Customer Reviews

On How Life Is

5 star:		(308)
4 star:		(83)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

I had heard "Do Something" on MTV when this CD first came out... I enjoyed it, but wasn't bowled over. I'm usually not a big fan of R&B, soul music. A couple friends of mine played this CD in their car constantly at the end of last summer. I ended up purchasing the disc because I couldn't get "I Try" out of my head. This disc may not hit you immediately, but let me assure you IT WILL GROW ON YOU and you will love it! It's my favorite disc of 1999. I purchased it back in August and continue listening to it today. For a guy with a 700+ cd collection that says a lot. Most cd's find their way onto a shelf and rarely come back down. I saw Macy in concert here in Pittsburgh recently. She is an incredible talent and deserves much success. I consider my self an 'adult alternative' fan with tastes that range from Everything but the Girl to Dead Can Dance to Pet Shop Boys... love a real voice (Sarah, Sting), love drama (Erasure, Depeche Mode)... hate polish (Whitney, Mariah)... love Macy Gray. Check her out. You won't be disappointed!

My partner purchased this CD several months ago, after it was first released. Neither one of us had heard anything about her--it was just set up at a listening station at a record store and he thought I would like it (he knows that I enjoy women who sing with lots of emotion.) The CD sat in the music rack for months before I listened to it for the first time last week. I did not see her on SNL; hear her on Rosie; nor have I ever watched any of her videos. I can honestly say that I wish I had not waited so long, because this woman is GREAT!

The beautiful thing about 'On How Life Is' is that it is truly just that--stories about life, sung by a woman with the most refreshing voice I have heard in years (and I am not one of these twenty-somethings that some reviewers here think are the only people who would find her sound refreshing...) The more I listen to her sing, the more I feel intoxicated by the sound. Unfortunately I discovered this woman after her show here in Seattle sold out, but I can only hope that she will have much future success and somehow live up to the pedestal I am placing her on.

My friend has been telling me for months to buy this cd. When I finally got tired of listening to him talk about it, I broke down and bought it and all I can say is WOW! This cd is great for roadtrips. It's great for getting ready in the morning. It's great when you're in a terrible mood and nothing else seems to get you out of it. It's great when you're getting ready to go out and get your groove on. IT's just great!

Macy Gray's voice does not belong in this century, although I'm glad it's here. Her sound is reminiscent of the great ones like Ella, Billie and Sarah--those voices that they just don't make anymore. She's sassy, funky and fun, all the things I love in an artist.

The cd itself is PACKED with good tunes that make you want to get up and dance around your living room, or drive up next to someone on the highway and groove out in the window. If I had to pick my favorites (which is close to impossible) I would say "Why Didn't You Call Me" and "The Letter," but there isn't one song on this disc that I skip over.

Keep them coming Miss Gray and I'll keep buying.

Tired of all those divas who think singing is how loud, high and long they can extend a note? Bored with song after song that say the same thing and say nothing at all? Concerned that the prerequisite for female music stardom these days depends more on the ability to crush walnuts on one's abdomen while virtually defining the word "perky" on other parts of their anatomy?

Well, welcome to some real music from a real woman. Macy's track "I Try" ended up in the top twenty of 1999 in the UK, and is currently #1 in Australia. It took an SNL appearance to finally get her sales kick-started in the US, but there's no stopping the Grey steamroller now!

This is an album that sneaks around the edges of your subconscience rather than strike you in the face. No "hooks". No remakes. No samples. But you'll find yourself humming these tunes for months. And you'll be hearing on radio all year.

There've been several comparisons to Billie Holliday, but Macy is not really like that. More like Janis Joplin if she made it to forty and cleaned up.

The opening track on Macy Gray's debut album, a slice of laid-back party funk called "Why Didn't You Call Me," is nothing special. It might be good enough to convince the average listener to try out a few more tracks, however, and in that case the album is as good as sold. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what elements separate Gray from most of the other hip-hop/soul divas on the charts. There's her scratchy, distinctive voice, which is reminiscent of Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, and which works equally well on sultry ballads ("Still") and screaming funk jams ("Caligula.") There's the even more pronounced influence of classic 1970s soul, most apparent in the lush, orchestral production (courtesy of Fiona Apple's producer, interestingly enough.) But when the reason this album truly works (as it does, surprisingly well, on more than half of the tracks) is the strong writing. Lyrically, the album veers from frank sexuality (the unmistakable "Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak") to intense religious devotion ("I Can't Wait to Meetchu") to ambiguously moral storytelling (the slightly reggae-ish "I've Committed Murder"), without missing a step, all of which promises to keep things interesting. The music is inconsistent, and in some cases doesn't withstand frequent listening. There are some indelible hip-hop grooves and interesting sampling, but some of the melodies are rather uninteresting and self-indulgent. This is Gray's first album, so maybe we shouldn't be so rash to criticize her. She is clearly talented both as a singer and as a writer, as is especially evident from the sublime and pervasive radio hit "I Try" and the moving "Still." I don't doubt that we have much to look forward to in the coming years from this artist, who is already, for my money, on a par with Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill.

How does a woman so young imbue her songs with such emotion, power and world-weariness? I bought this album on a whim a couple of months ago, and I haven't been able to take it out of my CD player yet. Her voice is part Nina Simone, part Rod Stewart, and part Aretha Franklin, but she brings it all together in a way that's uniquely hers.

The lyrics are just as good as the music. "I Try" is a poignant study of issues of control, self-esteem and neediness in a relationship, while "Sexomatic" reveals Macy's funkier side. In "I Can't Wait To Meetchu," she shows her vital spirituality by saying to God "I love the life you've given me but I'm looking forward to the day I die." Other highlights include "I've Committed Murder" and "Do Something."

I first heard Macy Gray on an add on T.V promoting her new cd. I never even heard of her before but her voice was incredible. I bought the cd the very next day and i was totally impressed with it. Her voice send you in a trance, her music is very hip and it's a great cd to chill out to. Her voice is something out of the 1950's/1960's with 1990 music added to it. DO SOMETHING, I TRY, STILL and I'VE COMMITTED MURDER are tracks on this album which will run through your head over and over again. Believe me, once you listen to it you won't stop. I usually buy pop/dance type of music and this cd has opened up a whole new world for me. It has broadened my taste in music and i can't stress enough on what brilliant voice she has. It's a shame her kind of music isn't played on the radio. You are missing out if you haven't heard this cd.

The pre-release hype for this record was just incredible... the early reviews heralded her as a cross between Billie Holiday and Bob Dylan... well, it should come as no surprise that it doesn't *quite* live up to those hallmarks ;-)

BUT,it is a really, really good record. I know her voice is a point of contention, but I love it... beware it is very raspy... I mean like a female Tom Waits raspy... works for me, may not for some...

But the quality of the songs and especially the musicianship throughout is beyond reproach, especially for her first outing. Sure, she's not a totally sophisticated songwriter just yet... there are some trite bits, but give her some slack! It's her first record! Don't give up on this album as an over-hyped commercial product. Sure it's overhyped, but there is quite a bit of substance here, and some original ideas too. Of special not to Audiophile readers: the imaging on this CD, esp. of Macy's voice is just spooky... very audiophile-friendly sound quality throughout.

Unlike most commercially-issued modern R&B, which seems as calculated and predictable as cars rolling off an assembly line, Macy Gray, along with other exceptions like Lauryn Hill, D'Angelo, and Maxwell, makes genuinely organic music which shows off a diversity of styles. Her cracked, Billie Holliday-esque voice is instantly identifiable, and her songwriting reveals a real, independent personality, not a performer controlled by a record company or producers (hello, Mariah Carey!). She hasn't achieved true greatness for an entire album -- yet -- but standouts like "Still," "I Try," "Do Something," "Why Didn't You Call Me" more than just hint at something special. I very much look forward to her next album.

I'm amazed that some of the reviewers here find this album boring or offensive. "On How Life Is" is just that - a classic emotion-laden album of songs about life, living, love, loss and everything that can come one's way. I find it refreshing, with unique hooks that just don't exist anywhere else. It may be offensive to a younger crowd who still blushes when the word sex is used, but c'mon folks... compared to the other awful stuff our teens are listening to these days, I'd rather they hear it from someone whose been there than from someone who is making it up as they go along (i.e. Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera, both of whom have talent but haven't paid their dues the way Macy has.) Macy Gray deserved the Best New Artist Grammy Award - she's a class act, and in a category all to herself. Part Billie Holiday, part Chaka Kahn, the girl can sing, write, and deliver some of the most wrenching lyrics you'll ever hear! "I Try" is simply brilliant - who else can fit so many words into one lyric? And "Do Something" and "All I Ever Wanted Was" are two phenomenal tracks that offer a glimmer of hope for the future of R&B. This is a MUST HAVE for any student of music...Macy Gray is here to stay! When Britney, Backstreet Boys and Christina are long forgotten, Macy Gray will still be delivering innovative lyrics and a percolating wall of sound.