The Honesty Room

Dar Williams

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 21, 1995)
• Original Release Date: February 23, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Razor & Tie
• ASIN: B000002ZC5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #15,476 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Styles > Alternative Folk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Dar Williams's success as young '90s folkie isn't hard to discern. She has a consistent lyrical intelligence, an evocative, if sometimes cloying soprano, and a steady, graceful finger-style guitar skill. But, what's more, she has tapped into a yearning for immediacy and sincerity among her college-age (and mostly female) audience. Williams's first record is her sparest, simplest and best. The subject matter ranges from geopolitical fears, family turmoil, and gender angst, and her finest song remains "When I Was a Boy," a story of what it means to become a man or a woman: it should strike any listener with a shock of recognition. --Roy Francis Kasten

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Poet Laureat of the Cusp, December 2, 2002

By	Christopher Dudley (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The thing that makes Dar Williams unique is that we can all identify with what she's singing about. Growing up in the wake of the Baby Boomers, a little too old to really be GenX, her songs about a childhood with a hippy babysitter and cold war fears resonates with a lot of thirty-somethings out there, such as myself. But I'm fairly confident that this accoustical effort will appeal to those outside my demographic as well. And what you get with this album is a first-person confessional, not of pain and sin, but of life in America.

If you're familiar with her later recordings, this album is a nice departure from the full-band folk-rock she's become equally adept at. Most of the music on this album is simple folk guitar and Dar's vocals. The lyrics are nothing short of brilliant; personal and intimate, without ever going over-the-top to hokey. Nearly every song on this album speaks from and to the heart.

Dar has made many more albums since this one, and it's always interesting to see which new direction she's taking with each release. But even as her music gets more complex with the addition of a full band in later albums, she still maintains the pure songwriting gift that this album so spectacularly showcases.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was thinking about my sprained outlook on certain aspects of life..., August 26, 2002

By	Viviane (Brooklyn) - See all my reviews

I got this album, it nudged some of the discs back into place. Dar's not a preacher, but "The Honesty Room" is naked, generous, unapologetic and energetic. In a culture where most music is blantantly geared toward mass-appeal consumerism, where the fact that performers can't sing is voiced-over and choreographed away, where "pop" equals "product placement," a singer/songwriter (or anyone else) who isn't afraid to show the world who she sees in the mirror is unbelievably refreshing. This is an aptly named, beautifully layered CD, with many styles for many moods. It makes me want to go hiking through the mountains of Montana.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life passes very gracefully in The Honesty Room, June 14, 2000

By	dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

When The Honesty Room was first released by the Burning Field label, it didn't sell. Then it was picked up by Waterbug Records, and it still didn't sell. Finally, after the album was released by Razor & Tie, it still didn't sell. Well, almost. Without air play, without a video, and without promotion from the CD label, The Honesty Room did pretty well for the unknown artist Dar Williams. The word that Dar was the latest and greatest in the folk world spread by way of this new fangled communication tool called the internet. Seriously, Dar Williams may very well be the first internet singer.

As far as The Honesty Room is concerned, self-examination and self-reflection have been done before. In fact, overdone. But Dar is a gem: instead of performing for the members of an audience, instead of singing into a microphone connected to a tape recorder, Dar sings "to and for you" alone. Her ability to connect is what politicians call "charisma," while knowing music fans prefer to use the term "intimate." Each of her compositions is an engrossing tale, a story of normal everyday life told with poetic finesse. The CD opens with `When I Was A Boy' - a song that questions sexual stereotypes and concludes with a surprise ending. `The Babysitter's Here' paints a nostalgic and heartwarming image of hero worship. Dar's lyrics bring life to the characters, and the last verse is affectingly poignant. You'd be very fortunate if `This Is Not A House That Pain Built' is the house where you grew up. Life passes very gracefully in The Honesty Room. Several times I've questioned just how does Dar Williams sing these songs without sounding "corny." I suppose that each listener will have his own answer.