Customer Reviews

Picture Perfect Morning

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It will remain a frustrating mystery in my life why this album did not and still does not receive the recognition it deserves. Every single song is crafted to perfection, her voice is truly unique, the music is deep and sonic and the lyrics are absolutely amazing! I still can't believe that Edie wrote "Good Times", I would swear it was an old 60's song by some soul legend. This album is in my top 10 of all time and I don't care if no one else understands! But I wish they would. Do yourself a favor and buy this masterpiece. This is some of the best, most honest music I have ever heard.

While this is a great CD, in an endeavour to add something different to the other reviews, I'll focus on the outstanding musicianship in this Album.

While I would give the cd 4 stars based on the songs alone, I have to give it 5 stars due to the quality of the musicianship and song production which really makes them. In my opinion, this makes a couple of the songs I like a bit less still very listenable. In particular, the guitar lines throughout the album are a highlight. My favourite would be "Tomorrow Comes" which is a brilliant example of simple but well placed guitar licks with no over-playing. The song itself has a real "eighties sound" and makes the album worth buying just for this song.

Also, if you own an old copy of Windows 95, you'll remember the song "Good Times" which is another fine example of a great, simple but well produced pop song with the "Eddie" sound. The album grows on you the more times you listen to it.

Highly recommended listening for any aspiring pop musician and anyone else who likes great quality easy listening pop songs which can be played over again without becoming boring. Well worth an addition to any collection.

I picked this title up in the under $7.00 bin of a music store on the way to a blue's festival. What a prize! We listened to it over and over on the drive and I still regularly pop it in the C.D. player at home. I was familiar with the two hits from Edie Brickell's 1st album but hadn't heard anything else from her on the radio. She's got a really unique voice and her songs have great rhythms.

Picture Perfect Morning is the album that I have longed for. I still remembered the first time I saw her MTV "Good Times" from Windows 95 MPEG demo file, it was really touching. After that, I got an "Eddie sick". You know, I can't get any information about her (even her name)from the file! Aftering having asked thousands of people, I finally found "her" two weeks ago. I feel so happy and lucky! Now my friends in Republic of China (Taiwan) all like her album. I love you, Eddie!

Edie Brickell has always been a favorite of mine. First of all she was pre-Norah Jones,that is in the sense she has a singing style that breaks down the barriars between folk,jazz and soul.The main difference aside from the difference in era has to do with their instrument;Edie play a rhythmic,folksly acoustic guitar that again transends styles.So from her days with the New Bohemians and Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars and "What I Am" Edie was the link between Joni Michell and Norah. Produced by her husband Paul Simon along with engineer Roy Halee this debut solo album for Brickell blends folksy tunes with plenty of jazz and soul along the way. "Tomorrow Comes" is a nice easy rocking tune to get things started on.It's hard to review this album without thinking of it's big hit single "Good Times",an almost eerie channeling of Smokey Robinson's classic sound that almost had me,and apparently many others convinced it was him when it first came out. There's a strong element of soul here in other places at well."Another Woman's Dream" actually has a mild disco-funk flavor to it where "Stay Awhile" is just marvelous,a very 60's Atlantic soul ballad that definately has Simon's influence.Yes and about that the very dramatic folk-rock of "Green,"When The Lights Go Down" and "Oliva" just about reek of Simon's own musical style but the approch is unique.There's no self consiousness here;Edie has a casual,outgoing lyrical intellect that has more to do with statements of intent then any inner insecurity."Hard Times" and "In The Bath" are both pretty good 90's adult urban pop-soul,with a nice sense of rhythm to boot in both cases and the last two pieces,including the title song are beautiful little breezy folky tunes. This is one of those albums that can get on on three different levels:you can move and sway to it,you can sing to it and you can chill out to it. What is such a pity is that even in Edie Brickell's respected catalog this album tends to be ignored and brushed aside into the catagory of "critic's darling" albums,which for most people means it didn't get much airplay on the radio.Well "Good Times" did and if one song could make it off such this and encourage people to take a listen to the whole album I don't imagine anyone came out disappointed.

I have listened to the song "Good Times" a million times, and I can't stop thinking it's Smokey Robinson. Listen to the long "goodbye" as she sings "I don't wanna say goodbye", and the way she sings the word "little" in "I want a little more".

But, as I say, I have listened to it a million times. The whole album is good, but this one song is worth the price of entry.

For those of us have been fortunate enough to "discover" the alluring voice and talent of Edie Brickell. It is not difficult to understand why "Picture Perfect Morning" (Edie's solo album) grows on you with each and every listen. Although VHI and college radio stations only remember her as the: "What I Am" hip chick of the 80's/ early 90's. Our beloved Brickell has reached a fine, mature, and distinctive folk/jazz sound all her own. "Good Times" is characteristic of just such a claim, with Edie's soothing vocals, and jazzy laid background vocal accompaniment. It's just the song to put on after a hard days work, with a glass of Chablis and a diming of your track lights.Other tracks like "Hard Times" "Another Womans Dream" and "In The Bath" place you smack dab in the middle of a smoky jazz club, with nothing better to do than forget your troubles, over a couple of drinks with a few good friends. Folk songs like "Green" and "Olivia" are enough to satisfy the old yuppy college crowd. This album is a rare gem, as rare a find as our Edie is; a diamond in the rough. If you have any doubts about her solo work, you can always purchase Edie's "Ultimate Collection" with "The New Bohemians". There are some of her solo tracks from this album on there. However, "The Ultimate collection" contains only a tease of all the wonderful music on "Picture Perfect Morning"."Picture Perfect Morning" is a must have for any true Edie fan...

This is perhaps the biggest surprise album I've ever heard. As a fan of much heavier music like Metallica, Skid Row, WASP, etc., I was shocked at how much I enjoy Picture Perfect Morning. It is much better than Brickell's previous two albums and just has an outstanding sound to go with some great lyrics.

I bought this album in early 1993 and yet it wasn't until 1996 when I "discovered" it's wonderfulness.

I bought it simply because it was Edie Brickell. I played it long enough to scan (not play) most of the songs on the album and then put it among my many other cds and forgot about it.

Years later I pulled out the disc and played it. I was thoroughly amazed!!! Only two of the songs are striking in their introductions... which makes them deceptively lush and beautiful. The songs are true compositions which require the listener to pay attention from beginning to end to appreciate the incredible tones, instrumentation and lyrics of each song. Particularly the second half of the album, which can almost bring tears to my eyes if I allow myself to fall deep enough into the music.

"And when the plane flew through the rain, it shook the wings and people screamed. But I was so sure that I'ld see you again, I was not afraid of anything." - This lyric in and of itself is deceptively wonderful as only when taken with the hauntingly serene accordian (and other instruments) does the vibrance and brilliance shine through.

Rarely can such a frighteningly realistic song as "Lost In The Moment" convey such warmth and loveliness, in spite of the starkness of the story. And yet such contradictory loveliness shines throughout the album.

Unquestionably it can never be mistaken as an equal to "SHOOTING RUBBERBANDS..." or "GHOST OF A DOG." Never as lighthearted and simple as they and never as dismissable. This album is never a collection of songs and should never be evaluated as such. This album (though not a concept album) is a woven fabric of musical highs and lows, ebbs and flows that sneaks up on the listener with a tidal wave of musical brilliance that crests with a whitecapped rush. Edie Brickell created a truly "Picture Perfect" album... morning, evening or otherwise.

Edie Brickell has proven she can combine the prosaic with the inspirational, and make rejuvenating even the most haunting lyrics. Her voice is wonderful and her intuition with lyrics is subtly brilliant. A very relaxing CD, but one that makes you listen carefully more than once.