Customer Reviews

Something Burning

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Boy am I glad I found this one! I came to this cd following hearing Deb Talan's voice singing on the soundtrack to the movie "Lovely and Amazing"-and the cd more than lives up to my expectations (hey-her song from the "Lovely and Amazing," was good enough to risk buying the whole album). And the song from the movie -"Forgiven" is on this cd. I would compare her voice and songwriting style to Jonatha Brooke (as another reviewer mentioned), Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. If you like those singers- you will not be disappointed with this album.

You may be coming to this CD after hearing Deb Talan's unfathomably undiscovered voice singing the song "Forgiven" in the movie, "Lovely and Amazing". I did. And I've been listening to this CD over and over and over ever since. Wait til you hear the song,"The Gladdest Thing" or seriously any song offered up here. You know how most CD's have at least a few songs that you skip everytime you listen? Not here. And, if you have a soul you will cry during at least one.

It kind of bugs me when the reviews I read tell you how this is their favorite album blah blah blah but they don't tell you what they are comparing it to. For all you know they could have a drawer full of Tom Petty, Springsteen and Dave Matthews. So let me just say that I listen to Paul Westerberg, Jonatha Brooke, Ani, any old Dylan...you get the picture. So buy this CD. Believe me, you'll want to manage her.

When I first got this CD a year or two ago I became completely fixated and didnt stop listening for months (very good for singing in the car, too!). Every single song on it is good. Her voice is uniquely expressive and the song-writing is just..., way way up there with the best, quite a few of these songs have won various songwriting awards. I have no doubt that Deb will be discovered in a big way, when the time is right. Her music and her singing have an almost spiritual quality to me (see her live!), and I really can't compare her to anyone. She also happens to have a very spiffy new web site...

Deb Talan is wonderful and poignant singer/songwriter along the lines of Edie Carey, Anne Heaton, and Dar Williams. I have had the pleasure of seeing her live at the Iron Horse in Mass. and was pleasantly surprised. This CD is a testament to her talent. My personal favorite is "Forgiven" which can also be found on the Lovely & Amazing soundtrack, of which I also recommend.

I am a lyrics guy. Deb is a poet. I was taken off guard at the depth and warmth of the lyrics in this album. It's the kind of album you want to just go out and buy for everyone so they can appreciate it and so that the artist will keep doing their thing!

How to define a "new" singer-songwriter deserving of true praise? Others compare her to Jewel or Colvin; to me, her voice is most eerily like an early Jonatha Brooke (of The Story). Her production is much like that of more recent Story releases as well. No matter the comparison, though; Deb does it better, lyrically and vocally, and it shows here as elsewhere. A poet's heart with a keen eye and a minor case of perversity, a catch in her sweet voice and a reverent respect for every note in a chord make for a woman to watch!

What we hear here is the overly polished Talan; her more recent live album Sincerely, also available from Amazon.com, better showcases her poignant imagery without drowning some songs in overproduction. For example, the classic title track "Something Burning" would be more powerful, I think, without the crashing drums and extra sound-board wizardry that make for the mediocre-est of Adult Alternative. Better production would have easily made this a five-star CD. But this album still holds some solid gems, especially "Whetstones" and the "single" Forgiven, a plaintive song of loss and self-worth. And Deb's talent is not to be missed in any forum. See a show when you can; until then, get this disk!

(note -- a version of this review was originally submitted for Talan's own release of the same album, listed as a separate product on amazon.com. Although listed separately, the albums are the same; only difference is the publisher.)

She and Steve are great! I see them everytime they come to Boston

Check out the Weepies x-mas song: "All That I Want," you'll listen to it year 'round.

This is quite a satisfying listen. Ms Talan writes wonderful pop songs with a folk sensibility. The arrangements and playing are excellent. The vocals are unlike anything I've ever heard. Ms Talan's voice is very unique, and hard to compare to any other artists, but I hesitantly will make a comparison to Beth Orton. I suggest downloading one of the available MP3's if possible. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

It seems inconceivable that a feminine instrument of such incomparable musical loveliness could be fashioned from a locution somewhere between dork and dweeb, with a touch of bullfrog, of an age alternating between 14 and 85, but such is the magical voice of Deb Talan, overflowing with ferocious musicality, lyrical brilliance and accompanied by a gorgeous library of intensely sensual vocal tics and ornaments that convey constantly twisting and turning rivers of emotion in simple phrases. Which is strange since I prefer more monotonic voices with range and power: (early) Joni Mitchell, (early)Dionne Warwick, Karen Carpenter, and Lulu; and classical singers like Celtic Woman and Hayley Westenra, although I also enjoy Shawn Colvin, Merrie Amsterburg and Lucy Kaplansky. Joni mitchell famously described her approach as instinctual slowly translated into music intellectually, but Deb seems to translate her music instinctively on the fly, as in my favorites: "How will he find me", "Sincerely", "Big strong girl", "Two points", "To the bone" and "Ashes in your eyes". On this CD Deb really sings out in an unbridled way, different from the Weepies albums which are more collaborative and musically dense. Can't wait for another solo album!

Deb Talan is very talented - this CD is mellow, and good to listen to over and over. I also very much like her work with her husband in their band The Weepies - enjoy!