Customer Reviews

Joan Armatrading Live: All the Way From America

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I to saw her during this tour(BOSTON). The music is first rate
and for a 3 piece outfit they really manage to convey great
emotions and Joan's vocals(although somewhat fragile & raw and road tested from touring all over the world last year goes right through you.
When I saw her show last summer in Boston, Joan totally lost her
voice, especially the high end but she apolgized and made the most of it, as disapointed as everyone was these songs were top notch. Having
this more stripped down approach really allows Joan's vocals
to fill the space without clutter that sometimes happens with
the studio. Her newer material holds it own very well with
her classics, "DOWN TO ZERO", "LOVE AND AFFECTION", "ALL THE
WAY FROM AMERICA" and "SAVE ME" and one of my favorites she
always closed her shows with, "WILLOW" over the years, remember all the lighters in the air? I've seen her live many times and its just
a shame this country didn't take to her, she just didn't get
the big break she deserved. That said this is concert must
have if you're into Joan's music, not many live offerings and
it sounds so nice live!! Very intimate, like she was singing
in your living room.

Fans of Joan Armatrading received a Christmas in July present this week with the release of JOAN ARMATRADING LIVE: ALL THE WAY FROM AMERICA, Joan's first official live recording since STEPPIN' OUT nearly 30 years ago. The CD contains a mixture of her classics including "Willow" and "The Weakness in Me" (two popular soundtrack songs) and songs from her most recent studio effort LOVERS SPEAK, including the title track as well as "Tender Trap" and "Prove Yourself" among others. Sound quality is excellent for a live recording with audience noise kept to a minimum. Fans of Joan and her songs will not be disappointed. The CD has a DVD counterpart of the same show, also released on the same day.

There is no other voice like Joan Armatrading's. Thirty years later and she still sounds so strong. The years have aged her voice giving it a deeper quality that feels so full of wisdom and a life enrichened by her experiences. She keeps the audience sound to a minimum and no between song banter. She keeps that on the accompanying DVD where it is more appropriate. This recording brings to life tracks off of Lovers Speak in a way the studio album fell a little short. This is a MUST for Joan fans. Your very own Joan Armatrading concert...and a nice reminder of why you fell in love with her music in the first place.

For someone who never put out a live album before, she gets it right the first time. She starts with an excellent well chosen set list of old and new songs. The live versions are pretty faithful to the originals and the new songs are excellent, especially "Lovers Speak". No negative criticism here - this is exactly what Joan's fans want her live CD to sound like.

I had the extreme privelage of seeing this tour also. WOW what an experience. To hear songs that I have been listening to for over 20 years so up close and personal was someting I will never forget. Thank you Joan for all the great music you have put out over the years, for the wonderul concert you put on that night, and for issuing this breathtaking cd. Of course she includes all the best known songs here, "Love and Affection", "Willow" and "The Weaknes in Me", but she also includes seven songs from "Lovers Speak" as well. It's not often that I feel that an artist improves upon the studio versions of their songs, but in this case Joan does. "The Weakness..." is broken down to just piano and voice and there is a reggae shuffle to "Lovers Speak" that wasn't on the studio version. My only "complaint" (and it is a MINOR one is that I read that in some shows she did "Drop the Pilot" in her set, but it wasn't in the show I saw, nor is it included here. Oh well. I'll just have to listen to Mandy Moore's version.

I was stunned to learn that the Joan Armatrading concert I attended last June was made into this live album! I mean, my hand-clapping and general cheering is somewhere on this CD! I haven't purchased the album yet, but the concert was extraordinary and, simply put, the most dynamic and thrilling musical performance I've ever seen. Armatrading and her two-man band brought down the garden theatre with a powerhouse of masterful tunes and talent... an eager audience and a bashfully comical Armatrading made delightful quips every so often teasing the audience or explaining a song. I got to meet her afterwards, which was an honor. If the recording captures only a mere glimpse of that show, it's a must-have. If you're a fan of Armatrading's well-crafted and righteous blues/soul/rock/folk/jazz don't even hesitate, if not I suppose it's a good introduction (as is the Love & Affection double album and her last record Lover's Speak). Her mix of old and new on this disc, works perfectly; again, if you have any inkling of partiality towards this fabulously talented (and criminaly-ignored) woman, this live album is simply essential.