Customer Reviews

Miss America

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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).

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.

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?

Miss America is an inspiring collection of haunting songs delivered in a breathtaking variety of styles without sacrificing cohesion. The arrangements are spectacular whilst the lyrics are sometimes clear, sometimes enigmatic and wide open to interpretation. Mary M is accompanied by an array of guitars, bass, piano, violin & drums.

Every track is great, but my favorites are the dreamy Help Me Lift You Up, Year In Song with its tempo shifts & vocal variation, the poignant Body's In Trouble, the yearning Dear Darling which sounds like a blend of torch song & country weepy, the rhythmic up-tempo A New Day, When You Know Why You're Happy and the pure rock number, My Friends Have.

Her vocal gymnastics are impressive as she moves from the mournful to the wistful to the exultant through Body's In Trouble, Dear Darling to A New Day. Also check out This Mortal Coil's version of Help Me Lift You Up on their album Blood. As singer/songwriter O'Hara is hard to classify, but fans of her compatriot Jane Siberry and of Tori Amos, and even of Meredith Monk! will certainly love this strange and atmospheric album.

In 1980 I went to see a band named Songship in a small bar in Montreal. Every second song was sung by this pixie with a BIG voice named Mary Margaret O'hara who would raise the quality of the performance by a factor of ten (the rest of the band being uninteresting). I had to wait some seven years for the album, but it was worthwhile when it finally appeared. Recently, I have been listening to it and have fallen in love with the album all over again. It was so ahead of its time. Mary Margaret's influence is everywhere. You can bet that Sarah and Alannis listened to this. While other reviewers may focus on the arrangements and off-beat style, I will always remember the sheer power of that voice which was captured well on the album. Try playing it loud.

Not many vocalists have the sensitivity of Mary Margaret O'Hara, let alone the lungs. Her technique can transform from the velvety to the guttaral within a phrase while still staying true to the complex subject matter of her songs. With the multitude of pseudo-earthy female vocalists parading their neuroses and dimestore angst in the media these days, "Miss America" remains a breath of fresh air accross the ears of those who appreciate sincerity, sophistication and a healthy dose of modesty.

I don't think I'm a talented enough wordsmith to describe this album in a few lines and do it justice. Just buy it... now... it was incredibly ahead of its time in 1989 (with songs written as far back as 1978), and there is still nothing to compare to it.

And be sure to give it a chance... I didn't care for it the first time through. That was a while ago. Now it's probably the most important piece of music I own.

Um, one of the finest recordings in your catalog and out of print? Sometimes you have to carry a loss leader because it simply must be available to the public. I know, I know, this is a business and you've got to move units, but, please, Mary Margaret O'Hara is one of the world's great treasures and she surfaces about as often as Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster, bestowing on us a tantalizing glimpse of her magnificence, which only leads to greater fascination. Remaster and release and your karma will improve tenfold. Thank you.

"To Cry About" is one of my favourate songs, EVER. This album is for people who appreciate someone who can sing. Mary Margaret is the polar opposite to x-factor and all the other rubbish the music industry is up to these days to try to flog any old tripe. It's time to sit down Mary and pull another rabbit out of your magical hat.

I own the original 1988 version of this CD (bought from a guy named Roman who ran an underground record store in the ruins of a grand hotel, but that's another story). This album defies description; not quite jazz, definitely not rock, elements of country and blues, with MMOH's amazing voice carrying the whole thing forward. The first bass notes of "Anew Day" always bring me joy, as do the closing lines of "You Will Be Loved Again" (check out Cowboy Junkies' cover): the tension of "Not Be Alright" and "My Friends Have", the longing of "Dear Darling" and "Help Me Lift You Up", the cynicism of "Year in Song"... Oh, just buy the CD and listen! You will soon see why this album is still on my MP3 player nearly 20 years after I first heard it.