Asking for Flowers

Kathleen Edwards

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 4, 2008)
• Original Release Date: March 4, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Zoe Records
• ASIN: B00128X6Z0
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,430 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
After a three-year hiatus to catch up on life in her native Ontario, Kathleen Edwards has done nothing to separate herself from the small pool of North America’s fast-rising songwriters, in which she is a deeply immersed member. Her third album continues her clear-minded, open-hearted lyricism, though with a ripeness that comes from years on the road and years more to reflect. Edwards remains in a tug-of-war with matters of the heart, and she’s not afraid slyly to nudge the opposite side. "I’m a Ford Tempo (and) you’re my Maserati," she sings in "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory." It's a get-lost love song similar in tone to "The Cheapest Key," which finds the storyteller alphabetizing her romantic tribulations. Even the gorgeous melody of the title song is offset by the concession that a simple bouquet is not too much to ask in return. As the record’s co-producer, Edwards has assembled a cracker-jack studio band (led by Heartbreakers’ keyboardist Benmont Tench and pedal steel virtuoso Greg Leisz), and she turns it loose on "Oh Canada," a nod to her home nation, and "Oil Man’s War," which speculates that a permanent trip to that country may be a viable alternative to life south of the border. --Scott Holter

Product Description
Kathleen Edwards' Asking for Flowers is her first new album in three years, and the acclaimed artist's most penetrating collection to date. The album features eleven new songs, all written by Edwards, and finds her performing at the peak of her creative powers, supported by a group of master backing musicians. Flowers tells indelible, clear-eyed stories of hope and resignation, humor and death, unconditional love and brazen inequality.

Co-produced by Edwards and Jim Scott (Tom Petty, Whiskeytown), the album features, among others, keyboardist Benmont Tench from The Heartbreakers, drummer Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, The Wallflowers), bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Leonard Cohen), guitarist Colin Cripps (Sarah McLachlan, Bryan Adams), and pedal steel ace Greg Leisz (Sheryl Crow, Wilco, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 3rd Masterpiece from Kathleen, March 11, 2008

By	M. M Magliaro "maxvideo" (Philipsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's hard to believe that Kathleen Edwards has been able to churn out 3 excellent albums in a row, without the slightest sign of anything
being rushed, duplicated, or cheesy, but she has done it.
When I listened to her first album, "Failer", I must have played it 50 times, and thought it was the best album made by anyone, in any genre, in 20 years. At first, I thought her second, "Back To Me" flagged a little, but then realized I needed to listen to it more and that it had simply taken a turn toward a more rocked up sound.

"Asking For Flowers" is yet another beautiful turn, still preserving Edwards gorgeously emotional husky voice and introspective story telling. But the melodies are more delicate and mature, as are the stories. If you enjoyed her folk, rock, and humorous styles on the first two albums, you will not be disappointed with this CD. All of those elements are still there. Songs like "I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory" and "The Cheapest Key" show her cut-to-the-chase fighting side. Songs like "Asking For Flowers" are simply heartbreakingly beautiful and honest.
"Alicia Ross" carries its own weight about a kidnapped murdered girl, even if you don't know the true story on which it was based.

Musically, the styles are very similar to her other work, deftly mixing in some of Kathleen's solo violin playing, and the band's slide electric guitar and harmonica with just the right touches to add snap to the song arrangements.

The only knock I have against this album is the same one I had for the other two. The recording quality is just not up to par. All her albums have a mid-rangey muddiness that make the band sound like they were recorded in a metal box. The drums sound somewhat like old pots and pans, the bass is lost in murkiness with no definition, and her voice needs to be up more in the overall mix. But the musicianship, her wonderful singing, and beautiful songs are just so darn good that I can overlook the recording quality with ease.

If the rest of the stupid music industry would wake up and listen to albums like this, they would start to understand what it means to create a quality album - an album worth buying and listening to over and over again so you can appreciate it, like the layers of color on a fine oil painting.

It's truly rare to find somebody who can write good song after good song, never becoming repetitive or boring, and always stretching. This must be what it was like when The Beatles were releasing new albums in the 1960s.

Bravo, Kathleen!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of 2008? Truly a masterpiece, March 15, 2008

By	R. Vosik "vosmo" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I think that "Failer" was one of the best debut albums of the last 10
years. I don't find that I listen to "Back To Me" very much, and I
wondered whether maybe the first album would stand as the best of
Kathleen's career.

I did not know what to expect with "Asking for Flowers". I'd read in
No Depression that Kathleen had experimented a bit more, and I did
not find that particularly appealing, frankly.

The first couple of spins did not catch my attention. I didn't hear
any song which had a hook that caught me.

But somewhere along the line, this CD really started to get to me.
It's alternately poignant and humorous--take the juxtaposition
of 'Alicia Ross', a haunting, true story about the murder of a young
girl, with 'I Make The Dough, You Get the Glory" with its already
classic "You're the great one, I'm Marty McSorley" line. That one
will resonate with Canadians and hockey fans.

'Buffalo' is tremendous, 'The Cheapest Key' is straight ahead, no-
nonsense, no-message rock. 'Scared at Night' is beautiful.

This album has it all--poignant lyrics, great rock, catchy hooks and some nice humor. Truly a keeper--and a masterpiece.

Anyway, if you ask me, this one is a classic and leads my 'Best of
2008'.

Rick V
vosmo
(Please note--no mention of 'Neil Young' or 'Lucinda Williams' in the above review!)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pulls you in with repeated listens, July 25, 2008

By	M. Connors (Connecticut) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This album has snuck up on me. There were a few tracks I liked right away--'Oh Canada', 'Scared at Night'--but others have emerged as favorites. 'Run' is heartbreakingly beautiful. And there's more where that came from.