Customer Reviews

Other Side

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After seeing Melissa Ferrick so many times live I started to feel like her albums weren't living up to what I knew best became her - getting on stage and breathing it all: the music, the space, the audience. *The Other Side* has broken my disenchantment with her studio work. 30 seconds into the first song, you know it's all her, and you're grateful for every blissful minute of it. 'Beijing', 'Nebraska', and 'Bad Bad Girl' are standouts - perhaps we have a live replacement for 'Drive' in the latter? I haven't seen her perform in almost a year, but I would be ecstatic to see her drag that song out like she has 'Drive'.

If you've never heard Melissa before, this or *Everything I Need* are good introductions. If it's been awhile, don't hesitate to get this album. And if you've never seen her live, save your money and get a ticket. One gets the feeling that she's found her calling and that she is singularly and entirely herself when performing these songs that mean so much to her. Rarely do I feel that so intensely at any show, and to see her is to feel a connection with her and Brian and everyone else in the room who is tossing around and sharing amazing energy. At a good show, it's better than drugs.

She really gives it her all on this album. Melissa has crafted a truly incredible record where she plays every single instrument, pedal, and key herself. She has transformed acoustic ballads into rocking bass-beats (Bad Bad Girl) with dazzling effect. She is truly an artist.

Song by song:
1. Beijing: A hopeful, perky song that leaps out at you. With light and cheerful guitar, this song is really the perfect opening.
2. The Other Side:
3. Nebraska: Though not as intensely vocalized as the live version, this version still showcases Melissa's incredible vocal abilites.
4. Streetlight: A possessive, aching love song.
5. I Give Up: mournful song about letting someone go
6. Bad Bad Girl: Favorite song off the album, hands-down. Amazing lyrics, amazing instrumention - turns into an 8 minute jam-out. Fantastic.
7. Fearless: More quickly sung and played than the live version, still expressive and beautiful.
8. Every Three Words: Another love song. Very nice, used to be title Make It Count.
9. Anything Anywhere: This one has special meaning for me, because she played it totally unplugged to tame a drunken audience. Absolutely gorgeous.
10. Westbound: At first sounds overproduced, but on repeated listens I grew to love it. Great closer to the album.

I highly recommend this record!

I consider this to be Ferrick's best work since 2000's "Freedom".
From the first track "Beijing" to the last one "Westbound" there's not a dud to be found on this record. It had its claws in me immediately and I'm a tough sell. Can't wait to see this stuff played live as there's nothing like a live Ferrick performance. Current favs on the record are "Bad Bad Girls" and "Nebraska." The stuff is raw, emotional, fierce and musically sound, with Ferrick playing everything herself on it.
I've been a fan since Massive Blur and this album really struck me in a way I haven't felt in a while. It hasn't left the cd player in days. My friend and I sat there the other day giving it a first listen and were nodding our heads immediately that the distinctly Ferrick edge is abundant on this record.

I recieved this CD in June for my birthday, and listened to it a few times....then when I really listened to it about a month later, I couldn't get enough of it, and I still can't seem to get it out of my CD player. I absolutely love Westbound and Every Three Words, well, actually there isn't a bad song on the whole CD. After seeing her in concert in December, I have discovered that I am completely addicted to ALL of her music... I am buying all the cd's as quick as I can find them. This is my favorite studio album (so far)!

I am a recent Melissa Ferrick fan, and I must say I was impressed by this album. I have all her previous records, and Melissa is a musician that never ceases to amaze me. Every album has its own distinct flavor, and this one is no exception. Very different from her past inspirations, this album lacks much of the raw, gritty guitar on her older, much less-produced albums. I must say when I first played this album, I wasn't sure what to think. Especially by the end track "Westbound", which sounds more like a remix of something, but like I said: It's different, and I loved it for that. Like with her past albums, it displays a new side of her talent as a musician, as she plays all the instruments, and once again, we are blessed with her sexy in-your-face lyrics. I have to agree with the other folks who have written reviews that "Bad Bad Girl" is the best track on the album, though, I'd also like to cast a vote for "Anything Anywhere", and "Nebraska", though "Nebraska" isn't as powerful as the live version on "70 People at 7000 Feet". Then again, Melissa is always best live.

The Other Side is an amazing step for Melissa Ferrick. I was skeptical of the reviews claiming that this is her best album, since it would be hard to beat her recent work, but some of the tracks truly blew me away. It is hard to believe that she is able to put out an album a year and tour constantly.

i personally love her music,found her on another melissa fan site.went and purchased a used cd.have all her music,will be seeing her for the first time this summer[07]

How many ways are there to say something's good? And how many reasons? I'll throw my 2 cents in because The Other Side really is that good, right up there with Everything I Need and Valentine Heartache, Melissa's 2 best studio albums in my opinion.

She rocks out a bit more on this one, grooving hard on "Bad Bad Girl." "Beijing," the opening track, is the sort of catchy, joyous tune I haven't heard much of since Everything I Need. And the closing track, "Westbound," a low-key song with an undertoned chorus, incorporates electronic elements I haven't heard in her music before and makes the instrumentals more prominent and more important than the vocals.

There really aren't any weak moments on the album. It's folk, pop, rock, and groove. It's very much Melissa.

Don't forget that as good as she is in the studio, Melissa is even better live. So be sure to check out her 3 live albums and catch a show if you can.

Melissa Ferrick's cd IS Melissa Ferrick's cd. She has done all the work, played all the instruments. Ani Difranco's newest disc, Educated Guess, is the same... but doesn't come close to what The Other Side has achieved. Ferrick's love songs have become more emotional, more open. 'Bad Bad Girl' is Ferrick's best song. Her Freedom cd is still her best disc, but The Other Side is right behind Freedom. If you get a chance to see Melissa Ferrick live... take advantage, because her CDs can not capture the power and emotion of Ferrick's voice and guitar playing.