Revenge

Janis Ian | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 16, 1995)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Beacon / Boomerang
• ASIN: B0000038UN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,207 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Ready For The War

2. Take No Prisoners

3. Tenderness

4. No One Else Like You

5. Davy

6. When The Silence Falls

7. Take Me Walking In The Rain

8. Berlin

9. Stolen Fire

10. Ruby

11. The Mission

12. When Angels Cry

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the same polished country-rock mold as the previous album; Ian and the band sound great (the bluesy "Rudy"), but the songwriting isn't terribly precise. Some of the love song lyrics are so simple they sound like Johnny Mathis hits ("Tenderness," "No One Else Like You"); "Take Me Walking In The Rain" is a catchy, tender, low-key number, but unaccountably it's stretched out for seven minutes. "Davy," with Ian voicing the confused dreamworld of a bag lady, has the self-satisfied feel of a failed creative writing exercise. But since everything else is in place, when the lyrics hang together, the tunes soar (the cold-eyed infidelity study "Stolen Fire," "When Angels Cry"). Aside from Ian, the musicians include John Jennings (guitar), Matt Rollings (piano and organ), Willie Weeks (bass), Steve Gadd (drums), Cyro Baptista and Jim Brock (percussion); Jennings and Ian produced. (DBW) --Wilson & Alroy

The second album of Janis Ian's third career as a recording artist found her singing love songs full of violent imagery and story songs about desperate characters. Opening with "Ready For War," and Ian used metaphors of armed struggle to describe romantic interaction, following with "Take No Prisoners" and later, in "Stolen Fire," depicting infidelity in Promethean terms. And even when she employed more conventional imagery, as in "Take Me Walking in the Rain," the album's catchiest song with its familiar rock & roll chord progression (think "Every Breath You Take," "Billie Jean," and countless others), Ian gave the song a demanding, erotic edge that made love seem less appealing than urgent. "Love," she noted in the album-closing "When Angels Cry," "is a four letter word" (a statement no less powerful for having been made 30 years earlier by Bob Dylan). And so, she added, was hope: In songs like "Davy," "Ruby," and "The Mission," she painted sympathetic portraits of homelessness and prostitution. The effect, when set to her typically restrained, melodic tunes and sung in her precise, sometimes clipped voice, was of a tough, adult worldview. Of course, that was not so far removed from the view Ian had held in the songs she wrote back when she was a teenager.William Ruhlmann --All Music Guide

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a hit., October 27, 1999 By A Customer The critics hated this, but they also hated "At 17" and "Between the Lines". both #1 records for Ian. She has always used the best musicians available; Steve Gadd & Willie Weeks fill in admirably the spaces left by Richard Davis et al in her earlier work. I know this came on the heels of "Breaking Silence", so everyone expected a moody noir piece - but its refreshing to hear Ian's most commercial material, with choruses you can sing along to, lyrics with insight, the works! Of all her albums, this has to be my favorite, because I can play it tooling around in my car, right next to Back Street Boys and Puff Daddy. If she were male, if she were 19 or 20 years old, this album would have been platinum. --Amazon customer --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Product Description

The basics: Produced by John Jennings & Janis Ian; recorded 1994 at Sound Emporium, Nashville; released 1995 (Beacon). Ruby was used in the film Street Girls; When Angels Cry was featured on General Hospital for 6 episodes, culminating in appearance by Janis singing it at the end of the season. Inside scoop: Janis and John hired her dream band for this album, "and it shows". Unfortunately, immediately after release the record company underwent massive financial and personnel reorganization, and it died a quick death. Still, "this is probably the happiest, most commercial album I've ever done", says Janis. Berlin was written with Linda Perry of '4 non blondes' fame during an afternoon at Janis' house; Take Me Walking In the Rain began on vacation in Provincetown, MA, when Janis took a walk on the beach one rainy afternoon. And Tenderness was born when she and Buddy Mondlock were having lunch and discussing a breakup; Buddy said "You know, I don't need much - just a little tenderness, that's all!" and Janis began singing the chorus to him. Says Janis: "Steve Gadd on drums, Willie Weeks on bass and my most popular live tune 'Take No Prisoners' are all on this record." --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should have been a hit., October 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Revenge (Audio CD)

The critics hated this, but they also hated "At 17" and "Between the Lines". both #1 records for Ian. She has always used the best musicians available; Steve Gadd & Willie Weeks fill in admirably the spaces left by Richard Davis et al in her earlier work. I know this came on the heels of "Breaking Silence", so everyone expected a moody noir piece - but its refreshing to hear Ian's most commercial material, with choruses you can sing along to, lyrics with insight, the works! Of all her albums, this has to be my favorite, because I can play it tooling around in my car, right next to Back Street Boys and Puff Daddy. If she were male, if she were 19 or 20 years old, this album would have been platinum.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Critics hated it but I LOVED it, May 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Revenge (Audio CD)

This album was panned by the critics but if you are a fan of the "At Seventeen" era Janis Ian, this album is great. Most of the tunes on this album are catchy and remind me of why I liked Janis Ian to begin with. My favorites cuts are "When Angels Cry," "Tenderness" and "Take Me Walking In The Rain." The songs are a little sappy (and yes a little depressing) but isn't that why so many of us liked her in the first place?

5.0 out of 5 stars Any CD by Janis Ian is a good CD., November 13, 2011

By 

Bron "Bron" (Mechanicsville, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Revenge (Audio CD)

I consider Janis Ian to be one of the finest songwriters of our era. There's no such thing as a bad Janis Ian CD. You may like some more than others at certain times, but you will learn that over time others will percolate to the top, depending on what's going on in your life. The sheer depth and breadth of her work is amazing. Sharing her birth year, and, it seems, a bit of her attitude towards life, I can very well relate to her work as it has grown over her career and lifetime. Yet there's so much "out there" it seems I can always find something new. How cool is that?