Customer Reviews

A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology

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It's about time the record industry smartened up. Marianne Faithfull is an artist who I always felt deserved to be better represented. And I must say, this is an excellent start. Included is the standard fare, music from the watershed "Broken English," plus it's follow-ups, "Dangerous Acquaintances" and "A Child's Adventure." In the middle is her post-"Broken English" return to "Sister Morphine," whose lyrics she wrote, and which she recorded before the Stones did.

Disc 2 kicks off splendidly with her biting rendition of Weill's "The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife." It is followed by Marianne's deep and dark interpretation of the old blues standard "Trouble in Mind." Then we get the slow and mellifluous beauty of the songs from "Strange Weather," another watershed. It is followed by some excellent unreleased tracks, "A Perfect Stranger," "Conversation on a Bar Stool," and "A Waste of Time." Plus there are some excellent selections from "A Secret Life." The whole collection is rounded out with that album's "She," a tear-inducing piece of orchestral beauty.

Marianne remains a favorite for me and for many others, and is an artist truly worth every accolade ever given to her, not the least of which was being voted the 25th greatest woman in rock history by her peers for VH1.

Marianne Faithfull's "A Perfect Stranger - An Island Anthology" ia a suburub retrospective of her musical journey while with Island Records. When Marianne released her autobigraphy "Faithfull" several years ago, Island Records rushed out "A Collection of Her Best Recordings". I always felt that Marianne, a uniquely talented and gifted artist, was cheated, that it was a poor representation of who and what Marianne was all about. While the main focus of her "Collections" was on her muscical masterpiece, "Broken English", I felt she and her fans deserved better. If anything, her "Collection" served as an introduction to Marianne and her music. But, "A Perfect Stranger - The Island Anthology" is a more fitting and proper retrospective for this truly great artist of her Island Years. Side 1 of the CD focusses on her musical Trilogy (Broken English, Dangerous Acquaintences, and A Child's Adventure). This side contains a wonderful collection of songs from these three wonderful albums from the eighties. Marianne muscial career is like a roller coaster ride with peaks and, yes, with valleys. The Trilogy era is a tru peak in Marianne's musical career. In addition, side 1 contains a wonderful remake of her sixties classic "Sister Morphine". Side 2 contains, again, a wonderful collection of songs from her "Strange Weather" her live "Blazing Away" and her "A Secret Life"". Though a change in musical direction for Marianne, these songs leave no doubt of her talent and artistry. Side 2 also includes a remake of her sixties class "As Terars Go By" and some new songs that are a real treat. This CD is a tribute to Marianne and her music from the late seventies through the nineties. I, personally, see it as a gift from Marianne to her fans. I play it often and never tire of it. Though her fans knew all long, Marianne artistry is finally being recognized. Just this year, she was voted 25th by her peers on the VH1 list of 100 Greatest Women in Rock & Roll. Listen ti the Anthology and you will see why. Now, if we can only get Decca Records to release an Anthology of her early work from the sixties - that would be truly wonderful. Thankfully, Marianne is not done yet - check out her latest & wonderful "Vagabond Ways" too!

Focusing on her post-pop-diva career, this CD reveals Marianne's deeply complex and haunting, throaty style. Because of the brilliant positioning of songs, especially on the first disk, each one takes on new energy and meaning. The strong backbeat and in-your-face lyrics continue from the pounding opening of "Broken English" through "Witches' Song", "Intrique", "Why'd Ya Do It", and "Sweetheart" to the crisp intensity of "Running for Our Lives". I found this to be perfect long-distance driving music, especially at full blast, with the windows up, through sleepy Carolina towns and country roads. The second disk highlights her strong, wise, sorrowful and pensive sides. She is an actress and a perfomer, besides being a singer, and it all comes through here as she takes you on a journey through the ups and downs of love and life. "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" will make you cry. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" will make you remember what regret is. "Sleep" will make you shiver. This is Marianne the artist at work, with three new songs and two great live versions of older ones. Old fans, you will be excited by this CD. New fans, be prepared to be charmed by Marianne Faithfull's sophistication, her art, and her rock 'n' roll heart.

Marianne was born into a wealthy family and didn't need a musical career. Nevertheless, she achieved a measure of success as a pop singer in the sixties, having six UK hits including four that made the top ten. During that time, she recorded four albums - two of pop music and two of folk music - but she also went from being a happy, smiley person (see the cover of Come my way, her first folk album) to an utterly unhappy person dependent on drugs. Her sixties music can be found elsewhere. This compilation focuses on her very different music from 1979 to 1995.

For most of the seventies, Marianne did not record any music such was the depth of her misery. When she started recording again, her voice was different, affected dramatically by all the drugs. She actually started again in 1977 with an album of country songs, mostly covers and three of them originally by Crystal Gayle, but it was her 1979 album, Broken English, that made the world take notice and it is then that this anthology commences.

The songs here are often melancholy, reflecting Marianne's experiences of life as a drug addict. She was past the worst but still affected by it. I find it particularly depressing because of the history. It is one thing to listen to somebody from a poor background singing about hardship - they were born into it and have made an effort to get out of it. Marianne went the other way, so her problems are, at least in part, self-inflicted. Yet there is no denying that her problems with drugs gave her music an edge.

This compilation is dominated by, but not limited to, tracks from her albums Broken English (6 tracks), Dangerous acquaintances (5 tracks), A child's adventure (3 tracks), Strange weather (6 tracks), Blazing away (4 tracks) and A secret life (4 tracks).

A good example of Marianne's style during this period is Ballad of Lucy Jordan. This song was written by Shel Silverstein and first recorded by Dr Hook, who recorded a lot of his songs including Sylvia's mother. Whereas Dr Hook recorded this song in a fairly light-hearted way (just as they had with Sylvia's mother), Marianne took Lucy Jordan's plight very seriously, bringing out the true meaning of the song.

If you want a direct contrast between her old and new music, there is a re-recording of As tears go by, the song that the Rolling Stones wrote especially for Marianne, though they also recorded their own version. The re-recording here is very different from her sixties UK hit version. Sister morphine is also a re-recording of a song she did in the sixties.

Many of the songs here are originals, several of which Marianne co-wrote, but there are some great covers apart from those already mentioned including Working man's hero, Isolation (both John Lennon), Ballad of the soldier's wife (Kurt Weill), Strange weather (Tom Waits) and a couple of oldies from the Great American Songbook, suitably updated (Boulevard of broken dreams, Yesterdays).

The original songs are very dramatic and could only have been sung by somebody disillusioned with so many things in life. If you think things are bad in your life, listening to Marianne will remind you that your life could be a lot worse.

The music here is artistically superior to her sixties music but is more difficult to listen to. The two parts of her career yielded completely different music, so liking one does not mean you'll like the other. My eclectic tastes in music enable me to appreciate both.

If you are new to Marianne's music from this period, this will give you in-depth coverage of it, though if you think a double-CD may be too much, I recommend you just go for one of the original albums from which this is compiled.

This compilation features Marianne Faithfull mark 2, concentrating on her work from the groundbreaking album Broken English to the mid 90s A Secret Life, plus some previously unreleased material.

Disc One is by far the best as it draws on the brilliant trilogy of Broken English, Dangerous Acquaintances and A Child's Adventure. All her rock-pop classics are here, from the controversial Why D'ya Do It, the moving Ballad Of Lucy Jordan and the catchy Intrigue, to The Blue Millionaire. The song Tenderness from Dangerous Acquaintances is a regrettable omission.

Disc Two contains a lot of her bluesy and art-song material, like Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, plus previously unavailable numbers like her exquisite interpretation of Gloomy Sunday. My other favourites here are Ghost Dance, the later version of As Tears Go By and Times Square, which really belongs on Disc One with the rest of the tracks from A Child's Adventure. The last four tracks come from the uninspiring album A Secret Life. A better choice would have been the sorrowful song Losing.

Perfect Stranger does an excellent job of displaying the two sides of the later Faithfull - the rock legend and the torch singer. As such it deserves 5 stars. But to be frank, only Disc One deserves that. It's a matter of taste, but I can only give Disc 2 three stars. Overall, the collection is an impressive showcase of the second part of her career.

This is a perfect introduction to Marianne Faithfull if you've been too timid to invest in all of her CDs. For me, it's the portable Faithfull. I always take it with me. Marianne makes rainy day music - sometimes bleak, sometimes furious, sometimes bitter, sometimes wistful. Always haunting. I never really liked her early crystal soprano, but when she can roaring back with "Broken English" (one of the most perfect collection of songs on record) I was hooked for the duration. Standouts here are many, but I love "Trouble In Mind," "Times Square," "Ghost Dance" the most. A worthy investment.

I was well aware of Marianne Faithfull's soap operatic life long before I was aware of her brilliance as a musician. This recording gives a great deal of insight to the listener, not only into Marianne's life, but into one's own life as well. Her style encompasses many genres of music, and she masters them all. The true strength of this collection is that it provides a showcase for that style. There's a little something for everyone whose main interest in music is as a reference point for their own inner lives, but it probably will not be of much value to those who enjoy a more escapist style of music.

This beautifully compiled anthology finally does full justice to this unique, impassioned artist. Containing the best of her acclaimed '80s-'90s recordings, it features one highlight after another, from "Broken English" to "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" to "The Blue Millionaire" to "Trouble in Mind" to "She," and everything in between. Sad, fierce, frail, regretful, powerful, vengeful, hopeful... this singing, songwriting survivor pours her heart out. A moving, haunting, beautiful listening experience.

A while back I got a collection of hers that was good, but only 11 tracks and obviously too short. Well no problem here, as this is three times the collection in every way. I've liked Marianne Faithfull since I first heard her, and similar to Leonard Cohen, there's no mistaking who you're listening to. This 2-disc set actually has more than I need, but no complaints. Disc one starts with the majority of her huge "Broken English" album, rightly so. Then we get gems like "Intrigue", "For Beauty's Sake", "Truth Bitter Truth", and her take on "Sister Morphine". I'll admit more of my favorites are on the first disc, but disc two is solid also. "Strange Weather", "As Tears Go By", "Isolation", and many more make disc two a must, though things get more mellow toward the end. This of course is just songs from her Island years, but what great years. Essential no matter if you know her music well, or if you're a "perfect stranger" to it. Nice booklet too.

I was going to get a CD of just "Broken English" but decided to get the 2-CD Island anthology instead because of all the great stuff on it. Marianne Faithfull is such an evocative singer - I have to say don't listen to this if you're depressed. There's so much hard-living and lessons learned in her voice.

Overall, this is a great set of music, although I wasn't too crazy about the electronica stuff - simpler is definitely better for her voice.