Bright Red [IMPORT]

Laurie Anderson

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1994)
• Original Release Date: October 25, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Warner Bros UK
• ASIN: B000002MP5
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #145,617 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
How do you make a pop song work without the safety net of melody? Rappers do it with hyperactive dance beats and lots of attitude, but Laurie Anderson does it by relaxing our defenses with her soothing telephone-operator voice, her hypnotic synth patterns, and droning organ washes. Once she has lured us into her aural lair, she trips us up with broken syntax and disconnected sentence fragments. Bright Red's producer is Brian Eno, an astute choice, for no one does ambient backdrops better. By themselves, these atmospheric harmonies are mere background music, Anderson's spoken monologues nothing more than bohemian stand-up comedy. When the two elements click, however, the result is some of the most original pop music around. As always, what saves Anderson from smug self-indulgence is her wicked sense of humor and her genuine sense of dread. --Geoffrey Himes

Product Description
Mid-price German reissue of 1994 studio album featuring appearances from Brian Eno, Adrian Belew and Lou Reed. 14 tracks: 'Speechless', 'Bright Red', 'The Puppet Motel', 'Speak My Language', 'World Without End', 'Freefall''Muddy River', 'Beautiful Pea Green Boat', 'Love Among The Sailors', 'Poison', 'In Our Sleep', 'Night In Baghdad', 'Tightrope' and 'Same Time Tomorrow'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anderson Walks A Tightrope on Bright Red, March 23, 2000

By	Lunatic Muse "southwestreview" (El Paso, TX) - See all my reviews

Ten years after recording her most optimistic album, "Mr. Heartbreak", Laurie Anderson released the brooding, haunted "Bright Red". The name itself seems bitingly ironic; there isn't a "bright" song in the bunch. Rather, these tracks are suffused with a pervading darkness, courtesy of Brian Eno's atmospheric textures. Anderson's voice, usually an inviting, conversational one capable of inducing subtle sparks of emotion, now seems strange, confrontational and ghostly. Her love interest at the time, Lou Reed, participates in a grave duet with the artist on "In Our Sleep", and Adrian Belew turns in appropriately subtle guitar work, but the entire CD is permeated with a creeping sense of inevitability. As if to underscore this undercurrent of dread, Anderson's lyrics speak of lost control, isolation and lost threads of sanity. For those unaquainted with her work, neophites may find such a description unappealing; even so, this is an uncompromising, mature work that ranks as one of Anderson's best. Personal Favorites: the gauzy feeling of dislocation evident in "Speechless" and the creeping insanity of a scorned lover in "Poison". Representative Lyrics: "Daddy daddy, it was just like you said/ Now that the living outnumber the dead." ("Speak My Language"); "A small bullet, a piece of glass/ And your heart just grows around it." ("Poison"); "If this is the work of an angry god/ I want to look into his angry face./ There is no pure land now./ No safe place." ("Love Among the Sailors")

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the best, October 21, 2004

By	darthminogue - See all my reviews

I don't normally write reviews (in fact, this is my first one!) however, having read some of the negative reviews for this album, I feel I must add my two cents.

This is possibly the most played cd in my 500-strong collection. There are no dud tracks and it really is quite unlike other Anderson albums: generally her soundscapes are awesomely sparse, but Eno's influence on this is unmistakable and provides a richer, more musical 'background'.

The two-tiered track Night in Baghdad/Tightrope is possibly the most incredible song(s) of all time. Her grasp of the profundities and inanities of life astound me. This song is the only one in my 30 years to have made me cry ("'Did you ever really love me?' 'Only when we danced'").

Bright Red is perhaps not the ideal introduction to Anderson (for that I'd recommend Home Of The Brave or Strange Angels, far and away her most 'accessible' album), but if you've heard and liked some of her previous output and are tossing up whether to make the purchase, do it. Definitely go for this rather than the more recent Life On A String which, for me, is a mediocre replica.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laurie Anderson Has No Equal, April 29, 2002

By	Jon Bastian (Hollywood, CA) - See all my reviews

Quite possibly one of the most innovative musical/performance artists around, Laurie Anderson never disappoints, and Bright Red is no exception. Sonically amazing, that's just window dressing to the incredible lyrics through which Anderson weaves amazing stories. Listen carefully, for hers is a land in which meanings shift subtly with repetition or revelation. Whether she's telling us of a shawl owned by her grandmother or a dream involving her ex-boyfriends, their new girlfriends and a water-logged ferris wheel, every number here is full of new surprises on each listening. If you're an Anderson fan, this CD is a must-add to your collection. If you have no idea who she is, this is a good place to start before moving on to her more intricate works, such as "O, Superman" and "USA Parts I-IV."

Way back in the day, friends and I used to enjoy watching Anderson's "Home of the Brave" concert tape while... um... under the influence, but it's a true tribute to her talent that you require no chemical enhancements in order to enter an alternate reality while experiencing her work. Rarely do words and music mesh in such a transcendent way, but with Anderson they always do, and this CD is no exception. She truly is a goddess of art.