University [Import]

Throwing Muses | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 17, 1995)
• Original Release Date: January 17, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Sire/ Reprise
• ASIN: B000002MVO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Recorded with the trio that cut Red Heaven in '91. This effort is well produced, accessible and artistically mature. The Muses sound better than ever on tracks like "Bright Yellow Gun" and "Shimmer."Jeff Bateman

Product Description

CD reissue of the 1995 release, the fifth album by this Alternative/College Rock outfit led by Kristin Hersh. Often cited as one of the band's best albums overall, University reached #10 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and contains some of Hersh's most intense and melodic songwriting yet. Wounded Bird. 2006. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courageous Risk Taking, April 6, 2000

By 

dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: University (Audio CD)

The core of University is lead singer Kristin Hersh. Her voice is powerful yet modest: she doesn't attempt (thankfully) an operatic range or embellish her lines with unnecessary vibrato. The straight-up rock cuts are intense and moving (Bright Yellow Gun, Calm Down). University is minimalist (the melody is purposely subdued), rhythm driven and structurally complicated.

The most intriguing and adventurous cut is `Flood.' The composition opens with a sparkling guitar lead, overlays Kristin's voice with tick-tock string plucking, breaks into a second vocal melody (and a higher octave), then ends with a short synthesized harmony. The cut also changes tempo at least twice. If this sounds tedious and studied, it's not meant to. University is not a compilation of toe-tapping ditties. Each composition is smart and unique: `Start' is atonal, `That's All You Wanted' multi-layers Kristin's vocal harmonies, and `University' pastes together an assortment of sounds effects (including a child's voice) with rhythm guitar. Their frequent use of dissonance and resolution is scarce (and seldom accomplished) in popular music.

University reminds me of the noise-as-music experimentation of The Velvet Underground, the ambient pieces of Brian Eno, and the electronic experimentation of The United States Of America. I must credit Throwing Muses for their courageous risk taking and subsequent success.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A blinding blizzard of pure musical talent, February 9, 1999

By 

Micah Newman (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: University (Audio CD)

Okay, two great things about this album: a) Kristin is in particularly good form here. Her quality of execution in both guitar playing and vocals is simply stunning. This is an album made by someone who musically knows what she wants, and goddamn NAILS it! b) Bernard Georges gets a really *sweet* bass tone on this album. Perhaps I'm predisposed to notice that since I'm a bass player myself, but this is just emblematic of what this album is all about; each member of the trio making the most of their individual abilities to create a product that is as airtight and downright superb as any album you'd care to name. Give it time to sink in, though, that's the case with every Throwing Muses album. But they are worth it in spades...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where was I?, November 16, 2004

By 

Keith Dale Clabaugh (Piermont, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: University (Audio CD)

I can't remember where I was when I first heard Kristen Hersch and Throwing Muses. I'm not even sure what made me go out and purchase "University", but there it was, popped into my CD player - again, and again, and again, and again. I couldn't find anyone to share my enthusiasm over this record and was fairly dumbfounded as to why TM was not on the lips of every indy rocker out there. Just mine. But that was okay, because I had found something that no one else had or seemed to appreciate. "University" was a turning point for me, as I had finally discovered music that somebody made that seemed to be made just for me. I didn't care if others didn't share my enthusiasm, or didn't think it was the best thing they've ever heard. It just didn't matter. What mattered was there was a band out there that didn't care, either. They just made music that made them feel good, and didn't give a damn that they weren't cracking the top 40. And that made me feel good, too.