Customer Reviews

Nomads Indians Saints

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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I have been a fan of the Indigo Girls for about eight years now, I've seen them in concert twice, and I have to say that of all their albums, this is perhaps their most powerful and outspoken. The lyrical styles of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers have remained relatively constant over the years, but the songs on this album, particularly "Hammer and Nail" and "Welcome Me", are at the same time both beautiful to hear and inimitably painful to experience. These two women put such power, joy, and longing into both their words and their voices that it is impossible to listen to this album and come away from it unchanged (I know because I forced some friends who weren't Indigo Girls fans to listen to it, and they loved it!). By far my favorite album, and one well worth the price.

N*I*S has taken me places, and it's followed me around the world on my journeys. This is one of my favourite Indigo Girls albums - in fact it was my first introduction to their talent beyond 'Closer To Fine'. For me, this collection of songs speaks of self discovery through the understanding of relationships between friends, lovers, family, and the physical world. Emily and Amy have only collaborated on a couple of songs in their entire career, and their independant songwriting has worked perfectly on this release - 5 of Emily's finest have shown up, and 6 Amy gems rear their intense heads. Mortality and and celebration of growth are two recurrent themes throughout their songs on Nomads. Also a common thread is the discovery life's beauty through reflection, both tragic and humorous. Listening to the album while I write this, I am tempted to compare the wonderful production of this album to Shawn Colvin's "Steady On" in it's polished acoustics and honest guitar playing.

I highly recommend this Nomads Indians Saints as a gift or as an introduction to Folk and the Indigos. And like I said, it's the perfect companion for a lone traveller. I've travelled the world three times on this album, and I never tire of it. With my headphones on, my eyes on the ever-changing landscape, I listen to Amy's words, Emily's wonderful fingerpicking on the title track and listen to the perfectly apt lyrics "...this world falls on me, dreams of immortality, everywhere I turn - the beauty just keeps shaking me... I running, to the end of the earth. I'm swimming to the edge of the sea. I'm laughing, I'm under starry sky - this world was meant for me, don't bury me - carry me... this world was meant for me, I've got hopes of immortality..."

More excellent work from the Indigo Girls. "1 2 3" was a little too rough for my tastes when I first heard the CD, but it grew on me... the rest of the tracks need no such "growing" time... they're excellent tracks and great to listen to. "Hammer and a Nail" is this album's answer to "Closer to Fine" on their self-titled debut.

If you've only gotten the first installment of their work, you're really missing out if you don't pick this one up, too. The songs are a real treat and easy on the ears and the heart.

"World Falls," "Watershed," "Hammer & A Nail," these are songs that I consider old friends. They're dependable, and they make me happy.

It's more polished than "Strange Fire" or "Indigo Girls," but not too polished like "Rites of Passage" or anything that's come after that. It's about perfect. If you live in New England, it's a great album to play on an October afternoon out on a car ride. Rustic, Earthy, yearning. You can smell the leaves and the smoke from chimneys.

From the opening note of "Hammer and Nail" to the closing notes of "The Girl With The Weight Of The World In Her Hands" this is Indigo Girls at their finest. Of all their albums, this one is my favorite and constantly makes it back into the CD player rotation. I have the original version so I don't know what difference the bonus tracks would make on the remastered version. Having seen the Indigo Girls live twice now, I feel very priviledged to have experienced them live. This album struck a chord in me and many of my friends the year of it's release. We lived it, loved it, and paid homage to the "Girls" many times. It is hard to have a favorite. The Indigo Girls continue to amaze me with each release. But, I would recommend this one be the first one you add to your collection. "Nomads Indians Saints" is a finely crafted pop/rock/folk collection of art that you can see and feel as well as hear. Each cut paints a lyrical tapestry that makes you feel as if you're there with them as the songs came to them. The harmonies, instrumentation and production on this album are incredible. See, hear, feel, smell, touch, taste, and ENJOY!

as in their self-titled album. the Indigo Girls continue to explore spiritual and social issues in their classic folk-rock style. emily saliers' beautiful voice enchants in "southland in the springtime" and amy ray's gritty vocals in "pushing the needle too far" are downright haunting. stll, they are at their best in the catchy "hammer and a nail" where their social consciousness combines with outstanding harmonies to create a song we can all sing along with, regardless of age and musical preference. this is a keeper and among their very best work.

When I first heard Indigo Girls - Nomads, Indians and Saints, I was blown away !! Their music takes you on a journey from the deepest trenches, to the highest peaks of your psyche ! Very hard to walk away from this cd unmoved or unscathed...I have "never" heard such beauty in any other artists...from tender to raw and raunchy, it has a beauty to it...not meant for the faint of heart...it pierces you with its heartfelt arrow and you will never be the same ! An american folk/rock triumph to say the least !!! A MUST have for any serious music collector!

i have been a fan of the girls for about 8 years now. nomads*indians*saints is by far my favorite IG recording ever. the styles range from amy's rawness ("1 2 3") to emily's profound deep reasoning ("you and me and the 10,000 wars"). "hammer and a nail" (mary chapin carpenter backs them up) is the best "get up and do it" song ever. everyone can relate to "watershed". amy's fear of dying is expressed in "world falls". it is just a wonderful recording and i think that EVERYONE must have it!

If a reviewer titles his scribblings this way, this does not run against the tide of his admiration for this amazing duo. Rather, it nods in the direction of the deeply introspective tone of the lyrics of this album, prone as they are towards examining the unseemly part of the human heart, both those of the writers and of the flawed human beings they know.

Along the way, the Girls treat us to fabulous harmonies not usually associated with the anger and political awareness they bring to their craft. You could love the music on this album without knowing anything of the Indigo Girls or their project. That may be among the higher compliments that a CD can earn for its makers.

The Girls are at their best when celebrating a moment on the road, lost amid the big horizons of nature, as in 'Southeast in the Springtime'. It is possible to lose onself in a song like this, coming up for air and a giggle only when confronted with a line like 'When God made me a Yankee he was teasin'.

The, there is the (auto?)-biographical inspection of track ten's 'The Girl with the Weight of the World in her Hands', a brilliant summary of narcissism and its concentric waves of self-obsession.

It seems impossible, having enjoyed IG since the mid-90s, that this CD is now *seventeen* years old. It's warm harmonies sound as though they were composed yesterday. Its clean-ness signals something of a fresh start to the enthusiast who returns to it after occupying the ears with other, busier things. It rings, like those Texas waters, with confidence and reason.