Fontanelle

Babes In Toyland | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: August 11, 1992
• Label: Reprise
• Copyright: 1992 Reprise Records
• Genres: Alternative Rock/Indie & Lo-Fi
• ASIN: B0012399U6
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, Women Really Can Rock, May 13, 2000

By 

Chris Parker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fontanelle (Audio CD)

One of the strangest things about the Lilith Fair, which advertised itself as "A Celebration of Women in Rock", was that there was no real rock represented. Jewel, Sarah McLachlan, Indigo Girls? What's missing from that equation? Rock. The fact that it was so hyped is just as troubling because it reinforces the uneducated mainstream opinion there is no real rock music being made by women today. That conclusion would be grossly inacurate. Some of the best rock of the 90s was made by PJ Harvey, The Breeders, Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Hole (until that "Celebrity Skin" fiasco) and Babes in Toyland.

Babes in Toyland is one of the best of the groups I just mentioned and "Fontanelle", their first full length album shows them in all their power. The three piece musical arrangements are decidedly primitive that's one of the things that makes Babes in Toyland so compelling, especially when combined with Kat Bjelland's ferocious vocals. No one, man or woman, can do the things vocally that Kat Bjelland can. She has the remarkable ability to scream at the listener non-stop over the near-forty minutes of this album, but in such a way that is undeniably pleasurable to listen to. There is one chilling moment on "Mother" the thirteenth song on the album when she goes from a full throated growl to a sharp, sustained scream in a single breath. That is what I call singing.

The lyrics are easy to miss here, thanks to Kat's vocal style and the grittiness of the music but they hold up well against the rest of the albums principle components. They are bitter, angry and intense, if not terribly poetic. They justify the sonic brutality of the album and make perfect sense. The rage here is real and believable. Babes in Toyland rock like no other women on the planet.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this CD and to hell with the rest!, August 7, 2004

By 

Brutal Honesty "tells it like it is" (New York NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fontanelle (Audio CD)

I don't give away 5 stars lightly so you'll have to trust me when I recommend this album. If you are a fan of Hole, punk rock, female rock or if you're desperate to find music that is top shelf quality, then this is your album. Every song on here is excellent, and you simply don't get that kind of quality anymore, with a few exceptions, like maybe Interpol. Babes in Toyland were CHICKS WITH BALLS! Excellent for bitter mornings, rage filled evenings or upbeat afternoons, "Fontanelle" makes you want to go out and dye your hair blue or something. After listening to this record, you'll want to smack Ashlee Simpson and Hillary Duff across the face and force feed them canned beans. I want to shout it from the rooftops this album is so amazing.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still one of the best CDs of all time, May 21, 2004

By 

Alika Serrato (CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fontanelle (Audio CD)

After getting this one back after having been gone for a few years Im never surprised at how much it makes me smile.

Life without Bruise Violet or Handsome and Grettle would be unbearable indeed.

What ever happened to Kat?