Customer Reviews

From the Ground Up

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Earlier this week I caught a video on VH1 by Antigone Rising just as I was getting ready for work. I believe the video was for "Don't Look Back". I just loved the harmonies and the catchy melodies. I was quite surprised to find myself enjoying this song because my taste in music is usually off the beaten path from the mainstream. For the rest of the week, the band remained in the back of my thoughts. When I came across a copy of "From the Ground Up" I quickly purchased it (along with a couple of other cds). I really am not much of a country/rock fan. I find most country music irritating and most rock music rather dull. Thank heavens I cannot say that Antigone Rising's music is irritating or dull. The music is a good blend of rock and country. I thought it was interesting that Antigone Rising would work with Starbucks Coffee to put out a live album I(in a studio session with a few fans is more like it). Good way to introduce their music to new fans like myself. I like how raw and unpolished Cassidy's vocals are. Most of the songs I liked. I did think that "Happy Home" was a bit too twangy for my tastes. Singer Cassidy reminded me of Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines whose voice I find rather grating, a lot of the songs on the album tends to go into country more times than I cared to listen to. I wasn't terribly impressed by "Waiting, Watching, Wishing" either. The song did not have the same emotional resonance on me like the other songs did. My favorite songs on the album has to be "Don't Look Back" (co-written with MB20's Rob Thomas), "She's Not Innocent", and "Open Hearts and Doors". I also love the beautiful ballad "Michael" which is about the death of a friend of one of the band members. No matter how many times I have listened to the song, hearing Cassidy sings this song brings tears to my eyes. Overall I immensely enjoyed what I heard on this live album. In the state of music today with overproduced female pop stars, the industry needs more women like the gals in Antigone Rising. This is music with soul.

I admit - the name of the band was the first thing that drew me to this CD, where I originally saw it for the first time in a Starbucks. Despite their reputation as the world-conquerors of coffee, they usually also have good music taste. So last night I bought the whole thing off iTunes, and I must say that they're one of the best bands I've heard in a while.

Understand I am a fan of girl rock - if you don't like girls who sing in your rock music, they might not be for you. Every song on this CD is listenable, and I've yet to find one that's not - a rarity in today's market, where I find that most CDs have 2-3 good songs and the rest is filler.

They've got a tight sound, they've got a fun feel, and they've got it together - I truly, highly recommend!

Antigone Rising... I saw them on the Today show around Christmas, I wasn't really impressed. I kind of bought this album on impulse not really expecting much. Happily, I was very wrong. This is a great Album!

And although there might be inevitable comparisons to Amanda Marshal, and Melissa Ethridge vocally, (I don't think that is a bad thing anyway) the band has an old fashioned fullness of sound that is mostly lacking in today's music, and some very tight harmonies.

Classifying their genre is more complicated than some of the reviewers and critics have made it. The only thing that seems really Country about their sound is the lack of electric instruments, and personally I don't think acoustics actually equals Country. But that leaves the other side of the coin, without electric guitars predominating is it Rock & Roll? I don't know. I'll leave such battles to the kind of purist that said if George Benson sings it isn't Jazz.

What I do know is, I like this album very much, that many of the songs found me trying to sing along by the second playing, that I started calling friends about it after the first playing. If you like the sound of acoustics, if you like well written songs, if you like good harmonies, you ought to enjoy this album very much.

I heard this cd last year in a coffeeshop and really liked it. After I left the coffeeshop, I forgot about them. I recently bought it at a used cd store, plugged it in, and haven't stopped listening to it since. I also bought the KT Tunstall cd, which is amazing.

Buy both...highly recommended!

I walked past this cd several times at my local Starbucks before actually purchasing it a week ago. Now it's the only thing I'm listening to in my car. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. My favorite songs are include "Don't Look Back", "Michael". My least favorite is "Happy Home." I would not describe them as country at all. These girls are all about rock with amazing harmonies and melodies. I love musicians that write their own material and this band delivers!

Hello! I have been a faithful fan of Antigone Rising for 7+ years. They continue to evolve and create amazing music together. From the first show I saw, I was captivated. They are able to capture the crowd like maybe no other band I have seen. All of their songs have deep meaning and allow the listeners to meander through memories of the good, the bad and the ugly. Antigone Rising's music is an eclectic mix of Rock, folk, country and ROCK! If you have never seen this band perform, your life is not complete! I highly urge each and everyone reading this to pick up a copy of FROM THE GROUND UP at your local Starbucks, ASAP. As Well, you can purchase TRAVELLING CIRCUS from the bands website, www.antigonerising.com. This album captures the amazing stage presence the Women of Antigone Rising possess. YOU NEED TO HEAR AND SEE THIS BAND!!! You will not be dissapointed...and its only getting better from here!
peace and platinum albums
greg

My wife and I saw these girls on the Today show on Memorial Day
and I was impressed enough to get the album the next day. It pretty much stayed in my truck CD player for about 3 days straight! The next week I got an e-mail from their PR group saying they were going to do a FREE concert in Santa Monica on a Saturday afternoon at the open air "Promenade" shopping center. We were going to be a mere 20 miles from there early that day so we went. They are just as good in person as on the album. It was not an advertised concert so the crowd was only 150 or so to start. when they finished 90 minutes later (after an encore) the crowd was more like 400 or so including an old woman of 80+ years, complete with cane and smoked "goggles" who was tapping her cane and toes to the music. We stayed and got all their autographs. They are billed as an "all girl rock band", but they have more country influence in them than a lot of country groups. Cassidy has a little Grace Slick/Janice Joplin in her voice but she is not copying either; she just sounds that way. Her voice is honest and down-to-earth, but she can hit a high, pure note when she wants to. I don't care for contemporary rock much or the twangy type country. This is the perfect mix of the two. These girls have been together a few years and they all seem to be on the same wavelength when playing. The opening "combo song" of "Hello" and "Waiting, Watching, Wishing" is just the absolute coolest opening number of any album ever. I listened to it several times before I realised it was actually 2 songs blended together into one 8 minute performance. These girls are not only great people but awesome performers. If you like Antigone Rising, try another artist who is local to the San Diego area but getting more widely heard (VERY big in the UK), Eve Selis. Her and her band are a little older, but have the same honest infectious type of music they call Roadhouse Rock.
Thanks to Starbucks for bringing us Antigone Rising.

Okay, I must confess, I just heard Antigone Rising for the first time just a couple days ago, on the internet no less, but I knew the moment I heard the first line, that I had to have this album! The music is rocking and Cassidy's vocals are out of this world great! I just am having a hard time finding the words. I love every song on the album which is a rarity and I just love it when that happens! It's one of those cds that you have to crank way up and just let it wash over you. It just came out today and I went and got it as soon as I got off work and what can I say? I love love love it!!!! Buy this album if you like the great artists like Areosmith, U2, Fleetwood Mac, Matchbox 20, etc. etc. Yes, they are all girls, and they are all Rock!!

I worked at Starbucks and we played this CD, among others, non-stop and I've yet to grow tired of it. I've purchased their "From The Ground Up" and I am immensely satisfied. Every song is really good, though one in particular doesn't rub me right. "She Lived Here" is kinda weird to me, but that doesn't make it a horrible song. It's just one I tend to skip as I listen to the CD. *shrug* I love this album and I don't think enough people know about it.

I absolutely love this CD. Cassidy's voice is amazing. These women are great musicians. Some of the initial favorites are...
Hello: a good opening song for the CD,
Broken, Better, Don't Look Back, What?, Longshot: great lyrics.
Rosita: really wise and witty.
The more I listen to the others, the more I feel like anyone of them could be a favorite. There are no bad songs on this disc. I'm looking forward to more from this great all woman band.