Roll

Anne McCue | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 9, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Messenger Records
• ASIN: B0001ENXZE
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #159,699 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Like countrywoman Kasey Chambers, Australian Anne McCue has brought modern American roots music back toward its source. Resounding with little more than rocking guitar and a tight rhythm section, Roll does just what the title says, cruising along with the sense of swing that distinguishes great rock & roll from its often more leaden relative, rock. Perhaps in tribute to McCue's staunchest supporter, the Lucinda Williams-styled "I Want You Back" opens the proceedings. Two tracks down the road comes the even better "Stupid," an infectious warning against listening too hard to others opinions, a track that is destined to be a mainstay of AAA radio. This is as varied, insightful, melodic, and just plain listenable a collection of compositions as you are likely to hear in 2004--expect coverage by other artists. Though assaying a Hendrix tune ("Machine Gun") at this stage of her technical development might be hubris, her guitar work in general is unfailingly interesting, appropriate, and tonally luxurious. Anne McCue is definitely one to watch. --Michael Ross

About the Artist

When Anne McCue proclaims, "I’ve gotta roll" on the title track from her Messenger Records debut, Roll, her urgency and conviction are telling: here is an artist who has been on an extraordinary journey and lived to tell the tale.

McCue’s musical path commenced during her childhood in Sydney, Australia. The last of eight children born to a milkman and a nurse, she absorbed the runoff of the inevitably diverse musical tastes of her huge family. Naturally the Beatles rated, but she also fell for French composer Eric Satie and crooner of the dark side, Nick Cave. Although an immediate and profound element in her upbringing, music trailed on her career choice list (behind novelist, film maker and marathon runner), and eventually she graduated from the Sydney University of Technology with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies.

She commenced recording her solo debut, Amazing Ordinary Things, at Tim Finn’s (Crowded House) Periscope Studios. Before the album was complete, McCue joined Eden a.k.a., an acoustic rock band signed to Columbia Records. They were brought to the U.S. to record and tour, including stints on the 1998 and 1999 Lilith Fair. When that ended, McCue stayed in L.A. and leapt back into completing Amazing Ordinary Things, which eventually was released in Canada and most recently in Japan.

While touring to back up the album, McCue wowed crowds and acquired fans in high places. She played constantly including shows with Dave Alvin, Richard Thompson, and Lucinda Williams, who would become her biggest champion. Williams took McCue on the road throughout 2002, praised her at every chance referring to her as "my new favorite artist...and an amazing guitarist", and honored her with inclusion on the Lucinda Williams: Artist’s Choice compilation CD, in the esteemed company of John Coltrane, Leonard Cohen, Patty Griffin, Paul Westerberg, and Ryan Adams.

The spirit continues with Roll. Produced by McCue and bassist Dusty Wakeman (Lucinda, Dwight Yoakam) at Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, Roll is McCue fortified by a rock solid Texan rhythm section of Wakeman and drummer Dave Raven. "The whole idea was to get back to a three-piece band in the studio," McCue explains, citing such favorite trios as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, The Police, and The Jam. "I like that people triangle, and I wanted to record like that: guitar-bass-drums. That way we get as much of a live feel as possible. Later we overdubbed some B3, accordion and guitars where necessary."

The songs are accordingly plain- spoken and open-ended; she writes unencumbered by static statements or formats, and with a fluid grace—even her most personal and specific words wrap well around a hundred different situations.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Swinging at the End of a Rope, July 8, 2004

By 

Lee Armstrong (Winterville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll (Audio CD)

"In the valley of the darkness, in the valley of night, I saw my baby swingin' in the pale moonlight," is the relatively simple lyric that starts my favorite track on "Roll," McCue's "Hangman." With its pulsing rhythm, McCue's burning slide guitar, and the distortion on the vocals, it is an incredible track that rocks maliciously. I focused on this CD after reading that Lucinda Williams was a fan; and Lucinda's got taste! Another favorite of mine is the title track with McCue's stinging guitar lashing the melody, "I feel alright for someone who was kicked out of school; I feel alright for someone who was told she was a fool." Perhaps rightly criticized as more strong in musical construction than lyrics, McCue still turns an unsettling word as on "Ghandi," "I wanted to be like Buddha but I turned out like Nixon, betrayed the trust of the common man, Don't look down, there's so much blood on my hands." It's an bitter lyric coming from this Sydney, Australian's point of view, but the track throbs with a pulsing beat and a kind of 80's "Talking Heads" sensibility on the "Ghandi yeah" chorus. While those are my favorites, others have listed the first three tracks as the strongest. "I Want You Back" churns with a rootlessness, "I think I'm goin' down slowly; yes, I think I'll lose control." "Nobody's Sleeping" is another midtempo rocker with McCue's bold guitar painting a haunting picture. "Stupid" is a twangy-Byrdslike folk/rock track, "I almost listened to what the prophets had to say..." No one can tell you about this set without mentioning the credible job McCue does on Jimi Hendrix's "Machine Gun" with her guitar stinging like a raw music channeling session. "Roll" may be a bit uneven in places, but it is never boring. There are so many incredible tracks on this disc that it is becoming one of my favorites in 2004. Enjoy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne McCue Rocks!, October 11, 2005

By 

Pam Russell (Utah) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll (Audio CD)

Anne McCue is a tiny woman with a large voice who really pours every ounce of her being into her music. She reminds me of Janis Joplin and can play the guitar like Jimmy Hendrix. This is a great CD worth adding to any collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Headed For The Top ( with a little help from Jimi ), February 20, 2005

By 

Kim Porter "Forté Magazine" (Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Roll (Audio CD)

Former guitarist with Melbourne's Girl Monstar, Anne McCue is nowadays US-based, where she has much of that country's music press - plus other musicians - in a tizz. Lucinda Williams raves about McCue every chance she gets, and features her as opening act whenever possible, while Billboard Magazine claims McCue is "...a potent singer, thoughtful songwriter and tough guitarist."

McCue certainly warrants the "tough guitarist" rap - there's plenty of ballsy axemanship on Roll, but the one that's got everyone talking is her take on `Machine Gun', the Jimi Hendrix number from Band Of Gypsys. On the 4-track bonus disc that comes with initial copies of Roll, McCue also covers Hendrix's `Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)' - "This song's by a boy from Seattle, who never really grew old, and it sorta goes like this," is her intro to a live display of guitar virtuosity that Jimi could only have loved.

Roll`s three opening tunes present a light roots/pop blend, (perhaps aiming for some Waifs-style radio airplay), before pegging slightly with `Crazy Beautiful Child'. After this McCue begins to let loose with some of her guitar heroics: `Hangman' is one of the album's highpoints; `Roll' is a medium-tempo rocker straight out of the Girl Monstar stylebook; `Ghandi' has some lovely menacing guitar; on `Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman' McCue displays plenty of slide, which is perhaps her greatest joy.

"A fifty dollar whore,
Could solicit more respect,
Than I gave to myself,
Knowing who you are..."
(`50 Dollar Whore')

Roll's lyrics first prompted me to think of Robert Earl Keen - the man described as the Thinking Person's Country Musician. (Not that McCue is a country artist) "Yeah, I like making people think a little bit - myself included," she told me. "I like to be challenged a bit when I'm listening to something."

"I was born, so here I am,
Not too bad for the unintended,
The one too many in a crowded room..."
(`Roll')

Roll suffers at times from its own variety, but that's just nitpicking - it still finished 2004 on a large number of influential Albums Of The Year lists.

Kim Porter
Forté Magazine, Australia