Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt

Lily Holbrook | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 27, 2011)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: BACK PORCH
• ASIN: B0007GAE6C
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,244 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt by Lily Holbrook

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scatter me like ashes, May 1, 2005

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt (Audio CD)

Boston chanteuse Lily Holbrook got her start as a busker -- meaning she started off singing in subway stations and the like, before landing a record deal. Now there's "Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt," her second album, and the first for this label, a remarkably diverse kind of electrofolkpop.

But ignore the the Americana-folk labels that are attached to the Back Porch Records label. This music not that simple, and Holbrook's style is one of those rare ones that defies any obvious labels. Instead, Holbrook sounds like an ethereal fusion of Bjork's offbeatness and Tori Amos' songwriting and vocals. "So you can/strike me with your matches/scatter me like ashes..."

The opening track, the stately and ominous "Welcome To the Slaughterhouse," is like no folkpop you've ever heard before. From there on, Holbrook doesn't stray too far from the ethereal folk sound, with acoustic guitar and some fiddling as the heart of her music.

But she does stray a little bit: quirky distortion pop, ethereal acoustic folk songs, string ballads, and murky light rock'n'roll. There's even some distortion, fuzzy bass, whistles and electronic swooshes here and there, to give some extra flavour to the music. As a result, it sounds a lot like Amos or Kate Bush by way of Bjork.

A quick scan over the song titles shows just how unusual this album is -- one of the songs is an Ozzy Osbourne cover. Not typical folk fare. She even dips into catchy pop in "When In Rome," a sly dig at people who "trying to convince her to be the next Britney Spears." Good thing she didn't listen to them. It's the one foray into pop-as-we-know-it, and Holbrook wisely keeps her tongue in cheek.

It's also one of the few humorous moments -- most of the time, Holbrook is melancholy. "Now I don't know why/she keeps building walls/that leave him outside/she can't find the reason/she's passing through seasons..." she sings sadly in her fragile-sounding voice. I'm not sure if these bittersweet songs are written from her own life, but Holbrook sings them with a lot of passion.

Despite the odd happy song, Lily Holbrook's sophomore album "Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt" is a bittersweet, intense folk-pop album with a dash of electronic quirk. A wonderful listen, and an artist to watch.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL VOICE, COOL MUSIC AND INSIGHTFUL LYRICS, March 3, 2005

By 

Sam Peteff - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt (Audio CD)

Lily has a really amazing and beautiful voice. Nothing

like most of the pathetic stuff they play on the radio.

This is real music. There are a number of songs about

social issues ... Bleed (plastic surgery), Make Them

Wonder (objectification of women), etc. The song

Cowboys & Indians is probably the most beautiful track

while the song Make Them Wonder sounds like the best

song Massive Attack never did. She also covers the Ozzy

Osbourne track Mama, I'm Coming Home and it is

flawless. She totally makes this song her own. Better

Left Unsaid took a few spins to grow on me, but it is

now one of my favorites. The song When In Rome reminds

me of Pat Benatar's song Hit Me With Your Best

Shot. It doesn't really sound like that song, but

something about it (maybe the chorus) brings that song

to mind. Lily gets a lot of comparisons to Tori

Amos and I can see where that comes from, but she

really has a unique sound of her own. This CD is really

worth the money and her first one Running From The Sky

is equally impressive.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lily Holbrook is truly Amazing, February 24, 2006

By 

Joe Sheeran "mooch fan" (Ellensburg, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt (Audio CD)

Lily has a amazingly beautiful voice . All the tracks on Everything was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt have thoughtful lyrics and haunting melodies. My favorite is the spunky "When in Rome". I recommend that you Run, do not walk, to your nearest store and get this alblum. It will brighten up your day, lighten your heart, and mezmerize your soul. Its just brilliant.