Customer Reviews

Shoot from the Hip

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Sophie Ellis-Bextor first broke into the mainstream back in August 2000 as the guest vocalist of Spiller's epic No.1 dance anthem "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)," she became one of the most promising female acts for years. Sure enough, a year later, she released her debut album "Read My Lips" which went on to sell more than 1 million copies in the UK. After a string of successful solo hits in the form of "Take Me Home," "Murder On The Dancefloor," "Get Over You" and "Music Gets The Best Of Me," the divine posh bird returned a month ago with her second album "Shoot From The Hip."

Where her debut album was really just an experiment into what style Sophie's future career would take, her sophomore release goes all the way basing its sound upon its predecessor, but twisting it slightly. Gone are the songs of disco pop that she became known for, replace with much more sophisticated, more mature real music. The songs on this album show Sophie in a totally different light. She now shines brighter than any other British female artist, and no one pulls off a raw English accent like Lady Bextor...

The album opener "Making Music" is brash, loud and infectious. The retro beats and twangy, with a manic beat that totally contrasts Sophie's brilliant voice. The song may take a while to grow on you, but once it does, it'll be in your head for days. "Mixed Up World" is the first single from this album and stormed into the UK Top 10 a month ago. With a typical beat that sparkle in true Bextor-style, this is a definite highlight in which Sophie raises the topic of the current state of the world, while combining it with a hopeful love story. "I Won't Change You" is one of my favourites on the album and just has to be released as a single! The beat on this song just totally bounces with simplicity, while the wonderful chorus is nothing short of perhaps Sophie's catchiest-ever tune.

"Nowhere Without You" starts off loud and in your face, before settling down in the verses for a chilled out and relaxing ballad. The guitar is wonderful and perfectly matches Sophie's sighing vocals of bliss. You could listen to this song while watching the sun rise, because it has that earthy quality that a lot of Sophie's music boasts. "Another Day" is a slight dip in the quality of the album, but the production makes up for it with some crafty and attention-seeking (and finding) beats. "Party In My Head" is a true highlight with a jangly-guitar and a superb beat that you will hum to for ages. Clapping in the parts before the choruses are very classy, while the backing-vocals from Sophie are also amazing in their melodic quality.

"Love It Is Love" begins like a racing steam train, intent on reaching its destination. The beat is heavy and very well-produced, and the bit in the middle where the whole song slows down is awesome. "You Get Yours" is perhaps the worst song on the album, but it is still absolutely brilliant! The beat starts off in a totally crazy way, demanding your attention. The chorus is a bit forgettable, so this song may need repeat-listening for you to truly appreciate it. "The Walls Keep Saying Your Name" is, simply put, a masterpiece. This song creates so many images in your mind that you can't help but go back again and again for repeat listens! A little violin arrangement totally makes this song so amazing, while the chorus are wonderful with the lines, "I can't sleep when the walls keep saying your name. Go from me and let me slumber again." It's one of those songs that is totally sky-high on the camp factor that the homosexuals will have a field day dancing to, and rightly so!

"I Won't Dance With You" is another one of my favourites from the album. The beat is hard hitting, and the sonic barrage of electro beats infects the song with that feeling that you just have to dance to. It's kinda cheesy, but ever so classy. Sophie's vocals are superb, but the clanger comes with the line, "You can wallow in praise until the cows come home!" Argh! "I Am Not Good At Not Getting What I Want" is awesome, and I thought only the Pet Shop Boys had long song titles! This song sees Sophie go back to the 1950's and don her best ball gown as she sings in a jazzy and smooth Big Band style of a spoilt and selfish girl who always gets what she wants. It's amazing, and you end up wondering why Sophie doesn't do more of this! "Hello Hello" is even more laid-back than the last song, with some good vocals but it's certainly not the best song on the album!

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

While her debut album had a few filler tracks that not many listeners cared for, Shoot From The Hip has no rubbish songs whatsoever. Here Miss Bextor has perfectly crafted a masterpiece dance/pop album that represents Britain at its best. If only the States were into her like the UK is! Hell, even her cover of Olivia Newton-John's "Let's Get Physical" as the hidden track on the album is great! This album has flopped in the UK so far, which is a great shame because talent like this is wasted on many people who want their music so commercial that you don't have to seek it out. All in all, well done Sophie! She's proven herself a true player on the British music scene. I look forward to her third album. I'm sure it will be fantastic!

While Sophie Ellis-Bextor's debut album contained the critically hailed hits of Take Me Home and Murder On The Dancefloor, it also had a fair share of album fillers. On Shoot From The Hip, this is vastly improved.

Having a penchant for that retro feel, Bextor doesn't break new grounds on the faster songs. First single, Mixed Up World, is still a funky electronic-retro track that bears the Gregg Alexander trademark that's also found on Murder. Definitely a catchy song with a very 70-ish video. Album opener, Making Music, is a real club stormer with its rightly placed electronic bleeps and buzz. I Won't Change You and Party In My Head round up the by now standard retro-dance flair from Bextor. The only gripe is when the songwriters and Bextor play up the retro factor too much on Another Day which almost sounds passe and hard to bear. Another instance is where the lyrics are so embarassing on I Won't Dance With You, "Then you can wallow in praise until the cows come home", that even the good music can't hide them.

What's astonishing from Bextor this time round are the ballads, which I consider some of the best songs from her. I am Not Good at Not Getting What I Want and Hello Hello are such exquisite ballads that Bextor should perhaps invest more time on. The former is a low key Broadway style ballad that sweeps you off your feet. Finally there's a very familiar remake of a classic track tagged at the end of Hello Hello as a bonus track.

I just recently purchased this along with her 2001 debut "Read My Lips". Her debut was a slick, if slightly tame in spots, euro-disco trip. The eccentricity was there, but only peppered through her debut, here Sophie played up the eclecticism.

This is probably one of the best pop records I've heard in sometime. It is a clean & strong record, no filler, just great songs. Clocking in at almost 40 minutes, "Shoot From the Hip" is a mixed bag of pop all grounded in her familiar sensual euro-disco sound, but isn't fixed there.

"Mixed Up World" opens up in a manic pop whirl, recalling the great styles of late 1980's electric dance music & early 1990's house respectively. It reminds me of vintage Cathy Dennis in some cases. Lyrically, this is one of the strongest songs, one that deals with perserverance & determination of the human spirit. Other highlights include the hopelessly romantic thump of "I Won't Change You", the rock inflected "You Get Yours", & robo-funk of "Another Day" come to mind.

There are two songs I will focus on in particular: the one-two ballad closers "I Am Not Good At Not Getting What I Want" & "Hello, Hello". Both find Ellis-Bextor utilizing her beautiful accented voice to it's emotive fullest, without sacrificing her icy demeanor. From an arrangement point of view "I Am Not..." recalls classic torch, & "Hello, Hello" sits pretty in an alternative setting that would do Tori Amos justice.

Ellis-Bextor is clearly someone who is slightly underrated. Not only does she write her own material, she possesses a very alluring stylist voice, & manages to surround herself with production talent who can bring out the best in her, without sacrificing her personae in the process.

I highly hope that Ellis-Bextor records a follow-up worthy to this masterpiece. I recommend this to anyone who likes good music, take a chance, I'm glad I did! Highly recommended!

I must admit, I was not all that crazy about Ms. Ellis-Bextor's first album. Read My Lips had only a handfull of songs I liked. This album I feel is stronger. Making Music is a whale of a track, my favorive on the album, along with I Am Not Good At Not Getting What I Want, which is wonderful with it's 1950's guitar work. Hello Hello is quite beautiful, and Mixed-Up World is infectious too. The album as a whole is more consistently listenable, but it's not perfect. Some of the tracks don't seem as well thought out as others. My biggest gripe is that some of the lyrics are very bad. Party In My Head sounds like random phrases just pulled from a thesaraus.
WARNING: There is a second edition of this album now available with only 10 tracks . DO NOT BUY THAT EDITION!!! It is the inferior version! Making Music and I Won't Dance With You are gone as is the bonus hidden track, a cover of The Olivia Newton-John classic Physical. While that bonus track was clearly not a good idea, Making Music alone is worth the extra money. Be sure you buy the proper version with the artist name and album title in WHITE lettering.

Sophie Ellis Bextor will knock you off your feet with this one. I stumbled across "Murder On The Dancefloor" (a single off her first album "Read My Lips" that you should also buy) when I was in Europe a few years ago and have not stopped listening since. She has a beautiful voice and her music is a kind of posh pop that I can't quite compare to anyone else. If you're looking for something fun and great to sing along to this is for you. I would be willing to bet large sums of money that you're going to love it.

It's actually kind of funny how I "tripped" unto Sophie. I was sitting in a bar one day in Akron and they were playing music videos and "Murder On The Dancefloor" came on. Well, needless to say, I was glued for the whole video duration. Her music is very stylish and unique, and her videos arn't any less. I thought the whole "Look out, here comes miss thang" attitude was a killer! Since then I have collected any and all of Sophie's music, videos, interviews and whatever other Sophie items I can get my hands on. I am very dissapointed that her record label has thier heads up thier rears when it comes to promotioning her music. Ok, so she's not Limp Bizkut or she's not Britney Spears.. She's Sophie Ellis Bextor - GET OVER IT AND PROMOTE HER! Anyhow, I would grab this album , along with her previous "Read My Lips". Both the albums have great music..

Good cd, more consistent than the first, and an overall better listen, but lacking some of the stronger more upbeat qualities the hit singles on Read my Lips contained. Still worth the money!

I only knew Sophie from "Murder On The Dance Floor". I checked out her web page (www.sophieellisbextor.net), listened to previews of both albums and was quite impressed with the 30 second clips I heard. I ordered both CDs from Amazon UK and paid only $36 for both CDs including shipping cost; $18 each, that's cheap considering the low US$ . If I remember correctly shipments to the US don't pay VAT Tax so you'd pay less than the list price.

I've had the CDs for 3 months and have been listening to them non-stop. I've turned on quite a few friend's to Sophie. It's too hard to pick one favorite song because they're all so good. It's extremely rare to get a CD where every track is worth listening. I would highly recommend getting both albums - you can just stick 'em in the CD player and listen to them for hours on end.

If you like songs with intellient lyrics and a melody then look no further. This album is like a breath of fresh air to our jaded ears.

To start with I am bummed out that I have the 10 track version of this recording without the extra 3 (!)tracks contained on the UK version, this leaves me slightly miffed and concerned that australian fans are not worthy of an extra 3 tracks --admit i havent deliberatly searched for the hidden track and it sounds like it might best remain hidden anyway.

ok then down to business>>either you have bought the first album and you want to know if the second one can match it>>the answer appears to be...yes ..maybe, I was a huge fan of the first album and this one has not yet surpassed it and is currently sitting a notch or 2 below it>>which is not to say it does not have the potential to match it, it does, surpass it? maybe not.

ok maybe you dont have the 1st sophie album and you have the age old dilema>>which one do i buy?? well in my opinion you buy the first one (see above) then buy the 'watch my lips' DVD and live in ecstacy for week while you watch that and then go out and buy some stylish clothes that make you feel good and buy the second CD of Sophies, come home and feel like the world is a great place afterall.

Special mention must be made of Sophies songwriting which seems to have matured from the first album. Sophie has something to say and can use words and music effectively like the great songwriters, i dont think we have seen or heard the best from Sophie yet. I can see a stripped back recording with acoustics and reliance on words , phrasing and delivery that becomes her masterpeice. If i have a criticism of the current album is that there seems to be too much happening in some of the tracks , particularly the ballads which , due to the strength of the songwriting would have been more powerful with less. I am sure Sophie would agree that less is sometimes...more.

So go on funksters, hail the birth of a great female songwriter from britian and realize that british art is not dead.
(a aussie still recovering from the world cup defeat).