Standing on the Rooftop

Madeleine Peyroux | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B004WJRFNU
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,960 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"I have been building on the relationships I developed in co-writing, and something new has taken hold of me," Peyroux says. "This project is meant to be a wider dreamscape than previous recordings. I'm interested in exploring tougher sounds, even ugly sounds... trying to find something more raw than the voice that I have now, and in the accompaniment that I have become used to."

Product Description

2011 album from the acclaimed Jazz/Pop vocalist. On Standing On The Rooftop there's one very interesting collaborator that may have the key to opening new doors: the Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman, whom Peyroux met at the Nice Jazz Festival while waiting to hear B.B. King. The song, entitled 'The Kind You Can't Afford', Peyroux says, is a testament to owning what money can't buy. Other current collaborators include Jonatha Brooke, David Batteau, Andy Rosen, and Jenny Scheinman.

See all Editorial Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Her best since "Careless Love" June 18, 2011

By Jon Strand

Format:Audio CD

Simply put, this is her best since "Careless Love."
She makes the three covers (McCartney's "Martha, My Dear," Dylan's "I Threw It All Away" and Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain") her own, and her own originals are great.
Instrumentally, this is an earthier, rootsier (is that a word?) CD than her previous CDs.
There's a couple of times when I flash on Bonnie Raitt's music, circa "Nick Of Time," but I can't exactly say why.
Her vocals are as good -if not better- than anything she's done previously.
The whole thing is brimming with realized talent and self-confidence.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment July 15, 2011

By William Jens Jensen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

I've been a fan of Madeleine Peyroux since I bought her first CD when it first came out. "Dreamland," still seems fresh, as does "Careless Love" and "Half the Perfect World." This CD, however, seems "phoned in," with little real investment. Of course, I'm probably wrong; I'm sure she almost certainly gives 100% to all of her efforts. In this case, like Diana Krall's "Girl in the Other Room," it seems Madeleine Peyroux has chosen to step away from jazz and give pop music a try; but whereas Krall changed her whole approach for that CD, Peyroux's voice seems like it's on automatic. She keeps her "retro" jazz intonations regardless of what the music calls for. In the end, this seems like a vocal version of the kind mundane affair we hear in Pat Metheny's "What's It All About," in which he seems to have run out of ideas and resorts to 1960s trivia. All this to say what your mother probably told you: It's dangerous in the middle of the road.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Come back Larry Klein I think Madeleine needs you... July 4, 2011

By G. E. Harrison

Format:MP3 Music

Madeleine Peyroux's first two CDs on Rounder with Larry Klein in the producer's chair were masterpieces that perfectly matched Madeleine's beautiful voice with both a great selection of songs and wonderful backing. Sadly I didn't think that 2009's `Bare Bones' worked as well, although I applaud them both for trying something different by dropping the covers in favour of original songs, including collaborations with Walter Becker, Joe Henry, David Batteau and Julian Coryell.

This latest recording features Craig Street as producer (his credits include Norah Jones, k.d. Lang and Cassandra Wilson) and reverts to a similar mixture of covers and original songs as `Half the Perfect World'. I'm afraid that I think it's even worse than `Bare Bones', for me there are hardly any tracks that work - nearly every song seems to have some disconnect between the vocals and the backing. The intro to Dylan's "I threw it all away" sounds great but then the vocals come in and it all just spirals downwards and to put it bluntly I think she murders the Beatles' "Martha, My Dear" and also Robert Johnson's "Love In Vain". I felt the original songs did work better than the covers and if I had to pick a favourite track I'd have to go for "The kind you can't afford". Come back Larry Klein I think Madeleine needs you...