Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartbreak, Loneliness & Sad, Sad Tears, December 20, 2001
By A Customer
This is still one of my very favorite CD's with female acoustics. A sort of country-ish nostalgia with a bit more real essence of grime and dirt, in a dry, barren, land of heart break and turmoil with some brighter looks outward ahead to better pastures of love and loneliness. I get shivers down my spine and goose bumps listening to her voice. Funny thing is; I have never been to keen on main stream country music ( albeit from some as Alison Cross, Lucinda Williams and others that have a little more substance ), but this recording is quite in a class of its own. I cannot think of anyone else that comes close to their music. Even the harden " I Hate Country Music" person, has a spot for it. Everytime I have played this for someone, they always want to know who it is and get it. Paula Frazer' voice moves me unlike many others. It is unfortunate that she and Tarnation are not more available [exposed vs exploited] to the publics listening tastes. I have heard comments that her voice is reminiscent of Patsy Cline- and that is giving her tremendous praise- because her vocals make me tear up with emotions. She swoons and pines like no other.
Some of the tracks recordings are a little bright and brittle in the upper frequencies, due to the mic and recording levels, ( I think they used an old fashion mic, one of those huge metal types of bygone days ), but tracks 2,3,5,6,9,11,14,15 are the most gratifying to me. ( I have an early CD w/o the extra tracks listed here that I purchased when it was first released). This CD is also one of my audiophilia favorites for listening to high-end audio auditions to hear what is going on;whether it is satisfying or not. The recording on most songs (mentioned) have incredible detail, imaging, focus and plenty of ambiance when they recorded this. The vocals are breathtaking and the instrumentation is clear and vivid. Buy it and enjoy.
"Mirador", their other release, is also an excellent recording with more of a zesty, hot flavored guitar and drum rythym, basking on the road in the hot desert sun-a sort of spanish/mexican zeal to it. Sometimes the songs sound like they are out of some early Italian Western film with an upbeat grunge about the music. I just want more from them. I have not listened to Paula Frazer's "Indoor Universe", but that is in the cart and ready to purchase, along with another copy of Gentle Creatures to get the extra tracks. Enjoy the Music
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
alt-country?, June 29, 2000
i never thought that i would like any music that could be classified as "country" after hearing paula's work on the czars album, "before, but longer" i decided i should find out more about her. i popped in the cd late at night after a rough day and i was amazed. so amazed that i couldn't stop listening to the cd. so amazed that i went out and got mirador the next day (mirador is a more cohesive sounding album and gets 5 stars, but gentle creatures only gets 4, partly because paula doesn't sing on every track and i don't like the tracks where she doesn't sing) my favorites are the game of broken hearts, halfway to madness, the big o motel, two wrongs won't make things right, and the track that has the lyrics about the skeleton without the shadow (i don't remember what its name is) paula has an other-worldly voice, people have described it as a cross between liz fraser and patsy cline, but she has a style uniquely her own. don't be put off by the "country" classification of tarnation. if you like this album, buy mirador, which is the stronger album (amazon doesn't have it listed)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is sure somethin, I tell you what., May 19, 1999
By A Customer
Well if Hank Williams was a woman his music would have been a little something like this.Tarnation is kind of...atmospheric. And haunting. Not ghoulishly, but in a good manner. The kind of haunt that stays with you through a tough day at work. Willowy, subtle and smoothe also come to my mind, and I must say, this is highly recomended. You oughta get it because then you can like it too.
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