Customer Reviews

Vagabond Ways

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Marianne Faithfull part of my music collection stretches for a long distance. I liked her back when she had the little girl voice doing the folkie and light folk/pop things in the mid-60s. I liked her harrowing version of "Visions of Johannah" recorded at a time when she was completely strung out on junk and virtually homeless. I LOVED her first three albums on Island, when she was more-or-less back in one piece and taking responsibility for her choices of material. And everything since has been quite fascinating, from Hal Wilner's torch explorations to Kurt Weill revivals to the brilliant Angelo Badelamente album. On "Vagabond Ways," it feels as if Marianne has revisited a number of her records in the past twenty years or so. The classic approach of her first three Island albums ("Broken English," "Dangerous Acquaintances," and "A Child's Adventure") is used on the title track, and on "Electra," "Wilder Shores of Love," the Daniel Lanois-arranged "Marathon Kiss" and the utterly perfect interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song." This latter number is such a perfect match of song and singer that I wonder whether she's ever considered doing a full album of Cohen's songs; she could do any of them--even "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-on." On the other hand, tracks like "For Wanting You," "Great Expectations" and "After the Ceasefire" remind of "A Secret Life." The only criticism is that Marianne can veer dangerously close to self-parody, such as on the title track. I can live with a bit of Marianne Faithfull's self-parody.

All in all, a great album

With her cigarettes-and-whiskey alto voice and her been-there, done-that-twice persona, Marianne Faithfull, 53, packs all the tools a modern-day torch singer might need. Since 1979's brilliant and brutal Broken English, the former hippie goddess (and long-ago flame of Mick Jagger) has carved out a niche as a sterling interpreter of other people's material -- notably Kurt Weill's -- and as a significant songwriter herself.

Here is Faithfull's first pop collection in nearly five years. As might be expected, her interpretation of pop is somewhat more nuanced than, say, Britney Spears's. Especially effective are the up-tempo title track, which celebrates a life lived too close to the edge, and the quietly sad "Incarceration of a Flower Child," which chronicles a poignant morning after. With producer Mark Howard, Faithfull paints a dark but never dour portrait of lives out of focus and of love gone wrong.

Vagabond Ways is one of the best CD's this year. Marianne Faithfull once again bares her soul in a matter-of-fact way that leaves the listener craving for more. Emmylou Harris on Marathon Kiss is a true delight. I listen to this CD over and over, in awe at the lyrics and the exceptional music. Wilder Shores of Love, File it Under Fun from the Past, and Incarceration of a Flower Child are real gems. Tower of Song is a bit pop, but essential. The narrative, After the Ceasefire is the perfect ending to a great CD. You can't help but be drawn in by Marianne's drone.

This is one of those cases where I can only scratch my head and say -- "Well, to each his or her own." Even among the small slice of humanity that would find itself putting a Marianne Faithfull album in the player, there seems to exist an unbridgable gap in taste and temperament. Am I right to perceive from the album reviews a Strange Weather camp and a Broken English camp? If so, I am securely in the first. Therefore, I think 20th Century Blues is a masterpiece, and Vagabond Ways is, well, unpalatable.

I'm being careful, because Marianne Faithfull is amazing -- a unique talent, a great live performer, and a real survivor. So the components I happen to like and dislike come from the same healthy soup.

I think the difference is largely about instrumentation. To me, this album and some of her others are chaotic masses of poppish instrumentation that provide aimless structures for weak melodies, squandering the soulfulness of her voice and overpowering the messages and the stories under it all. The result is more a construction, or a "production," than a song, more of an effort than a pleasure to listen to.

But I have to respect those who like this album, and just boil the whole matter down to a single piece of advice. We'll see if it resonates. Here it is:

If you like Broken English, pony up the credit card. If your soul dances in the melencholy strains of Strange Weather, buy Vagabond Ways at your peril.

Marianne took a new aproach to music on this cd. Vagabond Ways seems to lack the anger of her 70's hits such as Guilt and Why'd Ya Do It however it does seem to tell a story of the events Marianne delt with in her live. This is mostly evident in " Vagabond Ways" Marianne's version of Tower of Song, the Leonard Cohen classic is amazing. Another highlight of this CD is Incarceration of a Flower Child, a song co-written with Roger Waters. If you are a Marianne fan this cd is a must!

Now I must admit I have been a fan of Marianne Faithfull for as long and I can recall, however thie record is the best I have sence broken...
What she recalls in her life and mins is amazing. With her leric and song she creates a place and a time for us all to fall into.

Vagabond ways is a track to rember, the emotion that she give us to hear is so real and so now that twenty years from now people will hear it and say I was at that place and i felt that emotion. That is the gift the she has that anyone that is lucky enough to hear her work should rejoice in.
What she has to say is far beyond just her. Sh lets us into her past and we can all find momnets that connect with ours. I am happy to be a part of her world for jusat that moment.

I am egerly waiting for the next moment that she lets us be a pat of.

I had mixed feelings about A Secret Life and 20th Century Blues. I could have sworn on its release that A Secret Life was going to be Ms. Faithfull's final recording, and while it was a good record, it was way too light and airy for my tastes. 20th Century Blues was interesting but I could never get into old standards. The reason I'm talking about these two albums was because Vagabond Ways hit shelves without warning. This is Marianne Faithfull at her finest. No old covers or swampy, over-bearing orchestrations here. Her voice takes front and center with a production that accompanies it beautifully. Everything on Vagabond Ways is either pretty or amazing, mostly amazing though. The title track and Incarnation of a Flower bring this singer back to darker roots, then using that same ragged voice for the absolutely moving Wilder Shores of Love and For Wanting You. Voices like Christina Aguilara and Joss Stone, with all their range and vocal pristine, can't come close to evoking as much emotion as this woman. My only gripe was After the Ceasefire, but it hardly spoils such a masterful piece.

The synthesizers and drum machines that made up the bulk of BROKEN ENGLISH didn't date the album rather than enhanced its power. Then again, Marianne Faithfull, with her whiskey-soaked voice, could make a phone book sound riveting. 20 years after her amazing comeback, Faithfull returns to the emotional catharsis of ENGLISH with VAGABOND WAYS. Recorded with musicians, most of whom were still in the womb when BROKEN ENGLISH was made, the younger chaps prove to be able back-ups for the well-aged Faithfull, whose voice has only gotten more gravelly in the years since 1979. The songs on here could have felt at home on BROKEN ENGLISH, but sound even better with their mostly non-electronic backgrounds. Whenever a synthesizer pops up, it's not as prevalent. In fact, only two songs on here have truly organic productions, and they're all the better for it. "For Wanting You", which apparently is the most recent song from Elton John & Bernie Taupin, sounds like something from John's early '70s work with its moving string arrangement. A great performance by an adult on a love song for adults. The most tearjerking song on the record is "Wilder Shores of Love", which only has bass, guitar, drums, and piano to back Faithfull's voice, making the sadness and longing of such a song more telling. Faithfull can indeed do wonders with outside material, making a Pink Floyd outtake ("Incarceration Of A Flower Child"), and a Leonard Cohen classic ("Tower Of Song") sound as if they were written with her in mind. But Marianne can still create a memorable lyric of her own, even with the help of collaborators. Her old partner on BROKEN ENGLISH, Barry Reynolds, returns to help her pen new classics like "File It Under Fun From The Past" and "Electra" . Another appropriate collaborator is Daniel Lanois (producer of numerous acts, most notably U2). He contributes "Marathon Kiss", "Great Expectations" and the spoken-word piece "After The Ceasefire". Except for the slightly pretentious "Ceasefire", Faithfull has found another great songwriting partner who isn't too much in awe of the more legendary artist. Only 33 when she recorded BROKEN ENGLISH, she sounded much older with her scarred voice. And while BROKEN ENGLISH hasn't dated a day since its release, VAGABOND WAYS is an appropriate descendent of that seminal album, proving that Marianne Faithfull may in some ways be back from the dead, but the journey into hell has provided her with some invaluable inspiration.

The predominantly somber Vagabond Ways is a shimmering masterpiece without even one throwaway track. Five of these melodious pop songs were co-written by Marianne, with Barry Reynolds involved in the writing of three of them. Quite a few are reminiscences of the 1960s, like the title track, Roger Waters' Incarceration of a Flower Child, and File It Under Fun From The Past, an equally mournful song of regret & resignation adorned by cello & viola.

The atmospheric Marathon Kiss, written & co-produced by Daniel Lanois and with Emmylou Harris on backing vocals, is truly magnificent, the distilled essence of the early to mid 1980s era Faithfull when she maintained a creative peak with three consecutive albums on Island Records. Electra, Wilder Shores of Love & the romantic Great Expectations are similar down-tempo numbers of lost love and yearning.

Her exquisite interpretations lend new meaning to Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man, the Roger Waters' song & For Wanting You, the Elton John/Bernie Taupin composition. The album concludes with Marianne's recital of the poem After The Ceasefire. Vagabond Ways is on a par with her classic trilogy of Broken English, A Child's Adventure and Dangerous Acquaintances - another radiant jewel in her crown and a definite five star album.

I think it's a shame more people don't appreciate Marianne for what she is. So honest. She bleeds for us...almost literally. On a Recent episode of "The List" Janis Ian nominated Marianne as one of the best female songwriters ever. This is reflected on most of the recording. Some songs do drone, but the first song Vagabond Ways seems to sum up Marianne's Career and I instantly connected. I got a bit lost in the middle but her collabortations with Irish Playwright/Poet Frank McGuiness where highly entertaining and thoughtful. Ms. Faithful's interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song" seems definetive. All in all she seems more wise then she has before and that is communicated in her songs. Well Worth buying!