Customer Reviews

Seastories

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I can only echo another reviewer and say that Driver is IT. However, where I liked much of her first album, despite it's atmospheric slowness (I wished it had rocked a little more, had more variety), with this one, she's stolen my heart. The opening title just engaged me right away, and from there, through the next five songs, it never let up. The seventh and eighth tracks I will have warm up to, but then she hit me with "London Skies" and through to the end, a sort of brief bow called "Love Is Love," I AM in love. Her singing is strong and assured, her songwriting equal to any, in the huge crop of good singer/songwriters working today, and there's lots of thrilling stuff going on behind her, especially the bass work by Chris Feinstein and Al Wolovich on some, and Ed Heywood's pedal steel on "How To Be Good," and the gorgeous ballad that is the climax of this album, "Coming Back To Life." There are nice touches by Liz Phair and others, but this is Driver's moment; the "entire package" includes some nice photos, an added bonus to a CD that will be staying in my changer for a while. Excellent.

I saw her perform this the night the CD was released. It was in a really small bar with a ridiculously small stage. Her band could barely fit on it. Anyway, every song she sang I was hearing for the first time. I knew she could sing but was pleasantly surprised at what I heard from this band. I wondered what the CD would sound like and it is wonderful. A previous reviewer mentioned the first five songs and that is spot on. There's great fare in the vein of Chrissie Hynde, Fleetwood Mac, and even The Band. Here's a suggestion: preview Seastories for free via Rhapsody's service and listen to it through a pair of good headphones. Beautiful music that touches the spirit.

(Addendum)
I've now listened to the CD about 20 times and I'm just thrilled. I previously talked about the first five songs but the sixth song How To Be Good has become my favorite. Beloved is damn close to being the perfect single too. This is one hell of a CD.

Minnie, let me be the first to congratulate you on what should be a well deserved Grammy nod.

After having enjoyed her in several diverse film and TV projects, the most recent one being The Riches, I have really come to respect Minnie Driver as a versatile actress. I had no idea however that she was a musician with 2 CDs out too, and I was blown away when I started to listen to Seastories. I was immediately hooked. She has a bittersweet style that is gentle, melancholic, and completely real and grounded (a surprise for a big actress). I've been listening to the CD for the last couple of days and can't get some of the songs out of my head. They are like ear candy--pleasantly melodic with an emotional presence that hits the spot perfectly. I can't believe that this album--with its folksy/dream pop/atmospheric sound and slight country tinge at times--was made by a British actress! But thanks to its authenticity and accessibility, my disbelief quickly faded and I became enchanted with Minnie's beautiful style.

Most CD's have a few tracks that are just OK or disappoint you in some way...but not Seastories, This CD is top notch in every aspect! Minnie Driver is an AMAZING artist with a voice that will blow-you-away. This is without a doubt the Best CD of 2007 and deserves a 6th star! You won't be disappointed...at all...for any reason...ever...honest!

Let Me be the 1st too say..where "evrything i got in my pocket" was a wonderful cd like a ship a-float on the ocean..and her vocals like a breeze of silk..this cd brings it too the shores..no sophmore slump here!! and she puts to rest along standing comment.."actors can't sing/singers can't act">>she is the FULL package! also a wonderful song-writer!..i have listened to this disc 3 times already today, and only got it a few hours ago!.."sorry baby" is a fun up-tempo track..and "beloved" is wonderful!..it's the perfect, what i call "sunday-record"..put on the coffee, read the paper, and just relax and listen!...the only reason i gave it 4-stars is, that for me i just wanted it NOT too end..so really (it's a 5)..i could go on..but then you wouldn't have time to really enjoy the magic (of what i HOPE the record companies keep around)of Minnie Driver!...Peace..may your ears stay happy Bill McClenthan

I did not really know what to expect, hoping it would not be another "vanity project" by an actress acting like a singer. She truly is versatile and this project is definitely a stand alone disc. If you did not know her as an actress, you would be impressed anyway. Clearly she has the whole package. Overall, it's not too smoky or jazzy, but not really pop either. It's just very nice music to listen to, plain and simple. Her voice has a Norah Jones quality to it if you had to compare her. I look forward to her future projects. (musical and theatrical)

I fell in love with the song "My Beloved" when I saw Minnie Driver perform it on "The View"-- I loved it so much I had to buy the entire CD with no idea what else it would contain. Imagine my delight to find that the rest of the CD was even better! Yet more astonishing is that Minnie wrote most of the songs herself. I will never again see her as an actor that can sing; she is a soul wrenching, insightful yet delightful singing diva that can also act.

The song "Mocking Bird" is enchanted -- once you hear it, the song becomes "stuck" in your head because it is so beautiful! I cheated and read the words in the CD insert before I listened to some of the songs. While not impressed by READING the lyrics I was captivated by HEARING Minnie's soul wrenching versions of all the songs.

"Sorry Baby" was a touching song of "what might have been but I really knew better". "Lakewater Hair" will make you think, engulf your soul and remind you of all the "love" in your own life that ever went wrong. "Mary" has an almost John Lennon type lyric of "Bad is cheap but good is free" as does the song "London Skies" which has the lyric "I'm an alien in MY life" & "your loving me gave me eyes to see" another treasure is the song "Love Is Love".

This is not an CD to dance to but it is an CD that you can romance to, or listen to as you mourn a love you lost. It defies category, as the Eagles did with "Desperado" (not rock, not country, not R&B, but touching and timeless), do yourself a favor and do not lose your chance to enjoy this CD!

I have a lot of music, but most of it doesn't find it's way into my playlist, but this album is surprisingly engaging and pleasureable. I say surprisingly, because I have already listened to this album more than I listened to her debut album. I totally disagree with the Amazon reviewer who basically said that her lyrics were obscure and trite (or something like that). I'd say her lyrics are interesting and melodic. : ) Sultry vocals over alt-coutry backing band. Highly recommend if you like Neko Case, Wilco's first album, Lucinda Williams.

Ms. Driver applies all her skills as an actor to her musical expression in this CD: nuance, heat, subtlety, aplomb, and genuine presence. Sea Stories has lived in my CD players (work, vehicle, & home) since I purchased it 4 weeks ago. Her ability to take a single word and massage 12 emotions out of it represents, to me, her effortless interaction with her deepest self and her willingness to deliver what she finds there. Listen to her sing the phrase:

"They're smiling but they're thinking:
'there but for the grace of God'",

from the infinitely exquisite [& my favorite] track 'Coming Back to Life.'

I'm also tickled by the character Ms. Driver conjures for me in 'Mary': 'Go ahead and cry, but let that be the last thing you give him, Honey, now let's go inside & make a voodoo doll' ...

Sea Stories ambushes the senses in the loveliest way -- not at all by sneak attack, but with its directness, its accessibility, the maturity of melody & and lyric, and the range afforded by Minnie Driver's vocal skill. Not at all surprising, either, is the imprint of her creative hand in the writing of the songs -- her ownership of their emotion and message by virtue of her immediate center in the songwriting lends itself to the full-bodied ease of her delivery.

This is one of the few PERFECT CD's ever to have entered my world.

Minnie has a beautiful voice and the songs she has written are beautiful too. I was never really a fan of this style of music but since I am a fan of Minnie's I gave it a try and I love it. I can't stop listening to it. I love the different colors of her voice. I can't really pick a favorite. They are all unique in different ways. I love something about each song. If you ever get to hear the import version of Everything I've Got In My Pocket, listen to the bonus song "Complicated Man"...I love her voice the best on that. Great job. I look forward hearing many more cd's to come by Minnie.