Customer Reviews

Whole New You

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've found that I need patience to listen to music. For the most part, I am not drawn to radio-accessible music. Though I do not consider myself a music snob, rarely do I 'like' much on a first listen. And this is equally true of Shawn Colvin's music. I like Shawn. I like her style. I love her music - eventually.

As a whole (no pun intended), I had a hard time getting into and appreciating 'Whole New You'. MULTIPLE listens were required to get to the point where I wanted or needed to hear a song or the entire disk. Some songs easier to latch onto than others, but that's true of all her disks.

'Matter of Minutes', 'Whole New You' and 'Bound To You' have immediate appeal. But my biggest draw to the record was the unconventinal 'Another Plane Went Down'. Immediately, I found myself playing that song repeatedly. I cannot adequately describe it - but there is some hook in the song that just grabs me. I can honestly say there is only one song that has never grown on me - "Roger Wilco". Maybe it's my aversion to Edie Brickell, who co-wrote the song.

I find John Leventhal's production and arrangments to be understated and dark, but ultimately extremely fulfilling ("Bonefields", "Mr. Levon"). Parts of the disk are so low key, you almost miss the nuances of the music.

It still rates extremely high on my play-list and continues to sit in one of my players (home, car, office or portable cd player) 18 mos after it's release.

I say get it - but do not listen to it casually. It's a disk that takes effort and concentration to truly appreciate.

Shawn Colvin finally became a star with her 1996 album "A Few Small Repairs" and its hit single, "Sunny Came Home." Her breakthrough came at a point in her career when even her fans were beginning to doubt whether she would ever produce a consistently great album. After a long period working to establish herself on the folk scene and working as a backing vocalist for artists such as Suzanne Vega and Eric Andersen, Colvin released her first album, "Steady On," in 1989. Unfortunately, inconsistency was the hallmark of her recording career; she wrote some terrific songs ("I Don't Know Why" may be one of the most beautiful songs ever written), but not all her material reached that level. She was also often victimized by heavy-handed and questionable production choices that were probably beyond her control, including a poorly-conceived and executed album of her favorite songs by other songwriters called "Cover Girl"(1994). Despite her obvious vocal and songwriting talents, it began to appear that Colvin might never a record a great album.

"A Few Small Repairs" changed everything. Colvin wrote or co-wrote a solid and intelligent batch of songs that seemed far more meaningful and heartfelt than her previous output. Working closely with a sympathetic producer, the gifted musician/producer John Leventhal, Colvin's songs were, for the first time, arranged in a manner that complemented rather obscured the melodies. "Repairs" was a success on every level, and Colvin finally found a large audience.

Few notice a musician's struggle to build a career, but once you've had a hit, everyone pays attention. Wisely, Shawn Colvin took five years to record and release a follow-up to "Repairs," and it was time well-spent. "Whole New You" is the best album of Colvin's career. Collaborating once again with Leventhal, Colvin has crafted some of the best songs she's ever written, with lyrics that are insightful and personal, if occasionally enigmatic. She also demonstrates continued growth as a vocalist, exhibiting an almost jazz-like phrasing and sense of time. Leventhal apparently handled most of the arrangements, and if they are built around drum loops a little too often for this listener, the music is always effective and never boring. "A Matter of Minutes," Anywhere You Go," "Bonefields" and the beautiful closer, "I'll Say I'm Sorry Now," are the obvious highlights, but there's really not a bad track here.

"Whole New You" is one of the best albums of the early months of 2001, and it bodes well for the continued success of Shawn Colvin.

I have been a huge Shawn Colvin fan for almost 15 years, but I am more than a little disappointed with "Whole New You". When I listen to a Shawn Colvin album, I want to hear Shawn sing wonderful lyrics and play her acoustic guitar - either alone or with a background that highlights that singing and playing. John Leventhals backgrounds are overproduced, making the vocals seem hidden or less important. It seems that this album is more about Leventhal, and less about Shawn. Many of the songs seem disjointed, often jumping abruptly between verse, chorus and bridge - as if each section of the song was written separately and patched together later.

I was hoping this album would grow on me, but not so far. All I can say is that I can't wait for her next album, to see if she can gain control of the musical focus of her own career.

Better luck next time.

My heart sank when I heard the title track from Whole New You. For me, A Few Small Repairs was the album of 1996 and for most of the following year. It was one of those rare albums which seemed to be written about my experiences. When I hear it now I get a frisson of vivid memory- where I was living, what I was going through, colleagues I worked with. Whole New You (the track) is a radio friendly single- but with none of the musical or lyrical depth of Sunny Came Home. Hearing Colvin's voice again, singing new material, was a pleasure. But my hopes weren't high for the new album. Maybe it was payback time for a record company that has enjoyed modest, but not huge, commercial success with an artist. Just one listen through had me feeling slightly guilty for doubting. Shawn Colvin has again produced an album of (mostly) perfectly crafted songs- the best having a sinister edge that makes you shiver. Another Plane Went Down pulls you into a feverish, dream darkened half-sleep and is my stand out track so far. Mr Levon comes a close second. I'd Say I'm Sorry Now closes the album beautifully. One worry is that some songs have been overproduced- but that makes me want to hear them played live all the more. Three months into the year and this already feels like it will be my favourite album of 2001. If I find anything better by December then it will have been a bloody good year.

It's pretty easy to see when you read these reviews that there are two types of Shawn Colvin fans: The folksy late 80s Shawn fans and the Grammy winning John Leventhal conspiring Shawn fans.

I have every one of her CDs. I bought them after I became entranced with "A Few Small Repairs". Frankly, her earlier efforts, while good, didn't quite do it for me. "A Whole New You" is truly in the same ballpark as her grammy effort.

If you thought "A Few Small Repairs" was a sellout then I suggest you save your money or buy a Mary Chapin Carpenter CD instead.

I took the suggestion of some of the reviewers and listened to this cd more closely a number of times. It began to amaze me the way it grew on me. Soon I had favorites, Nothing Like You, Anywhere You Go, Another Plane Went Down, then the whole thing started to gel for me. I saw her perform the other night and she was as wonderful as ever. The stripped down versions of the new songs she did were gorgeous. Keep listening, naysayers. It worked for me.

I have to admit that I eagerly awaited Shawn's television debut on Jay Leno (March 27th). I sat up extra late, and suffered through an hour of lame banter just to hear Ms. Colvin's latest effort. My reaction after hearing the full, live version of "Whole New You" was something akin to "what the hell was that???" Sure, I can understand why this song makes an intriguing album title, but it is by far the weakest track on the whole CD. Shawn's TV perfomances to pump this new work have also seemed rusty and disjointed to me. I sincerely hope that she regains her form by the time the summer tour dates come around, because right now her voice seems weak and her back-up band seems out-of-sync. . . Anyway, about the rest of the album. . . forgetting the title track for a second (my advice, play it twice for yourself and then set your CD player to auto-skip), the rest of the album is worth the money, and there are some very interesting, if slightly opaque, songs to hold one's interest. Generally, I think that the musical arrangements are stronger than the lyrics (some very creditable work by John Leventhal, if a tad slick), but it is refreshing to hear Ms. Colvin begin to venture out of the purely self-referential material of her prior efforts and begin to develop her talents as a story teller. In fact, once you begin to regard this entire album as a 45-minute experimental riff into new musical and thematic material it starts to seriously grow on you. My favorite tracks right now are "A Matter of Minutes," "Bonefields," and "Mr. Levon." All in all I would rate this album a noble effort, and now that she is back in the fray we can only hope that Ms. Colvin's career has a very long and fruitful artistic "second wind."

My first point is don't make your decision about this album after hearing the title track...a slightly light weight pop-ish tune (which in it's place is ok,but might have come as a shock after hearing 'a few small repairs'). You've got to give this album time to work it's subtle magic, Shawn's music has to soak slowly into your consciousness, and it's worth giving a weak or two of just putting this album on repeat. Trust me there are some great songs - ranging from the melancholic 'Matter of Minutes' and 'Nothing like you' to the energetic 'Bound to you'. However, in my opinion the best song is 'Another Plane Went Down' with it's dream-like lyrics and haunting delivery - give it a listen and see what I mean. If you're not sure whether to buy this album or not - GO FOR IT! Shawn Colvin is one of the few truly gifted performers making records in the all too trashy world of pop...this is enduring stuff!

Yeah, you plunk down $15 or whatever, rush home, plop this on your CD player expecting to hear variations of what Shawn Colvin's been doing, and Omigosh, you hear something you're not expecting and you're already to take the CD back for a refund, or use it for a coaster, or whatever, and you've missed it, my friend, you've missed it.

This is one of those CDs that has so much more to it than reaches the ear the first time. The title song isn't, IMHO, all that great, but even that one is sounding better with each spin. But Nothing Like You is one of those more subtle ones that needs familiarity to appreciate. And then there's "Anywhere You Go". and by the time you get to "Another Plane Went Down" (and that's after you've listened often enough to really hear it) you know you're listening to music sung straight from the heart and soul of a person. "Mr. Levon", that is so very haunting with the setting.

C'mon, people, don't trash this just because you listen to it once and don't get it. If you've liked Shawn's earlier work, listen to this until you've grown into it, just as she's grown to this level.

I have to agree with some of the customer reviews of this wonderful album that are bewildered at some of the so called fans of Shawn that have given this one the thumbs down.I purchased `A Few Small Repairs'only weeks before this one and cannot pick which one I prefer they are both so good.So what if a couple of the songs are in the pop category. They are still classy and a long way from being bland in fact I find the title track `A Whole New You' a joyous uplifting song and one of her best.

Just like `A Few Small Repairs' this album has beautiful instrumentation thanks to the talents of Co writer/producer John Leventhal and the production is big and warm without being slick.
Real strings and horns that compliment the songs and never dominate.`Another Plane went Down' is certainly a highlight but each time I listen I have a new favourite.

This is an album that will endure.If you haven't heard Shawn Colvin yet this is a great start and then go backwards and get the rest of them.

Along with Aimee Mann she is the real deal.