Peacetime

Eddi Reader

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 2007)
• Original Release Date: February 20, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Compass Records
• ASIN: B000MGVBQ4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,018 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Folk > Traditional British & Celtic Folk > Scottish Folk

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
2007 solo release from the singer/songwriter and former vocalist in Fairground Attraction. 13 tracks including 'Muddy Water', 'Prisons', 'Should I Pray' and more. Rough Trade. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Heartache, April 25, 2007

By	K. J. Vargo (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stunning recording. I bawled my eyes out. The sentiments are wistful and sad and sweetly delivered. Isn't that the yin-yan perfection that makes the heart ache? Consistent from beginning to end, with nary a clunker (first time ever for her, though she's never had many clunkers). She discovered the most lovely-with-heartsickness Burns poem ever in "Aye Waukin-O" (always awake) and made a charming tune to go with it.

I always find songs about finding a true home and being promised care and protection to be the most moving, and "The Shepherd's Song" is one of those songs. Maybe such songs are so moving because we know that--in this life at least--we can never be guaranteed either.

The other tracks that got 5 stars in my iTunes library were "Should I Pray?", "The Afton", and "Peacetime." All of these songs are about the scary side of something beautiful, about lost and compromised goodness, and the yearning for things many of us desire most: pure intentions, restored nature, and especially peace.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Authentic and pleasant., February 24, 2007

By	Esthero - See all my reviews

Eddi Reader's last album, a tribute to Robert Burns was not only highly acclaimed; it also cemented the great singer's position as a true stalwart within the UK music scene.

Always humble and a favourite on the live circuit, she recently supported Willie Nelson, playing with Sharron Shannon's Big Band.

"Peacetime" is her sixth solo album and it's another stirring and personal collection.

The tracks have an authentic appeal as Eddi has chosen to work with traditional folk musicians, such as John McCusker. Stunning versions of Mary And The Soldier and Aye Waukin-O reminds you of how timeless folk music can be, if produced with as much as heart and soul as this.

Fans of Reader's writing though need never fear as she has penned some verses for Robert Burns' "Leezie Lindsay".

She has developed a real affinity for Burns' work and delivers, yet again with real panache and makes the song her own.

She is backed by some fine musicians who give the album the traditional feel, even on the more contemporary tracks.

Eddi's own "Safe As Houses" sounds like it was written years ago. Her soft vocals work wonderfully well, at creating an image in your mind of a long winter evening, warmed by her recognisable honeyed delivery.

The title track builds slowly, filling mind with imagery, yet again. That is the great things about this album; it lives on in your mind as all great music should do.

Sure, there is nothing here to match the foot tapping excellence that is, You're Welcome, Willie Stewart - a particular live favourite ( check her "Live: London 05.06.03" or " St Clare's Night Out: Eddi Reader Live at the Basement " ).

Also the style Eddi tends to adopt here lacks the variety of previous albums. But with folk music, more popular than ever, she has taken the baton and ran with it.

She does the genre justice and "Peacetime" whets your appetite for more live shows, which is where this artist, truly is perfect.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeping it Fresh, March 8, 2007

By	Captain Cook (Leeward to the Sandwich Islands) - See all my reviews

Perhaps if Eddi Reader had stuck to pop, she might just about be remembered as the crystalline-voiced housewives' choice who topped the pop charts in 1988 with Fairground Attraction's Perfect. However, she has displayed remarkable longevity by moving between other genres. Her latest show skips from pop (Perfect, Patience of Angels) to Celtic folk and Lucinda Williams-style country rock, songs by Robert Burns and, on her new album Peacetime, songs that hopefully suggest alternatives to pelting the world with bombs.

The timeless redhead's constant is her voice - which, at 47, sounds even more crystalline and perfect than ever. However, Reader's trump card is a salacious down-to-earth wit that allows her to take her audience with her. Perhaps Burns's 18th-century Brose and Butter might seem a little highbrow if Reader didn't helpfully explain that it's about masturbation. "The boys are going to fire away at it," she shrieks.
The "boys" are a consummate band, including Fairground drummer Roy Dodds, longtime cohort Boo Hewerdine and folk protege Kris Drever, who provide the butt for Reader's saucy jokes and handle the Glaswegian's moods with note-perfect precision.

Prisons is a shimmering pop wonder. Declan O'Rourke's Galileo is a spine-tingling love song. The Afton, from her new album, is a stirring homage to an Ayrshire river which remains beautiful "even with the trolleys and nappies".

A spectacular scat remodel of Elvis Presley's Mystery Train suggests yet another new direction. However, it is perhaps most wonderful to see her fail to keep a straight face singing Burns's Charlie Is My Darling, a traditional, stirring, romantic stomp about, according to Reader, "how easy it is to make love in a kilt".