18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful experience., May 14, 2000
This review is from: Miss America (Audio CD)
A reissue of an out-of-print 1988 album, originally released on Virgin. Still sounds as unique as it did over a decade ago, closest comparison would probably be Victoria Williams, both women have beautifully idiosyncratic soulfully expressive voices that tend to float off high somewhere towards Heaven. Vic is a bit more folkish than M.M. (who's just a little more on the jazzy-arty end of things). I could see fans of Mecca Normal or Kristin Hersh really liking this, Mary Margaret likes to let her demons out, but she's got plenty of angels too. On the supernatural Help Me Lift You Up (covered by This Mortal Coil once upon a time) she creates a new kind of love song with as much spirit as flesh. On To Cry About she sings a lost-in-love ghostly blues. Body's in Trouble is a loopy dreamy thing, Dear Darling is like a lost Patsy Cline lullabye, You Will Be Loved Again is just her voice and David Piltch's string bass demonstrating how much can be done with both to effectively weave a spell of delicious swooning melancholia. Michael Brook co-produced with Mary Margaret and this is one of his finest and most subdued productions (he also adds some of his patented guitar atmospherics).
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discover Her, March 13, 2005
I first bought this album in 1996, listended to it, found her voice preposterously strange and affected, dug the rhythm thrack on one song, and left it alone for 7 years. Last year I picked it up again, and found it to be the most utterly original and beguiling album I'd heard in years. I've no idea what changed for me, but I've barely been able to stop listening to it. Then, once finding more about her unusual recording methods and woeful underuse by Morrissey on his song November Spawned A Monster, I wondered why we haven't heard from her since (though barely any heard the first time). I only hope she is still recording, looking for a new label or putting her unusual talents to use. She is by turns scary, enchanting beautifully jazzy and gentle, and never less than dauntingly original, with her chicken squarks, dazling range and wonderfully inventive turns of phrase. Certainly she won't be everyone's cup of tea, but this Miss America album is highly reccommended to those with an adventurous spirit and those perhaps already digging singer/songwriters who've paved their own path.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What was she on when this was recorded? I want some of it!, February 28, 2005
This review is from: Miss America (Audio CD)
I don't know the answer to the question I pose, but this album is simply an amazing tour de force. I understand it has been included in many "top 100 albums of all time" lists. Well, from the countless albums I have heard in my music-listening career, I would humbly suggest that it is better than top 100, more like top 10!
For me, there are three qualities about this album which make it a masterpiece. Firstly, each song is a gem, an original and so different from the next.
Second, MMO has a fabulous voice which she uses to great effect - she does what could be called vocal contortions on some tracks and, on others, caresses the song with her tenderness.
Thirdly, the backing musicians are fantastic and compliment the voice. You hear each individual instrument very clearly and because there aren't too many different instruments on each track, less is definitely more.
Best tracks? Don't ask me to choose - OK, if you insist. "Anew Day", "Body In Trouble" and "Help Me Lift You Up" are truly wonderful, but I like her playfulness on "Year In Song" and "Not Be Alright". I like her gentleness on "Keeping You In Mind" where she sings almost operatically (and I love the violin solo - which could be a nod to Stephane Grappelli in its style). However, I should now list the other tracks, just out of deference to their staggering beauty.
So, if you can track this album down, it will probably cost you more than the usual price for a full-priced album. Pay up gladly, because this is just one wierd and wonderful album, a glorious 45 minutes of music. This will then become of the top 100 or even top 10 albums in YOUR list of the best albums ever.
MMO is one extra special talent - and now I need to ask where the follow up is?
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