Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mature, yet so Innocent, January 4, 2007
This is the one of the most beautiful albums. So much imagery flows through one's mind as one pictures Regina alone with her piano delivering every note, every word.. it's so gorgeous. And humorous. And smooth yet quirky and intelligent yet child-like. All done in one take, without any commercial compromises.
1. Samson - I prefer this version over the redone one in Begin to Hope. It a bit slower, a little more honest, passionate and melodic.
2. Oedipus - Based on a historical character (like Samsom) starts off melodic and speeds up around the chorus then slows and ups once again. The tempo and style changes constantly.
3. Prisoners - Has a wonderful ending, vocal surprises, and that cleverly played piano. Quite edgy.
4. Reading Time With Pickle - Breathtakingly quirky. Haunting. Powerful vocals.
5 Consequence of Sounds - I love the simple instrumentation and her voice demands your attention. The vocal delivery carries this song all the way to the top. It's very hip-hop, very lyrically smart. This song has such an invigorating style.
6. Daniel Cowman - Very eccentric. Done in a narrative manner, her vocal and music style changes constantly. It's remarkable, unlike any other song.
7. Bon Idee - Beautiful song, I love the truth in the lyrics.
8. Aching to Pupate - The most refreshing and charming song I've heard in ages. It's all acapella.
9. Lounge - Jazzier than the rest. Her car impression is awesome. Broo-Broo-Brooommm!
10. Lacrimosa - Edgy. Has a jaunty, jumpy piano and sounds somewhat classical. Very original.
11. Lulliby - Dark and gorgeous. My least favorite, but it's indeed beautiful. Very intimate.
12. Ne Me Quitter Pas - Fun and entertaining. Cheery even, the perfect ending to a wonderfully executed album.
I did not rate the tracks as they're all so different beyond categorization, it felt unfair somehow. Each song is it's own genre and they hold your attention, either by Regina's voice or the only featured instrument - the piano. Magical album. Artsy. Catchy.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Her songs, June 25, 2007
Though you would never know it, Regina Spektor's recent hit album was actually her fourth, not her second.
One of those two "lost" albums was "Songs," an appropriate name for a collection of raw, beautifully simple little antifolk songs. The singer-songwriter spins out her little tunes around quirky vocals and exquisitely elusive, exuberant songwriting -- a truly astounding little album.
"You are my sweetest downfall/I loved you first, I loved you first/Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth..." The first song opens with a gentle piano melody, as Spektor sings of a deep, simple love that no one remembers ("And history books forgot about us and the Bible didnt mention us"), but which is no less striking for its anonymity.
Well, enough love. Then it's off into the taut bizarrity of "Oedipus," about a young prince trying to make himself stand out. And the songs that follow are no less unique: rambling a capella, dark piano songs about wintry flowers, trippling piano pop with staccato vocals, and gentle ballads about death row prisoners.
It ends with "Ne Me Quitte Pas," a quirky pop ode to various cities and districts, including New York ("And if you are the ghost of New York City/then won't you stick around"), Paris ("I love Paris in the rain...") and Paris. Where the first song looked back fondly on a love affair, the last song frolicks in the present.
Well, it really says something about Regina Spektor that she can write a song about pickle love... and it not only works, but it's charming and cute. "Songs" is full of such songs -- songs about ordinary things, but they're seen through a lens that reveals the beauty, sorrow and weirdness of them.
The only real instrument here is Spektor's trusty piano, which would sound kind of bare bones for most singers. But she can make it do whatever she likes -- it trips, hiccups, ripples in waves, growls, and clumps in little dense pockets. "Samson" is the closest to a "normal" melody: a gentle, full-bodied melody that unfolds smoothly, but still hiccups occasionally.
Spektor's quirky, high voice is as versatile as her piano -- she croons, trills, soars, rambles, groans, and goes "brrrrrrrrr!". Her lyrics are elusive and hard to decipher at times, drawing as much from Greek mythology as from NYC life -- in one song she's meditating that "love is the answer to a question that I/have forgotten," and the next she's fantasizing about how, "I will open up my trenchcoat/they will see the butterflies/dangling like fake rolexes."
"Songs" is exactly what it says it is -- songs. But Regina Spektor fills these simple little tunes with quirky stylings and brilliant lyrics. A treasure.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great cd, January 16, 2007
What an awesome cd to have if you are a Regina fan,I cannot figure out why she would not want this gem out in the first place.Glad someone convinced her to put it out for the fans
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