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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get 'Swept Away' In This Ambitious CD, June 6, 2001
Time*Sex*Love finds Mary Chapin Carpenter meditating upon middle age and looking back on her life sometimes with a sense of helplessness and sometimes with sadness, but always with poignant and thought-provoking insight. She resigns herself to the swift passing of time and the inability to start again in the catchy "Simple Life" and sings "there's fast, slow, and stall- no reverse...be glad you made it". In the Beach Boys like/Beatlesque, "Maybe World", she cries, "What's the point of backward glances that lead me nowhere; I can't go back there." Carpenter ruminates about lost love and opprtunities in the exquisite and heart-breaking songs, "What Was It Like" and "The Dreaming Road". "I feel like a big mistake that you managed to not quite make; I feel like a passing glance that you never gave a chance," she movingly sings in "What Was It Like", a song with heart-wrenching lyrics surrounded by a beautiful, haunting melody. My only issue with this CD is that it may be too ambitious for anyone to pull off without stumbling- even the wonderful Mary Chapin Carpenter. I would have pared down the CD to ten or eleven songs and edited out some of the longer endings of some of the tunes. This CD requires your careful attention, and, therefore, many of her fans will not appreciate its pensive, reflective mood. Take out a bottle of wine, light the fireplace and be ready to refect upon your own life in a way that only Mary Chapin Carpenter can make you do.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delightful look at what drives us, June 4, 2001
As stated in the title *Time*Sex*Love* Mary Chapin Carpenter adresses themes that we can all relate to...growing up, growing apart, unfulfilled dreams, looking back with longing, all these are a common bond. At first listen, this did not set as easily on my ear, what was it? Finally, I figuredit out. The inclusion of more electric instruments(on some tracks)lends an unfamiliar sound. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed. What the listener gets is 14 tracks filled with outstanding song writing and tight musical arrangements. Standout tracks "This is Me Leaving You","Simple Life","Alone, but Not Lonely" and "Late For Your Life". This CD does not fit into the MCC mold, there is a change in tempo and musical instrumentation. What is unchanged is the rock solid songwriting and the insight into the human condition, top notch!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A heartfelt CD with some beautiful, relaxing music., March 4, 2002
Mary Chapin Carpenter is a wonderful songwriter and performer and her work, while some may find a bit too laid back, eventually grows on you with repeated listens. Unlike her work in the more popular COME ON, COME ON, this CD takes time to grow on you, but when it does, it somehow feels more like a unified whole than her other albums. This is a great album to put on your Discman and take a long walk with on a crisp fall day. When you just want to relax and meditate about life. "Simple Life", "Whenever You're Ready" and "In The Name of Love" are the stand-out tracks, but there really isn't a bad track on the CD, all leave their mark. I saw Carpenter live at Wolf Trap last summer,and perhaps seeing her live is a good way to unlock the mystery of what she is all about. She isn't a flashy artist nor is she overly energetic in her delivery. Instead, she woos her listener with ease and a gentle coaxing instead of a loud bang. TIME SEX LOVE is not about any individual moment or anything flashy...it's more about the sum of its parts than any specific detail. Its more about what we don't know, the questions in life and not the answers. Perhaps the crux of her message can be summed up by one of her more thoughtful lyrics on the CD.."accidents and inspiration lead you to your destination." Carpenter believes in letting things happen..in the normal everyday flow of life. It can sometimes seem tedious to just sit back and relax and watch the clock tick, but Carpenter understands, and with her music helps us understand, that sometimes, the best things in life happen when we just sit back and let them.
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