music industry but, on the other, a statement of the clear-minded determination of an important artist.

This CD is excellent. First off, you have the Jules Shear song WHISPERING YOUR NAME, great tune, great voice. I do agree that ODE TO BOY is out of place here, let it stay in the 80's where it belongs. The rest of this CD of original Alison material is all great, each song seems to build on the last, the material is all top rate written, sung and produced, not one bad song on this CD. FALLING, DOROTHY, GETTING INTO SOMETHING, ETC... You can't go wrong with this Alison CD, please ignore poor reviews, this CD is a gem.

I will never understand why this CD was not a blockbuster. In mi opinion
Essex was the perfect Pop record. ALL the songs are excellent. On the song "Getting into something" Moyet performs it with a unique sensuality I had never heard in any other singer. What can I say? The production is top notch and Alison is an extremely gifted singer. Get this CD before it gets out of print again. It's truly a gem. Finally, I recommend all her releases. Alf, Raindancing, Hoodoo, Singles, Hometime & Voice (Raindancing was not great but was a pretty good effort produced by famous producer Jimmy Iovine). Enjoy the tremendous vocal talents of Alison Moyet. Can not wait for her next CD. Go Alison!

Praise Buddha it was this AM album that came to me by happenstance instead of anything recent. Today I cherry picked the Cyndi Lauper catalog and ate little of it, favoring the best of her passion instead of the pop,

opposite with what I'm finding with AM: Essex arrangements were spectacular electronic rock competing with her voice.
The newer her cuts, the more I have to strain to hear any backing composition, and AM sings less challengingly, however skillfully, for it.

Both Lauper and Moyet sandbagged themselves by thinking their work would be better with a firm auteur hand.
It wasn't until Madonna surrendered her mix to the Orb w/ Ray of Light that she transcended the thin brittle trash she produced before & after with rare exception.

Why masterful divas like CL & AM don't get it that vocal trance is the metier their own work brought about and is the rightful province for their enduring talents is a mystery to me when commercial hacks like Madonna & Cher demonstrate the genre lastingly reinvigorates a songbird's career.

Moyet only puts herself in the Streisand prison of moldy standards from what I hear on her new albums. Buy this one entire instead.

"Dorothy" is my favorite track from this LP. Now that I think about it, every damned song on this album is a masterpiece. The production is slightly less edgier than "Hoodoo" and it works so well. Moyet's voice is top-notch, as usual.

I saw Alison perform many of these songs at Bogart's in Cincinnati Ohio. I met her after the show, after waiting about an hour at the back of the facility like a stalker! She kissed me, on the cheek, and we talked. Well, I talked, mostly about how great she was! She also held my hand during "Love Resurrection" during the show and sang "Rise" for me! I was in heaven. This LP holds a special place in my heart.

Aside from that, this is pure pop, and it sure is fine.

Before we were treated to the remarkable 2002 comeback album 'Hometime', things went very wrong in the Moyet camp. Disputes with record company Sony had seen her record, then re-record this album, after they were unhappy with the way it sounded.

Exasperating, surely, and.... it shows.

Hard to pinpoint the main problem here. The wishy washy jangly production (by Lightning Seed Ian Broudie) drags the whole collection down, and seems at odds with Alison's fantastic voice from start to finish.

There's a strange, totally unnecessary re-take on the fantastic Yazoo track 'Ode to Boy, and the rocky new version wipes the brooding, menacing claustrophobia from the song. Horrible.

There are several highpoints. The lilting, folky Dorothy is a breath of fresh air and was surprisingly overlooked as a single, the first single, the trippy, psychedelic 'Falling' is just fabulous, and the bass-heavy soulful Getting into something is Ms Moyet getting very horny indeed. We like it.

Highlight is the glorious 'Satellite', a perfect slab of power pop that so should have been the first single - soaring chorus, beautiful melody and superb lyrics. Stands head and shoulders above the rest of this record.

Even a reunion with ex-Yazoo cohort Vince Clarke on the flimsy 'Whispering your name' doesn't come off. It all sounds a bit lukewarmm and half hearted. Thank the lord Alison discovered Bristol and the joys of the city's music..... Essex is a die hard fans-only purchase, for the completists among you. The following album, 8 years later, Hometime.... now that's where the lady found a pair of shoes that REALLY fit. A simply must-have in any collection.

Essex? Hmmmmm.... great sleeve artwork, though.