Customer Reviews

Temptation

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This CD is an amazing set of interpretations of Tom Waits songs. As an obsessed Tom Waits fan, I bought this CD out of curiosity, and have since purchased more of Holly's music. I am amazed at her voice, and the ability it has to remove emotions from you at will. She did not try to copy Tom at all, rather she made these songs her own. The CD will amaze you, my personal favorite is "Briar and the Rose" Buy it, play it, love it.

Holly Cole has some outstanding reviews in the audio press and listening to this CD one understands why. This is one superb recording. If your audio system is High End this performer is palpably real, right in front of you. The acoustic Bass will test the low end of any system. The harmonica riffs by Howard Levy will send chills up your spine. Ms. Cole's cover of Tom Waits material is a compliment to this fantastic songwriter. If you are lucky enough to own "Tube" audio equipment, buy this CD. If you are a sound fanatic, get the import. Reference sound!

I have been a fan of the Holly Cole Trio for several years, and I must say, this recording just gets better and better the more I listen.
Having listened to all styles of the trio's music - blues, R&B, "pop", and...whatever you want to call Ms. Coles "unique" realizations of songs, this would fall moslty in that last category. Fortunately, it's where she (and the trio) excels the most.

If you are new to The Holly Cole Trio, they are a jazz/based ensemble that excels in REALLY digging into the zeitgeist of dark, poignant, or even slightly scary song writing. In other words, the writing of songwriters such as Tom Waits. They both are from the "meloncholy" category of personality types (rather than phlegmatic, choleric, or sanguine. The "sanguines" are the folks in the other reviews that complain that this recording should be more "peppy!" They just don't get it, and that's OK. Try Britney Spears or Bare Naked Ladies - very peppy! This recording is for the "meloncholies", or those that desire to peer into that side of their personalities)

MS. Cole has the uncanny ability to COMPLETELY own a lyric and all its depth of meaning. Then, she has the voice to interpret it with exquisite nuance and laser-like delivery. Make no mistake - every nuance she brings to the song is carefully planned and executed, down to her breathinig, lip smacking, growls, and even out-of-tune delivery. Her method - she tends to slow things down a bit, thin out the arrangement (sometimes just her and the bass), and then deliver the "story" of the song as if she had sidled up, placed her arms around your neck, looked you unwaveringy in the eye, and then begins to sing. I haver rarely ever had repeated repeated shivers run up and down my spine listening to a recorded vocalist, but it happens here, and more with each listening. Its at once both an intimate and mind-expanding experience.

ONE CAVEAT - this is an amazingly rendered recording, as are most of her works. Its the reason Audio Installation professionals ALWAYS have their Holly Cole CD's with them when they test out their work - the stark clarity of her voice, the amazing depths of the bass (down to 10hz), the purity of the piano micing, and the very present rendering of the rare guest musicians are all reference-standard. Because of their detailed sparseness, much is lost if listening on a a less-than-stellar system. Part of the talent of the trio lies in the wonderful subtleties they bring to their performances, and much of it is lost in typical "boom box" systems, car systems, or computer systems. I believe this is why some folks may be led to say things such as "needs more pep!', or God forbid, "This is boring".

If you have at least some meloncholy tendencies, or are a fan ot Tom Waits, or like the song stylists of the early part of the last century, you will love this recording. Buy it, and let Ms. Cole and her trio take you places you may have never been before.

"Temptation" is a tour de force that succeeds on many levels: the brilliant writing of Tom Waits, the minimal and gorgeous production of Craig Street, and, predominantly, the interpretive genius and innovation of Holly Cole. "Take Me Home," "Train Song," and "Frank's Theme" boast the Cole-comfortable arrangements her longtime fans are familiar with: sparse instrumentation, dark vocal inflections, and more mood than any other jazz singer would ever be able to conjure. But the fleshing out of her sound on "Falling Down," "Little Boy Blue," "The Heart of Saturday Night," and "I Want You," are something to behold. While her trio setup is her claim to fame (piano, bass, and vocals), hearing her pensive vocals backed by harmonica, horns, guitar, and strings take the already-exciting Holly Cole experience to a whole new level. "Jersey Girl," with its hand claps and "sha la la" backup vocals, even treads close to the realm of radio-ready pop. "Soldiers Things" could easily turn maudlin in the hands of a less capable vocalist, but Holly knows just how much darkness to inflect so the focus is on her resigned sadness and not any self-pitying melodrama. Her dark, octave-layered vocal on the title track is also dead on; the hypnotic track plays like a soundtrack for any situation in which you find yourself doing something you probably shouldn't...with a half-smile on your face all the while. Perfectly complimented by Craig Street's organic production, "Temptation" finds Holly in her darkly seductive, minimalist glory. Challenge yourself to find a more unique vocalist or stronger artistic statement, and you will be kept very busy indeed.

I've been a fan of Holly Cole for a while, but I just bought this CD. It is incredibly different from the rest of her recordings. It is so entrancing. If you love pure music, buy this.

How should I put this...It's like a cup of cherry cola-over ice-after a 100-mile marathon under the hot July sun. Tom Waits is one of my favorite songwriters and I'm absolutely crazy about Cole's voice. This record is a gift from God of Music! The set captures many of Waits' masterpieces. Cole didn't necessarily did a better job than Waits himself but she certainly did something completely different and made these songs her own. If you think good ol' Tom is dark and melancholy, Cole's covers make Tom sound like a teenage boy with blind angst. In some cases, such as "I Want You" and "Take Me Home", Cole sounds seductive and tender. If you're only gonna buy one CD for your entire life, buy this one, you won't regret!

I just ran across this today, and I'm blown away by it. This is an absolutely terrific album, and anyone who likes Norah Jones or similar music should order this immediately. It uses mostly simple jazz-combo arrangements that give center stage to Cole's sultry voice -- and her voice manages to do Waits' brilliant songwriting justice. This isn't simply an album of covers, it is a collection of interpretations in the finest vocal jazz tradition.

I'm a long-time Tom Waits fan, but I was previously unfamiliar with Holly Cole. Waits' songs are well-suited to new interpretations, as is apparent on Frank's Wild Years when he performs 2 different arrangements of a couple of songs, or on Big Time, where he presents strikingly different arrangements of several songs, most notably "Telephone Call From Istanbul." Given that plus the haunting poetry of his best lyrics, a jazz songbook of original interpretations makes at least as much sense for Waits' work as for that of any living songwriter.

Cole's expressive intrepretations deliver the goods, too. "I Don't Wanna Grow Up" receives a slow, haunting arrangement that provides a gorgeous contrast to the uptempo original. She cleans up "Frank's Theme," providing a simpler but more dramatic rendition that bring out the emotions in the song much more effectively than the accordion-drenched original. Cole's voice brings a smoky swing to "Tango Til They're Sore." And her sultry version of "Temptation" alone would justify buying this album.

This is the best record I have ever heard for testing stereo equipment. It is full of low-level detail that benefits from, and shows off, the best systems. Listening to Holly Cole inhaling to take air for the next note in the tile cut is a real pleasure. On the same cut there is a dog wailing, just audible in the background on several occasions. This is a useful cut for testing new hi-fi cables or various anti-vibration devices; the better the device the more wails one can hear. Agreeably, this is a process that never becomes tiresome. This is a voice and these are arrangements that continue to be enjoyable even after the budget will support no more equipment imrovements. A gem.

I was intrigued by the frequent mentions of Ms. Cole in reviews of audiophile equipment, so I thought I would take a chance on what was probably a well-recorded pretty voice. Boy, was I suprised! Holly Cole has a voice that can be so pretty it breaks your heart when she wants it to be, but it is also strong, distinctive and fascinating. She uses it with absolute mastery and astonishing variety to coax subtle meaning out of every syllable. The arrangements are extremely creative and unusual. The instrumentalists are also gifted - the arrangements are slow and simple enough to leave the individual instruments quite exposed and they come through with shining colors. This is not just another "great" album - it is a real breakthrough.

This CD is so well recorded that I had to buy an entire new stereo just to hear the hidden details. Multi-layered pure jazz ballads cleaned up or expressed in a different light than Tom Watt's originals, this is a great CD. Holy Cole sings more smokey than ever, acting out rather than plain singing the songs. The main highlight is the bass player, who taps & spins his bass almost like a drum. Added playing adds extra findings. This is Holy Cole's pinnacle of jazz after this CD she "Pop"s down to mere rock star.