Customer Reviews

Everybody Knows

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was keen to listen to this debut album by Sharon Robinson as I love her work with Leonard Cohen. This is a lovely album, musically seductive and with decent lyrics that are both personal and meaningful. To add to all this she has a beautiful dreamy smoky voice ideal for late night listening but hypnotic any time of day! Even if you are not a Cohen fan please listen to this and if you are you'll know what I'm talking about anyway!

I fell in love with Sharon Robinson's voice at a 2009 Leonard Cohen concert. Found this CD, on which Leonard Cohen collaborates, and I am very happy that this CD is now in my collection. Sharon's voice is in total control, she does not have to screech high notes to emote (think Mariah Carey ouchies) - if you like smooth sophistication, buy this CD. I hope Ms. Robinson makes another CD soon.

Robinson is Sade, Oleta, Russell - all rolled into one, and still more...In a market cluttered with mediocrity, she's a gem.

... yet hardly consciously perceives, has been catching my soul, first stalking through my ears, taking control over my mind, at the first lines just thinking "oh, somewhat like Sade", then falling asleep again, getting more and more drawn into this furnace, Sharon is asking me to venture ... after 42 minutes pressing repeat on the remote, already addicted to this thick lava-like performance, consisting of ten not all new songs by an amazing artist ... the lyrics just outstanding, like a really good wine, they catch me sort of from behind ... three songs are collaborations between Grammy-decorated Sharon Robinson and poetry-legend Leonard Cohen, two of them already published on Cohen CDs, "Everybody Knows" on "I'm your Man" and "Alexandra Leaving" on "Ten New Songs".

It's hard for me to find something like a favourite song on this album, because they're all definitely exquisite songwriting in combination with a voice - at least in my ears - revealing more depth and nuances than Sades does ... so I declare it from Heidelberg: There ain't no cure for this album ... all summer long she touched me with this soft yet powerful voice ... and again I find my self pressing repeat on my remote ... I want those peaches on the table, and Sharon Robinson in my ears ...

I've loved Sharon Robinson's contributions to Leonard Cohen's music since LC's Ten New Songs almost a decade ago. In fact, I consider this disk a perfect companion that that earlier collaboration. To my ear, Ms. Robinson and Jennifer Warnes are the quintessential interpreters of Mr. Cohen's music.

In this consistently fine CD, Ms. Robinson operates in the same domain as LC: Her low-key music delivers an emotional and intellectual punch. My personal favorites include Invisible Tattoo, This Train and especially Party for the Lonely, which stays in your head long after listening. She also delivers fine versions of several songs co-written by Mr. Cohen.

If you love late-night, sexy adult music, you will love this and, like me, will replay this disk often. Much recommended.

i bought this album after i saw her whit Leonard Cohen here in Denmark july the 6. Thought she was at least as good, Tha master, him self. She has done a lot of very nice things in music, but this is her first solo album. And it just keeps getting better and better, every time i hear it. Especialy track 3 & 7.

Well I based this purchase on Leonard Cohen's music in the sense that Sharon is his backing vocalist and collaborist. The song depth and vocal dexterity that I found in Cohen's music is something that I was interested in finding here.

While I must say that I expected more from the vocals, the song selection and themes is fantastic. The songs are produced and built very tastefully, and their is a real depth to the lyrics that one would expect - even demand - from this artist. The stand out for me that clarifies my thoughts pertatining to production and layering and good old fashioned song building is 'party for the lonely.' Sharon really takes a theme and puts it in vocal imagery here that captures the feel of the album in four bars of music and song.

It was said in other reviews that this is a 'pop' album, but I would not categorise it as such (if I ever HAD to categorise music). This is almost jazz in parts, almost rock in others, but above all, it has a very 'chilled' element to it in my opinion (I'm sure those who would call it a 'pop' album hear elements of pop, and so on...)

Which leads me to my feelings about the singing. Sharon is a phenominal singer, but if you want to hear her really sing, check out Leonard Cohen's 'live in london' offering. Some of the pieces on this album are almost spoken, whispered, or 'hummed' as opposed to belted out with passion and ownership. Take for instance Sharon's rendition of 'everybody knows'. I wonder whether or not the producer caught Sharon singing this little ditty to herself while sitting in a doctor's surgery waiting room and just thought to put it on the album without any further mixing or engineering. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's not the same heartfelt vocalisation that is evident in her backing efforts with Cohen.

That being said, this is a fine album; just not what I expected. I'm glad I own it, and it will certainly be listened to at length, but it sits in a different place in my CD collection to the one that I had prepared for it!

Live In London

A more dynamic offering of Robinson's capability!

Sharon Robinson, in her own right, is an excellent singer and she writes gorgeous lyrics. But I didn't like the single voice as much as I did on Cohen's Live in London CD with Sharon Robinson There she is astounding! She stands out in her tune Boggie Street and she shared in writing 2 others. I was hopeful it would be a wonderful cd but was somewhat disappointed. This woman, however, is a strong talent and has an outstanding aura. I'd love to see her in strictly blues mode.

This is one of the nicest albums that I have purchased in years and I buy quite a few!

I didn't know her until I saw her with Leonard Cohen in Sydney in January 2009 where she was sensational.

I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes beautiful soothing soulful music. Just the thing to relax to a close friend.

An absolutely lovely album.

I really cared for approximately 4-5 titles from this CD, unfortunately generally par for the course with my experience with almost all CDs I have purchased. That being said, Mr. Robinson is very talented and artistic. The recording quality of this CD excellent. This entire CD was a labor of love by Ms. Robinson. The technical quality is simply "to die for." As a total CD for me, it became somewhat repetitive / tedious. Individual tracts are wonderful.