Vagabond Ways

Marianne Faithfull

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 11, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Instinct Records
• ASIN: B00004SBMI
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #169,604 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
"Oh, doctor please. I drink and I take drugs. I love sex and I move around a lot." These are the opening words of this album, and as the summation of a gloriously misspent youth, they're kind of hard to beat, cementing Marianne Faithfull's claim to the title of Greatest Living Englishwoman. Her first album since 20th Century Blues offers up a diverse collection of material. An old Roger Waters composition, "Incarceration of a Flower Child," opens with a musical phrase he would revisit, 15 years later, in "Your Possible Pasts" (from the Final Cut album). Faithfull interprets it as a simple lament to lost innocence, the days of "good dope and cheap wine"--though its chorus rather deliberately punctures the dream ("It's gonna get old in the 1970s"). And with its mocking air of self-pity, its ruined grandeur, Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song" might have been written with her in mind. But it's that title track and "Electra," two ruthless slices of self-examination ("You'd think she owns the streets of Dublin"), which truly compel attention. Singular, magnificent. --Andrew McGuire

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing How This Woman Can Keep My Attention, June 26, 2002

By	Randall E. Adams (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beauty By Torchlight, November 7, 2000

By A Customer

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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Diamond in the Rough, May 14, 2000

By	Timothy F. Finn (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

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.