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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Marianne's not ready to kiss her talent goodbye just yet, August 24, 2002
With 1999's VAGABOND WAYS (not relased in America until 2000), Marianne Faithfull proved that, for a woman in her 50s, she could still command the same power & attention that albums like 1979's seminal BROKEN ENGLISH proved. Granted, Marianne is not the easiest artist to listen to, let alone love. Her critical look back at her past musical career & decadence is brutally honest & not often pretty. But before giving her a thumbs-down, one needs to realize how she got where she is today & when one does, they'll find Marianne to be a little more approachable & even human. What's especially amazing is that she still has a considerable amount of fans after all this time, including her fellow artists. Her newest album KISSIN' TIME is a concentration on duets & collaborations where both Marianne & the guest are on equal footing, causing both to play off each other's strengths.
It was albums like BROKEN ENGLISH that helped establish Marianne as more than just Mick Jagger's ex-girlfriend & some would also argue that she has held up better than her former lover. The big question about KISSIN' TIME would be could an old pro like Marianne work well with the younger admirers? The answer turns out to be a resounding yes!
Since 1999's MIDNITE VULTURES, Beck has been a little on the quiet side, the normally prolific Mr. Hansen taking his time with his next artistic move. But apparently, he had time to work with Marianne & gave her some of his best material, too. Songs like "Sex With Strangers" & "Like Being Born" (which may be more sinister than it sounds) are both typical of Marianne's pull-no-punches look at her past history & Beck's new-Dylan-ish stream-of-consciousness writing style. Just as it seemed only Beck could perform his own material, the writing team of Faithfull & Hansen works out well & hopefully will create more in the future. Marianne even goes straight to the source by covering Beck's "Nobody's Fault But My Own" (as "Nobody's Fault"). Certainly one of the more understandable songs Beck has ever created (not by much, though), Marianne works wonders with this one as well.
The other big collaborator on KISSIN' TIME is former Smashing Pumpkins' frontman Billy Corgan, who not only gives Marianne some of his best material, but also his most direct. "I'm On Fire" & "Wherever I Go" are surprisingly romantic & even seductive for the usually gloomy Billy & helps gives Marianne a warm sensuality that one wouldn't have thought possible with her voice at this point in her career. An even more shocking success is Marianne's cover of Goffin & King's (popularized by Herman's Hermits) "I'm Into Something Good" with Corgan behind the boards. She just might be proving she has a heart of gold after all.
That's not to say Marianne has lost her acid-drenched commentary on the darker side of love & life. "Song For Nico" (with former Eurythmic Dave Stewart) is a condensation of the life of the legendary German chanteuse in only 4 minutes & is one song that warrants the "parental advisory" sticker on the cover of KISSIN' TIME (BROKEN ENGLISH would have deserved one, too, but they weren't around yet in 1979).
"Sliding Through Life On Charm" is probably the song most likely to offend (especially with the line mixing sex & the clergy) on the album & no surprise, coming from Pulp leader Jarvis Cocker (whose album WE LOVE LIFE has finally reached American stores). It also is one of the most autobiographical songs Marianne has ever sung with her name actually mentioned in the lyrics.
Blur is another band who's been silent for a while (since 1999's 13), but as they go about crafting their next work, they take time out to work with Marianne on the title track. Not the outright shocker that is "Sliding Through Life On Charm", it still has that song's sense of brutal honesty, but with lyrics able to be heard by virgin ears.
The remaining two songs are quite good in their own right, but they're easily obscured by the high-profile collaborations of the others. "The Pleasure Song" is written with French pop maestro Etienne Daho & is a good example of Serge Gainsbourg's odes to free love that perked up ears in the late 1960s. "Love & Money" is a short 2-minute ditty co-written with Marianne's BROKEN ENGLISH partner Barry Reynolds, with him performing most of the music. I think this is one song that could have benefitted from a better production job, giving it more room to breathe.
The success of VAGABOND WAYS must have been a surprise to the music industry Marianne Faithfull has often had few good words to say about. Whereas that album was released by an independent label, KISSIN' TIME is released on Hut Records (subsidiary of the Virgin label). With Marianne enjoying a much more fruitful career (artistically) now than ever before, maybe her time to shine has finally come & on her own terms. Of course, KISSIN' TIME isn't exactly safe for listeners of all ages, but if you want to hear a veteran artist with just as much attitude as anyone else half her age, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone better than Marianne Faithfull.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Improvement Over Previous Release, August 23, 2002
'Vagabond Ways' was Marianne Faithfull's most well-received album of new material in years. It flowed on folky poetry and subtle electronic pulses, and made for one of the best albums of 2000. Unfortunately, my love for it -- though still undeniably strong -- has waned, perhaps because I listened to it too much, or, more likely, because 'Kissin Time' smacks it outta the water.Recorded with an assortment of alternative rock darlings, 'KT' is a bold, experimental album that is entirely successful. The opening track, "Sex With Strangers," is a groovy free-love anthem. "I'm On Fire" is one of Faithfull's best ballads in many years -- its devoted romanticism blends well with its goose-pimple-inducing music, by the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. The creepy modern rock god also gives a nice production assist to the remake "I'm Into Something Good," as well as to "Wherever I Go," which he penned solo, and which has been sent to Triple A stations as the first single.Faithfull co-wrote a majority of the album, and her lyrics stand out on both the tragic "Song For Nico" (made with the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart) and the cleverly confessional "Sliding Through Life On Charm" (done splendidly with Pulp's Jarvis Cocker). As well, thanks to its smooth guitar bounce, the title track, written and performed with Blur, is as dreamily hypnotic as such a collaboration could promise to be.'Kissin Time' marks the return of a more confident, world-aware Marianne Faithfull. 'Vagabond Ways,' great as it was, seemed dated. In stark contrast, this new album borders on innovative, thanks to some of the best and most varied production she's ever had. As well, her unique, amazing voice is stronger than ever. Perhaps the nifty new sound can help capture some more well-deserved fans for this classic, classy rock empress.(Fair warning: Not that most Marianne fans care, but this album does carry a "Parental Advisory,". Also, I love the funky, splattered-paint cover -- it's Marianne's best and most appropriate album artwork since 'Broken English.')
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
At the cutting edge of the time, June 9, 2002
Marianne has always been an expert at bouncing back from obscurity, as with the legendary Broken English in the early 1980s. Kissin' Time sees Faithfull still at the cutting edge of pop with assistance by Beck, Billy Corgan, Dave Stewart, Jarvis Cocker, and Blur on the title track. In her book Memories, Dreams and Reflections, a short chapter is devoted to discussing the songs and the musicians on Kissin' Time. Marianne claims that the style was very deliberately 1960s retro as if it were the follow-up to her work of that decade. Not predominantly aotobiographical, the album happily celebrates love & life with a theme of fandom permeating it.
I have always associated Marianne with other famous blondes of the 1960s like Nico and Anita Pallenberg, so it's apt that she does a tribute to the Velvet Underground chanteuse with the expert help of Dave Stewart. This era produced another Nico tribute; compare the song with the same title on the album How I Loved You by Angels of Light. But I miss the emotional resonance and authenticity of 1999's Vagabond Ways. After the opening track, the ironic Sliding Through Life On Charm with its wry & witty biographical references - a song co-written with Jarvis Cocker - is the first that held my attention.
I also love the lilting pop/reggae tune Love & Money and her cover of Goffin & King's Something Good, which to my mind most closely resembles the type of innocent 60s pop she used to do at the start of her career. If it weren't for the voice of course, that has dropped to a more husky tone. My tracks of choice also includes Sex With Strangers with its ironic comments and edgy beat. So this album is the 2004 manifestation of Marianne reinventing herself, and it's interesting but not always emotionally gripping and memorable. Still, Kissin' Time deserves four stars for musical variety and humour.
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