Customer Reviews

Woman's Boat

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Toni Childs never fails to make me think, and on this album she never fails to make me FEEL!!

This album is both intelligent and emotional, and Toni does a better job of stirring the soul than any other pop singer I've heard. Sarah McLachlan at her best doesn't rival the emotional blitzkrieg of "The Woman's Boat." This is a masterpiece and must-have for any music lovers who consider themselves both intelligent AND sensitive.

While I have always loved the worldbeat sensibility of Toni's first album, "Union", I did not have a clear sense of who she was until "The Woman's Boat". "House of Hope" pointed, soulfully, in this direction, like an arrow poised, but "Woman's Boat" speaks, not only for herself but for many women, as well as men. This is the album I cannot get enough of. This is the album that leaves me expectantly eager for her next one as well as fearful that I have heard her best. If it is, it is enough.

First off, I've bought ALL of Tonis other albums. This one took me three listenings to really get to like it. When I found out that it was about a child being born and how her life progressed, I found the work all the more interesting. Some of the songs really stick in your mind. If you see the Album as a story (of a girls life) it makes the Album much more interesting than just listening to the album song by song.

Pink Floyd used to do this, have an album which was a theme or story, like The Wall album.

I took the CD out of my colection after not listening to it for about 5 months, and have been playing it in my car on the way to work and home for over a week now.
It's GREAT. And I'm not a female by the way.

Nice ALbum. If you like Tonis other works,.....GET IT.

So you are looking for a musical experience, a 'story' composed of songs? Look no further. Lining out this excellent album, Toni shows the maturation of her musical style. All the songs possess an unique, I'd say 'dark', style, with her strange voice and her touching lyrics. Simply wonderful. The previous albums are collections of good songs, this is a unique path from beginning to end, you will not put this CD in your player for hearing a single song.

Very good.

Toni Childs is back! She's recording a new album and will be touring soon! She is on facebook and would love to get to know you, so say hello. The real Toni Childs!!! YAY!!!!!!!!

WITH SOME HELP FROM KING CRIMSON

Released in 1994, this is Toni Child's third and last album. It is 63 minutes long and the sound quality is very good.

This sounds like something Roger Waters would have written if he were a feminist. It is along the lines of his Amused To Death or Pink Floyd's Final Cut.

It is a concept album that moves through the life of a woman. For the most part, all songs are strong and could work on their own. Except for 2 songs, nothing seems like a filler or bridge to keep the concept going.

The last song does tend to drag on a little, but it is death, which can also drag on.

Childs has a unique vocal style which some might not like. At times, it sounds like she is singing with her mouth full.

Childs was on David and David's only album, Boomtown and was rumored to have replaced Teri Nunn in Berlin for a short period after Nunn left the group, but it continued on to play a few concerts.

I got this when it came out (and saw Toni perform it live) and just picked it up again. As an experience, it's really great. It hasn't aged in a decade. But...I think my library would be incomplete without all of her Albums (the best of's are fine but each full work has an arc...not just a collection of hits). It is an album you need to listen to 10+ times to have it sink in...she's one of the few artists I have that kind of patience for.

OK folks out there in Music Land, help me out with The Woman's Boat. Let me see, the woman's "boat" represents her "womb" which is a vessel where she carries a child from inception to birth. The red fruit stuffed with cranberries represents a woman's eggs ripe for fertilization. And the orchid represents a woman's, golly gee, private parts. As for the songs themselves (in chronological order): a child is born, chased by predators, seeks affection, gets married, is sacrificed then dies. Is that right? If this sounds like the amateur efforts of a tenth grade English composition, it's not; this is the work a gifted and talented artist. Sometimes the most creative artists miss the boat (pun intended), and The Woman's Boat misses the mark by a mile.

The album is not so much a collection of compositions, but an assembly of lists. "I am breathing in life, her, darkness, blood, liquid" (Womb); "We are joy, light, darkness, night, hands, head, ears, nose, feet, fingers, limbs, toes, kisses, hugs" (Welcome To The World); "It's the heart, soul, life, God, need, seed, farm tractor" (Sacrifice). Are you bored yet? Lists are great for grocery shopping, but they make for some monotonous lyrics. The Women's Boat is heavy on electronic trickery provided by a host of computer programmers, but light on compositional integrity. `Womb' is a flimsy lullaby that menders aimlessly. `Predator' has a foreboding synthesized rhythm, but the melody is barely discernible. `I Just Want Affection' is about as convincing as an Al Gore speech. There are some interesting sound effects here (The Woman's Boat), but sound effects certainly aren't "music."

What happened? Why is Union so emotionally breathtaking, where The Woman's Boat is about as exciting as warm milk? What's missing from Das Boat is the half of David & David who gave us the outstanding 1987 Welcome To The Boomtown, and the half of Toni Childs' stellar 1988 Union: David Ricketts. Now about that farm tractor...

A HEARTBEAT. A HEARTBEAT CEASES. EVERYTHING INBETWEEN.

GO TO SLEEP PRECEDES LET ME WELCOME YOU TO THIS WORLD. AND, YES, THERE'LL BE DAY AND NIGHT.

A WILD BRIDE LIVES, OWNING HER SEXUALITY.

PREDATORS ABOUND.

IN SPITE OF IT, WE FIND HER ALLOWING BIRTH AND THE THUNDER INSIDE OF HER. CAN SHE TEAR BACK THE VEILS THAT ARE HERE? YES. SHE DOES.

LAYING DOWN HER PAIN BECAUSE SOMETIMES HAVING YOU HERE FEELS GOOD, YET IT'S THE FEAR THAT IS SO REAL.

AND THEN IT'S TIME TO SAY GOODBYE. GOODBYE TO ALL THE THINGS WE'VE SAID AND CRIED.

LASTLY, THE LOVE SHE COULDN'T SAY, BUT SHE WANTS TO SAY IT NOW.

I do not want to say goodbye to this album, so I have not. I have played it often for over ten years now. These are sentiments that no one can bid farewell to. . .and in spite of life's pain and sugarsickness, who would want to?

A friend in San Diego introduced me to this CD several years ago and at the time I was impressed by it. Last year, I saw it in the used CD section at my favorite Encinitas record store and picked it up after remembering my first impression.
When I got it home, I put it on, listened to it, then put it on the shelf wondering what had ever possessed me to buy it. It might have gathered a thick coat of dust if I hadn't decided to take it on a long trip and give it another chance.
On the trip, I let it play through half a dozen times and gained a new appreciation for it. While there are parts, like the children's chorus and the squalling baby, that I still dislike there is much here to enjoy. My favorites here are the growling Predator, Wild Bride, and Sacrifice.
I am not familiar with Childs' other works, so I have no point of comparison to make with them. But I can tell the new listener that Childs delivers her songs with passion. Though her music is definitely an acquired taste, I have heard enough here to make me want to hear more.