Everybody's Got a Story

Amanda Marshall | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 11, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B000065V1X
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #190,028 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Toronto is hardly a hotbed of soul, blue-eyed or otherwise. But geographic roots inform little of Amanda Marshall's third album. As the title suggests, her lively songs play out against a more personal landscape of first- and third-person perspectives and narratives. While Marshall's husky, expressive voice sometimes lapses into contemporary R&B shadings, it's often a shrewd vehicle to deliver genre-blending songs whose viewpoints and rich, telling details are anything but mundane.

Part confessional, part personal challenge, the album's songs are largely rooted in autobiography. "Double Agent" explores Marshall's bicultural roots (Canadian-Trinidadian). "Colleen (I Saw Him First)" offers up a romantic rivalry steeped in tragedy. "The Voice Inside" acknowledges the foibles of ambitions of all stripes. Marshall's songwriting collaborator-producers--Peter Asher (the onetime Beatles associate who's midwifed careers from James Taylor's to 10,000 Maniacs'), Billy Mann (Diana King, Art Garfunkel), and NYC DJ Molecules--wrap her voice in an intoxicating cocktail of orchestral flourishes, hip-hop beats, crunchy samples, and crystalline acoustic guitar that inform, tease, and cajole Marshall's spunky groove musings and solid pop instincts ("Dizzy," "Crystal Ball," "Gypsy," the title track) to new heights. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

Third album from Canadian singer songwriter that isn't your usual folkie type and whose songs have certain twists to them along with a great sense of humour. Produced by Peter Asher (Peter & Gordon, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a stellar effort...., December 11, 2004

By 

Node Rogue (Decatur, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everybody's Got a Story (Audio CD)

I have decent respect for Amanda Marshall, and when her first album came out, it was not bad as far as pop albums go. Granted, it was only a pop album, and it was not stellar, but from that album I decided to investigate her music further as she put out more albums. Thus, I decided to grab up this latest attempt of hers to make pop music.

Well... it's pop music, that's for sure. It has a very weird mix of strings, hip-hop, and beats that I can't say that I dig on very much, myself. The combination of all of these elements seems rather awkward. Further investigation only seems to work against this album.

This album seems to have contorted Amanda Marshall's vocal career toward the current trend of pop sound. Her elegant voice on this album sounds much more manufactured, shallow, pale, machined, and extremely short in range. These are the kinds of qualities I expect in the pop singers like the current Britany Spears and Christina Aguilera as far as how they "reinvent" their sound. Amanda Marshall's vocal sound, in my opinion, takes a step backward because of this mixing/masking catastrophe.

Finally, one of the saddest things I find about this album are the lyrics. They aren't intelligent, snappy, or even strike me as anything other than juvenile/adolescent at best.

This album is not a very strong effort for this artist. Some rather odd/off-sounding elements coupled with an awfully invented mechanical sound that waters down her vocal potential with some equally weak lyrics does not make for a striking effort. It is different, but not all different is good, and I believe a listener would find more enjoyment from either her self-titled album or "Tuesday's Child" if you haven't been completely turned off with her from listening to this album.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to like it..., July 20, 2002

By 

Daniel Rowen (Brooklyn, NY, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everybody's Got a Story (Audio CD)

When I saw that she had a new album out, I was so excited. I bought Tuesday's Child blindly on the strength of her first album...and never regretted buying before listening. Amanda Marshall is one of those artists who's so good I'd buy anything by her. I'm still amazed she hasn't become more famous here in the states.

So when I saw her album at Best Buy, I bought it in a second. Sadly after listening to it a few times, hoping it would grow on me, it hasn't yet. I praise Amanda for being able to re-invent herself, but I'm not sure I like the new Amanda Marshall. She's falling into a genre I've never been a big fan of. Though, from the mixed reviews on this site, I guess some people can appareciate it. But from this Amanda fan: it's not for me.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Amanda's 'Story', September 8, 2002

By 

K. Stuckey "kateling" (Port Huron, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Everybody's Got a Story (Audio CD)

Living close to the Canadian border I occasionally pick up their radio stations, which is how I first got hooked on Amanda Marshall's music a few years ago. I was so excited to get this CD and have not been disappointed! It's cool to see an artist who is so versatile and does her thing damn the consequences!

The CD runs the gamut of emotion from the romantic "Marry Me" to the borderline trite "Sunday Morning After" (which in my opinion should have never been a single to the radio). There is some great string work in "The Gypsy" and "Everybody's Got a Story"; and a really funky-bluesy trumpet intro on "Brand New Beau". Amanda is not afraid to experiment with funky beats, spoken word and (maybe a smidge too much) synth work. My favorite songs are the title track and "Double Agent". Another awesome 'story' song is "Colleen (I Saw Him First)" - the tale of Amanda's fairweather friend.

I have been listening to this CD a lot the past year or so and am not even close to tired of it yet! Buy this CD - Amanda is an amazing artist, I'm shocked and disappointed she's not more popular in the states.