Customer Reviews

Love Sweet Love (IMPORT)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think this is the strongest Miles album since her first one, SLIGHTLY HAUNTED.
This has a bit more production & a little less Joni influence (though that still kind of there). There is a kind of country rock feel to it (with also Celtic feel at times), & while I miss some of the experimentation of her last, UNRAVEL, I think the songs have great hooks, & articulate if not complicated ideas ("let's go down in the flames of love" on the opener, or "there's no love without courage/there's no courage without fear" on title song just two of many examples), compelling burnished sultry vocals a little bit like a lower voiced Tift Merritt, & some compelling songs that I think would appeal to folks who like current country, folk, lyric driven pop & others. Accessible yes, stupid no. Fine stuff I think.

What can I say except this CD by Lynn Miles will just complete your collection, so buy it, even if finding it is a little difficult. It is worth the effort. If you don't have a Lynn Miles CD, I suggest starting with "Unravel", then "Slightly Haunted", and then this, her most recent. These are my favorites of the 5 CD's which she has out now. (I find Amazon does not list her CD "Chalk One Up to the Moon", but it is out there, and it is also worth the effort to find it.)
With this new CD, once again, Lynn's music and lyrics will take you to that place only she can take you. I just love, love, love her voice, her music, everything. The songs "1000 Lovers" and "Trying Not to be So Sad" are vintage Miles, but it is hard for me to pick one track over any of the others, cause all the songs are so good.

The poetess of sadness and North Country chill is back with an album of new songs-her first in four years since the magnificent UNRAVEL. Although not quite up to that high standard (nor that of her equally wonderful second cd, SLIGHTLY HAUNTED), there's lots to love on this new release. In fact, the title cut and a number of others are about the edges of love, the wishes for it, and the walls which keep it out or keep it in. Lynn's way with a melody is as engaging as ever, her almost talking and then singing approach as direct and personal as it ever was, her wistfulness and wishfulness and sadness as palpable as always.

A THOUSAND LOVERS COULD PUT THEIR ARMS AROUND ME
A THOUSAND WISHES COULD FALL LIKE SUMMER RAIN
A THOUSAND MOTHERS COULD SING
"HUSH NOW, DON'T YOU CRY"
THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD TONIGHT THAT IS GOING TO
TAKE AWAY MY PAIN.

But joy breaks through sometimes or will soon-particularly in "This is the Night" and "Sweet and Tender Heart." You wish that for Lynn. You want the down-turned sides of her sensitive mouth to lift. This beautiful Canadian has done it again. Lovely.

I will try and do a complete review when I've had time to really listen to the complete album and savor the warm beautiful voice and the hauntingly beautiful lyrics that I have come to expect from Lynn. I've met her, spoken with her and traveled far and wide to watch her perform with Keith Glass. They are two of the most down-to-earth people I've known. Before I've even had a chance to study the rest of the songs on the album, which I always do with Lynn's music, I was brought to tears by the emotions expressed in the song "1000 Lovers". Lynn, if you're listening, I have never heard the pain of heartache put so clearly, so simply and so beautifully. This song alone is worth the price of the album.

I'm under the impression that there are people out there who found Lynn Miles' previous album, "Unravel", to be a little bleak for their tastes. I'm not one of them, but I can see how those people might find this CD to be a little more to their liking: just as beautiful, a little more balanced between darkness and light.

My favorite song on this CD, though, is "8 Hour Drive", an upbeat jam of a song with sad lyrics. Most artists would not feature a banjo on a song that kept repeating, matter-of-factly, that "you never loved me at all". And that's exactly why I enjoy Ms. Miles' albums more than most artists.

I love a CD where you can play the whole thing through without skipping over a bad song. This is such an album. The melodies are catchy and the lyrics are top-notch. This is vintage Lynn Miles. It is too bad this CD is not readily available in the U.S.

The standout songs for me are "1000 Lovers," "This is the Night," and the album's final song, "Casinos El Camino."

I listened to this on my PSP mixed in with Woody Guthrie and Bruce Cockburn. I liked what I heard. It wasn't really bitting but relaxing and easy going. I also heard some comedy that she sometimes includes. Not as high tension as her friend Alanis Morrisett but still with that edgy relationship and love styled lyrics. It had me dreaming and thinking of love. Overall a good disk to buy.