Customer Reviews

Life on a String

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I couldn't disagree with the Amazon reviewer more. This is a beautiful sonically textured and highly intimate work that reveals a more personal side of Laurie Anderson. While there is still humor and social commentary to be found, the music and lyrics don't hide behind glib irony, as some of her other work has. However you'd like to categorize it, this is pure and emotional music. And her violin playing is gorgeous. This is an album that will continue to reveal its colors as time passes, and won't date itself from trendy production.

Listening to Laurie Anderson's new disc, it's easy to remember her roots as an avant garde performance artist. Unfortunately "avant garde" often means challenging, intriguing music that you listen to only once. "Life on a String" has really cool packaging, marvelous sound quality, a top drawer collection of backing musicians, and a lot of interesting ideas. What it does NOT have is an album's worth of "Excellent Birds" kind of melodies you'll want to hear again in the future. The 21st Century Laurie Anderson seems to be interested in trying an even wider palette of song concepts and arrangements than usual, including a decreased emphasis on synthesizers and more on strings, vocals, and other sources. I thought I was missing the synths, but when they showed up on track six, "My Compensation," I wished they had stayed away. Besides the random electronic blips and blurps, the only character the song has is in Laurie's bland cadence of a vocal. One of the many impressive collaborators is Van Dyke Parks, but he and Laurie brought out the worst in eachother -- Parks contributing one of his generic "zipidee-doo-dah" orchestral arrangements to go with Anderson's wandering narrative on "Dark Angel." Terminally un-memorable. Then, FINALLY, things come to life on the last 4 or 5 cuts. For example, "Statue of Liberty" is a powerful meditation on a citizen's responsibility to speak out, made strong by a haunting melody, Ms. A.'s sorrowful violin, and subtle yet effective swashes of keyboard effects. If only the whole disc were made up of songs like those in the last third of the CD, this might have been a keeper.

Laurie Anderson's first proper cd since 1994's "Bright Red" continues the same half-spoken, half-sung stories she's been making since 1982's "Big Science". This time out the stories aren't as interesting, and the music doesn't grab you like her other efforts do. My bias in Anderson's catalogue is towards "Strange Angels" and "Bright Red". "Life On A String" seems somewhere between those other discs. This is not to say that this cd doesn't have its share of interesting tracks like "Slip Away", "Pieces And Parts", "The Island Where I Come From" and "One White Whale". Overall, it just felt like Laurie is sitting on the sidelines instead of being the innovator she usually is. However, any Laurie Anderson cd, including this one, is far more interesting than what's on the radio!

Being serious fan of the artist since 1984, I hold all of her albums in revered esteem. What I forget, though, is that in almost all cases I was initially "disappointed" on the first couple listens. Mr. Heartbreak didn't have that hypnotic feel of Big Science. Strange Angels was too "pop" and not avante garde enough. Now that I have had time to digest these albums, I find that I still come back to them frequently and they are all "desert island discs". I still have reservations about much of Bright Red. I thought that the Eno pairing would be magical all the way through. The title song still blows me away, though. I think that Life On A String will be the same. The sound palette, which is very orchestral, is so lush and warm, in sharp contrast to the purposely alienating textures of her earlier work. Her voice would pull you in even as the background music was spare and neutral. Here, the music invites you in, and the difference in mood is noticeable. I really believe that in the years to come, I'll cherish One White Whale, Pieces and Parts, Slip Away, Washington Street, and many others on the album, as I do her previous material. I do agree that some of the lyrical originality that draws me to Laurie Anderson is a bit lacking here - I believe that Steven Wright coined the "it's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it" line - but her rhyme in the text with "Wright" may be a subtle bow to him (or not..). Also, for a more rocking "I love your brain", try Frank Black. I've come to realize that Ms. Anderson is just ahead of me. I need to catch up, and that takes time. Once this album clicks in, as most all of hers do, I'll wear it out. We'll see how the songs stack up in concert (At the El Rey in LA on Sept. 9th).

There's that adage, "you had to be there," and maybe that is why she chose to only use three songs from Moby Dick for Life on a String. Unfortunately, the other works are only pale imitations of her earlier stronger work on United States 1-4, Big Science, Mister Heartbreak, and The Ugly One With The Jewels. Sure, this is a more musical album, and I enjoy listening to the often-knocked-as-too-"pop" album, Strange Angels. It soars musically, where Life on a String just plucks around. Perhaps in her desire to keep us all guessing and always remain faithful to her avant guard roots, Laurie has simply strayed out of the familiar territory that I personally have enjoyed as a fan. Or perhaps she really has exhausted her themes and abilities. I doubt that, as the opening song from Moby still moves me after several listenings. There's more there, but it's not here on this disk. I hope we don't have to wait as long for another album from her, but on the other hand, if she needs time to recharge so she can put out a more interesting and musically interesting work, I can wait.

"Life on a String" finds Laurie Anderson returning to music in a way not heard since "Strange Angels". In contrast to "The Ugly One With the Jewels", where the music serves mostly as background to her narratives, "Life on a String" is rich with music. Ms. Anderson takes up the violin again, but now the violin is not just an accenting instrument, but a center-stage voice as well as a rich orchestral accompaniment. One could remove the vocals from this album and find an entirely acceptable album. In fact, track 4, "Here With You" is purely instrumental. Of course, her mellifluous voice is here, in both song and speech and I would still rather hear Ms. Anderson read the yellow pages than hear Celine Dion sing anything (nothing against Celine Dion).

Overall, there is less of the youthful cleverness of "Big Science" and more of the mature irony of "Bright Red". Those lucky enough to have seen her live show "Moby Dick" will appreciate finding some of those songs on this album. Some may find the inclusion of these songs to be a mixed blessing, since it robs the album of the thematic coherence that binds her other albums together. But this may miss the point. All of these songs have a sound that is unique to this album.

Audiophiles will find much to like here, including lively detail, a spacious sound stage, and HDCD encoding.

In short, die-hard fans (who seem to comprise most of her fan base) will purchase this album regardless of what any critic writes. Casual listeners may find this album even more difficult to categorize than her prior albums because of its slight unevenness. But time may ultimately smooth out these bumps. Besides, like Ms. Anderson's oeuvre, this album may not be the best of its kind, but it may be the only one of its kind.

I bought this C.D. with a little trepidation, because I was not sure what to expect. On my first listen, "Pieces and Parts,""One Beautiful Evening" and "Life on a string" became the anchors I would play over and over again. Over the course of 3 weeks I felt I had a comfortable retention of the entire album. I wish her writing ability had evolved and improved as much as her A&R, and choice of musicians. When I hear lines like "I'm a little tea pot..." and analogies like being easier to "sail around the world in a coffee cup" than seeing a whale "rise up." I feel she is bringing down the emotional depth of the songs.
But if she sang other writers songs, I would not be a fan, so I give her 4 stars instead of 5 and continue to enjoy the album.

Laurie Anderson gave up the gimicky "Oh, Superman" style of music over a decade ago. Her new music is lovely, poetic, musical and, as always, unique. Her voice is soothing and intelligent. The music is pretty, unusual, haunting.. it's lovely.

As a fan of hers from the beginning I highly recommend her new cd.

Laurie Anderson shows once again she not lost her touch and is in touch with life. I just picked up "Life On A String" today (US release date) and already like it. Three songs from her Moby Dick Opera have made it to the CD but also some of the music is incorporated into other songs. Laurie's wonderful violin work is backed up with great string arrangements, her qwerky spoken word patterns are there and her words make you think. I find "Statue Of Liberty" to be haunting in music and though provoking. I like the storytelling incorporated into several of the songs which flow and ebb with the music like in "Slip Away." Overall a true Laurie Anderson piece of work. Laurie... "I love your brain!"

I'm a big fan from way back when (saw United States I-IV at BAM) and Laurie Anderson has been such a presence in my life it's a little sad to see her work decline. Her last studio effort "Bright Red" was brilliant. This CD seems like Laurie Anderson has nothing left to say. Weak writing, lackluster performances -- some of it seems like self-parody. The CD is redeemed by the beautiful instrumental "Here With You." Laurie plays electric violin and Eric Friedlander plays cello. I get the feeling that at this point in her life Laurie Anderson wants to write pretty string music. Let's hope she does more of it . This and the very beautiful package make me glad I bought it.