3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Janis follows her own instructions, January 30, 2007
This review is from: Unreleased 2: Take No Prisoners (Audio CD)
Starting at the age of 15 way back in 1966, Janis Ian was a child prodigy as both a performer and songwriter with the release of her "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking}" a brave and controversial song about interracial dating that became a Top Ten hit. She has had hits and multiple Grammies since then including that standard of female teenage angst "At Seventeen" and become a highly successful writer of hits for others. However, in a youth obsessed market, her individualistic folk style fell out of commercial favor and she has released a series of brilliant records on a succession of smaller and smaller labels.
This album, from Janis' personal vaults is a collection of unreleased songs that didn't make it onto previous albums or alternate takes on ones that did and the only real question is "why haven't we heard these sooner?" Much of this album, such as the title song, "Don't Rush The River", "Holes", "As Far As Lonely Goes", "You Don't Know My Heart" and "Childhood Hero" (written at the request of Donny Osmond but never recorded by him) are as good as anything that appears on any of Janis' commercial albums. If you like open, honest songwriting accompanied by first class guitar playing and a velveteen voice that cushions the sorrow and anger while still bringing the power, this is for you.
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