Customer Reviews

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I cannot deny that this CD is one of the best of the decade. Ani's musical skills lend a solid backbeat to many of the stories, creating an interesting mix of contemporary style and old-time stories and concepts. Phillips, of course, is possibly one of the finest storytellers of our century, and is a joy to listen to alone. DiFranco has picked his best told stories, and put brilliant music to them, creating what can only be described as an incredible CD. One caveat, though, if you are primarily an Ani fan, you may want to steer clear of this one. She appears on two tracks, lending her voice only as an instrument, and not to carry any of the tracks. Her role in this CD was purely to produce and mix, not to compose her usual folk songs.

This album is creative genious, period. It's not a "folk" album, it's a beautiful blending of *very* interesting story telling with musical experimentation that fits more perfectly with each listen. If Utah had been born during Twain's time, he would have been considered a national treasure, but since "we" treasure the types of Limbaugh, Drudge, and other purveyors of uncivilized discourse, what Utah has to say and the way he says it is so foreign in this day and age.

The last cut is simply amazing: "I was in a nightclub in Chicago ....."

Whe nI first got this album, I wasn't sure if I would like it. I had been warned that it wasn't "normal" Ani music--and it isn't, at all. It IS, however, an album of beautiful, interesting stories about our past, present and future. I love to bring it with me on long car rides, especially when other people are with me. It keeps everyone's minds occupied and provides for good conversation afterward.

that's how this c.d hit me. i was a fairly new listener of ani difranco's. i bought this c.d because it was used and well i already had "living in clip" and her first c.d. so i figured "hey, one more and at a discounted price? bonus" so i went home to do my daily cleaning and decided to put it in to listen to while i cleaned, which i consider the best thing in the world,cleaning and listening to music, i am sick i know. but i ended up doing some heavy cleaning all throughout the house so all i really heard was the music and someones low baritone voice ,which i fleetingly questioned, but i loved the music so i figured i would listen to it more intently later on. well i finished cleaning and went into my room where my stereo was and layed on my bed, exhausted, i pressed play to start the c.d over and i layed there and listened to what this guy was saying. it almost seemed like my ears were listening too slowly so i shot up in my bed and turned up the volume and listened to each and every beat and each and every word with complete concentration. after the c.d was over i had to lay back down and absorb what i just experienced. well from then on, i was hooked, i put that c.d in my car and it didn't leave it for months and months. i tried to force all of my fellow workers and friends to listen intently as i did and they would look at me with bored eyes and say "yea it's cool" (humoring me of course). they did not understand. it was thier tragic loss. i have yet to find someone that can feel the way i felt upon hearing this wonderful story-teller spin his stories of gold and this genius musician lay these musical jewels. which saddens me, but i guess not everyone is as wonderful as all of us tramps.

This album is a marriage of old and young but the combination is timeless. Humourous and poignant stories backed by some of the funkiest and stirring sounds ever. Incredible, funny, sad, subversive, honest. I saw Utah Phillips by accident years ago before I knew about Ani DiFranco and am not surprised that I found my way to both aritists. It is a perfect combination, but I never would have guessed. This album is KISMET. Stay open to this one. Try something different. Hear some truth.

Ok...so, I bought this CD because I'm an Ani Difranco fan...not because I had ever really heard of Utah Phillips...and, I really had no clue what it would be like. Didn't know it would just be stories put to music..and, when I found that out, I was a lil' upset. Then, I put the disc in the CD player..and, boy did my mind change. The background music that Ani does is just fabulous, and the stories are some of the most important words I've ever heard. You can get so much out of this single CD, it's amazing. Utah is like that wise grandpa you always wish you had...who could tell you a story for every situation and it'd make more sense than anything in the world. Anyway, this CD is for everyone...whether you're just in the mood to hear some kick-ass music...or you're needing some inspirational words. Ani was ingenious to think of this...and, I thank her for introducing me to a very wise man with a lot to say.

You are all right. This isn't a musical cd. And it shouldn't be reviewed as one. What it is is a testimonial, an allegory, a howling, a manifesto... a poem. Utah is awake and he tells stories of his awakening that say to us all: "look around and see what's really here".

No praise is too glowing! I am of course listening to it right now... again... it is ageless, timeless... The perfect introduction to Utah or Ani, the music tends toward appropriately contemplative, but it is Ani, and it is quintessential... the words cannot be spoken too highly of, they incessantly and effortlessly put into definitive phrases those things one tries to know and feel, and tries even harder to say, with incomparable clarity, warmth and charm... an inexhaustable treasure-trove of the most poignant quotes of our time, on issue after issue... a sheer fountain of most meaningful perspectives. Ani, who we can always count on to drop in a few lines amongst the river of passionate wit that flows from her art that especially give us that rarest of feelings, that we are in the presence of absolute, genuine intelligence... just when we need them most... has selected a continuous rich and impeccable tapestry of such things from Utah's career, behind which are her stirring sounds. The album truly is entertaining, endlessly, make no mistake... but this so far transcends mere entertainment that it would be terrible to lay such a shallow label on this work... this is to entertainment what a rare, graceful, irridescent butterfly is a mere piece of lifeless lint, to say the very least.

Two of the best in the world of folk, on one album. Ani took over a hundred hours of Utah's live shows, added her amzingly unique guitar stylings, and has given us, the folk, quite a listening experience. No one tells a story like Utah Phillips, and anyone who enjoys good story telling will not be disappointed.

This is a thoughtful and entertaining CD. The listener finds a fascinating and insightful contribution. It's unusual to find entertainers this intelligent.