Life Is Sweet [Import]

Maria McKee | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B0000565A9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,514,574 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2003 reissue of the ex-Lone Justice frontwoman's 1996 solo album that's unavailable domestically. Spectrum. 2003. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jagged Little Diva, or Ziggy McKee, or in Utero Mariae?, July 10, 2004

By 

"scottanth" (Blair, NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Is Sweet (Audio CD)

One of the other reviewers commented on how successful this album was at annihilating Maria McKee's commercial fortunes. Given the rich roots music repertoire and homey-but-sultry phrasing and vocal tone she had built up with Lone Justice and in her solo career, that's understandable. Why destroy a blueprint that works so beautifully? Well, in this case, it's because the new plan is also preciously valuable.

This album has absolutely zilch to do with anything that Maria had ever done previously in her career. Gone are almost all traces of country or RnB influence. She replaces that with the distorted guitar (played by Maria!) cum orchestral arrangements approach Mick Ronson used on such David Bowie albums as The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, and Ziggy Stardust, while her lyrical and vocal approach here mirrors the nearly-psychotic confessional fury of Alanis Morisette, or, more accurately, Kurt Cobain, and uses a generally thinner tone in quieter moments than she used earlier in her career. Jarring rhythm shifts and vocal howls. Bracing guitar work. Most of the songs here reflect an obsession with abandonment, betrayal, pain, and multiple personality disorders. Not easy listening by any means! However, for the most part, the album resonates.

A track-by-track assessment:

1) Scarlover (9/10) - An angry whammy-bar riff, growling vocal savagery, and a soaring chorus very highly reminiscent of Bowie's early '70s space-rock shenanigans. Although I'm sure most Maria fans threw things at the stereo in dumbfounded dismay at hearing this, it's very good for what it is. Also, the bridge, with the Little Diva cooing in her "old voice," takes the song over the top.

2) This Perfect Dress (8/10) - One of the quietest songs on the album. The spaghetti western instrumental track and vocal restraint make this the song on this album which most closely resembles her prior career.

3) Absolutely Barking Stars (10/10) - What a great song - Maria croons like a female Chris Isaak in the verses, howls like Alanis at her most desperate in the chorus, and coos the title like Juliana Hatfield. And the fantastic distorted guitar riffs - the great chorus riff stolen from the bridge of "Ziggy Stardust" and the wailing break - that's Miss "Show Me Heaven" rocking out! Wow!!!

4) I'm Not Listening (7/10) - The most abrasive cut on the album, dramatically contrasting the quiet, piano-driven verses with the jaggedly angular choruses, building up to a break in which Maria scream-shouts her guts out like Kurt in "Scentless Apprentice." This one has grown on me over time.

5) Everybody (8/10) - Relentlessly unsyncopated pounding in the verses combined with a remarkably catchy chorus. This is the most radio-ready thing here - it's quite easy to imagine it on mid-90s radio, but of course Geffen Records viewed this album as a piece of manure and had no desire to market it, so.....

6) Smarter (8/10) - Another soaring Bowiesque chorus. Roiling guitar work.

7) What Else You Wanna Know (6/10) - Midtempo, interesting riff.

8) I'm Awake (7/10) - The closest thing to a ballad here. Smooth orchestral texture.

9) Human (6/10) - Another midtempo number with a brooding guitar riff. Maria uses her falsetto to good effect.

10) Carried (4/10) - Yet another midtempo song, bland chorus, by far the most forgettable thing here.

11) Life is Sweet (10/10) - After all the bitterness, anger, anxiety, and anguish of the rest of the tracks, Maria unleashes her valentine to humankind, a moving manifesto of compassion using detailed lyrical snapshots of her objects of affection. (Note: the only misstep in this masterpiece of a song, Maria's favorite in her own catalogue, is "this one is for the girl who says those voices in her head never leave her alone.... you're not crazy." Um, Maria, that would be the very dictionary definition of crazy....) She accompanies herself with subdued, clipped electric strumming while delivering one of her most impassioned vocals in a lullaby half-whisper. This track has a vulnerability reminiscent of Paul Westerburg's desperate romantic confessionals with the Replacements.

12) Afterlife (8/10) - "Life is Sweet" erupts into this coda of squalling reverb guitars, sweet strings, tribally pounding tom-toms, and Maria's wailing glossalalia. Other fans have compared this to My Bloody Valentine, which isn't fair to that band's artistry. Most folks assert that the redux of "Life is Sweet"/"Afterlife" on Maria's next album, High Dive, is inferior, but that is, in my opinion, mostly because her vocal on that album until the coda is too restrained and mannered. I think that "Afterlife" is far, far better on High Dive, because it gives a greater centrality to Maria's vocalizing and provides much more convincing instrumental evidence that life is indeed sweet.

What more can I say about this album? that its commercial fortunes were tragically unfair. that Maria fans tend to be far too critical of what is a near-masterpiece just because it doesn't sound like the Maria they first warmed up to. that, although it's not what she'll be remembered for, it's the best thing in her catalogue. that you should write to Geffen and lambast them for deleting it. that you should write to the Little Diva and tell her thank you. Purchase used and enjoy.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MARIA MCKEE'S MASTERPIECE & THE BEST RECORD OF THE 90'S, December 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Life Is Sweet (Audio CD)

Somehow, through the chaos of the record industry in the late 1990's, several artists lost record deals and many great albums suddenly went out of print. My guess this is what happened to Life Is Sweet, Maria McKee's startlingly beautiful album. If you were a Lone Justice fan, forget everything you know about the "Lone Justice sound" before you listen to Life Is Sweet. This collection of songs is a complete departure and shows just how wonderful Maria McKee can be when she's not under the restrictions of record executives who try to mold artists into what they think they should sound like. This album is a record Maria had been wanting to make for years but was afraid to alienate her label and maybe longtime fans. I was shocked and disappointed when I first heard this album. Gradually I became sucked in and started playing the cd over and over and over. Slowly I began to hear all sorts of influences - mainly David Bowie and John Cale. It was as if I was listening to a brand new artist. Since 1996 when it was released, it has been on my list of all time favorite rock and roll records. Life Is Sweet is a daring bold album by an artist that takes her work very seriously. It's no wonder that this album is Maria's favorite of all of her releases and she is extremely proud of it. Her ability to belt out vocally is stronger than ever and she also is beginning to play a mean lead electric guitar She's always been way ahead of her time and wise beyond her years. I played this for a musician friend of mine recently who hadn't heard it before. The first thing she said was how excited Kurt Cobain would be if he heard these songs. I think that says it best. After digesting this cd and really getting to know it, you'll be as baffled as I am when I think that very few people know Maria's music and yet people like Alanis Morrisette are household names. Next to these songs, Morrisette is simply mediocre. Play this album loud and prepare yourself for chills and a jaw-dropping experience.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely Overlooked, April 12, 2003

By 

R. M. Ettinger "rme1963" (Cleveland Heights, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life Is Sweet (Audio CD)

This disk is about 7 yrs old and still reguarly rotates through my cd players - portable, office or car. I bought it without ever hearing a thing from it - because really, what outlets does someone like Maria McKee have to get her music out to the public?

I had always liked McKee's work in Lone Justice and some of her solo work. Her first two solo albums never seemed to reach the full potential of her Lone Justice work. 'Life Is Sweet' isn't like that. Maria, producing herself, seems to have pulled off what others have not been able to when working with her. I believe she truely found her sound. Technically, she's not a great producer, and that works in her favor.

The opening track, "Scarlover" ranks as one of my favorite songs - ever. That is saying something. But other songs on the album certainly are pretty incredible ("This Perfect Dress", "Absolutely Barking Stars" & "Life Is Sweet").

Some of the songs seem busy and over the top in places ("I'm Awake", "I'm Not Listening"). This is where some subtler production could have worked in her favor, yet somehow works with the over album. The strings on "I'm Not Listening" are reminiscent of Kate Bush's "Under Ice" from 'Hounds of Love' - really really conveying the emotion of the song.

There is definately a theme of duplicity that runs through the entire disk ("Carried", "I'm Not Listening"). And another or parallel theme of 'growing throughout life' is present on the disk.

I find - and as you'll see in some of the other reviews I've written - I seem to really end up liking music which at first seems difficult to listen to. It usually ends up becoming my favorite.

I know this disk is out of print - but it seems available on import. If you can find it used in a 2nd hand store or ebay, etc, I would suggest picking it up and giving it plenty of listens before you might appreciate it.