Customer Reviews

Middlescence

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

 

 

Getting ready for the release of the new album by Amy Rigby. Heard she moved to Nashville. I used to live in her neighborhood in Brooklyn, so I'm curious to hear what effect the move will have had on her music. I was familiar with the first rate material on Diary of a Mod Housewife, and I find this album to be even better. Give it a second chance. Amy spends a great deal of time reflecting on the past. When she does look forward, it seems like there is a lot of dread on her horizon. I think the songs serve as a snapshot of a life awaiting transcendence. I hope she's found it, but even if she hasn't, I bet the new album is going to be way more interesting than 99% of the crap that is currently out there.

I don't disagree with the other reviews of "Middlescence," but I think it's even better than "Diary of a Mod Housewife." This
is country rock that REALLY rocks when she wants to, but also
gets the country themes too. And there are even some jazz
(or New Orleans Dr. Longhair anyway) touches & a couple folkier moments. I think it's one of the best rock AND/OR country albums of the '90s. "The Sugar Tree" is great too-- but it's a bit
more country. This one's a touch more varied IMO.

Rigby's debut, "Diary of a Mod Housewife," fueled by her divorce from dB's drummer Will Rigby, It effectively wedded the visceral anger of Alanis Morisette with the pop instincts of Big Star. Her follow-up traces the next step, turning from the remains of her crumbled marriage to the single-parenthood at midlife. She struggles with an empty canvas that has boundries proscribed by work and children.

Rigby captures both the lingering bitterness ("All I Want") and wistful memories ("The Summer of My Wasted Youth") of the-life-left-behind. Her present tense is a jumble of pressures, from keeping oneself emotionally intact, to juggling children, finances, and a love-life. She struggles with dating, singing to her children, "What I need / For you to disappear / But still be here / When he goes home." She ponders her 30-something invisibilty and dreams of escaping from the soap opera of her life to a fairytale world of happy endings.

Rigby doesn't so much wear her heart on her sleeve as strap it down for a dissection and probe. The results are quite illuminating, if not always comfortable.

This album is not an instant classic like "Diary of a Mod Housewife," but give it a few spins and I bet you'll love it almost as much. Just proves she's human like the rest of us. Forget her less than visionary though anything but cliched take on middle-aged romance, its her take on class that floats this southern boy's bass boat.

Easily one of the best albums of 1998. The melding of musical styles combined with subject matter of major and minor import make this a treasure. This is the type of depth that Alanis Morrisette wish she could have.

I was worried that Amy Rigby's sophomore effort would not live up to expectations created by the tremendous "Diary of a Mod Housewife". I worried needlessly. This disc is bright, diverse, and entertaining as hell. Do not miss the 13th (hidden) cut, "Tonight I'm Gonna Give the Drummer Some".

As I sit here listening to this album, my responses are totally different then the first reviewer. Maybe, I am a bit older; but the album rings truer for me. The album is mainly ballad oriented - semi-folky, autobiographical. Over, I feel it to be a very good listen with a good dose of mid-life ennui. Try ther sound bytes. decide for youself.

I had eagerly anticipated Amy's followup to the wonderful "Diary Of A Mod Housewife", but this is bitterly disappointing. On that first record, she balanced bohemianism and single motherhood with humor and passion. This time out, it comes across as whining. Hey, Amy, we're all getting older, and guess what? It's not so bad. Get over it! Even more disturbing, the stylistic wandering of the music suggests that she doesn't have the confidence in the songs to put them across without some production crutch. I liked the simple production style of "Diary" because it let her heartfelt songs speak for themselves. Get a new producer, Amy, and please try to find something new to say for the next one.

Amy, and I go way back our kids did nursery school together. I was there when she and Will broke up. Her pain and anguish are so well expressed. But she has also expressed her desire to forge ahead and move on by doing what she does best --express herself musically!

Not country music, not rock, not folk just babble. I give it one star, for no heart and no feeling.