Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hatfield finds her balance; evenly strong songwriting., May 28, 2000
My first taste of this album came long before it was ever released: The B-side to the "Spin the Bottle" single contained one of Juliana Hatfield's best recorded tracks ever, a lovely acoustic ballad called "My Darling". Dispensing with her sometimes forced witticisms and feistier, punkish electric guitars, "My Darling" just tells of a romantic yearning without pyrotechnics. And it's absolutely gorgeous, fitting Hatfield's candy-sweet voice perfectly, while also showing she has a nice touch on acoustic guitar.That song was enough to convince me to get Only Everything. On the album, the song undergoes a remarkable transformation -- Hatfield plugs in, invites a full band onto the song, and manages to increase the beauty of the song while dispensing with acoustic guitars. Most bands go the opposite route, and it's refreshing to see someone capable of elevating a ballad by plugging in instead of unplugging. The rest of the album isn't as pensive or romantic, but it's marvellous noise-pop: "What a Life", despite a repetitive bridge (repetition is one of Hatfield's vices), rocks out with nice chunks of guitar riffs; "Fleur de Lys" couples French lyrics (!) with good solid melodies; "Dumb Fun" is one of Hatfield's best uptempo songs, wry and humorous without being precious; and "Universal Heart-Beat" is another well written, well recorded pop gem. When Hatfield reigns in her eagerness to write "issue songs" and writes introspectively, she can be extremely appealing, the approach much more apt to her girlish vocals and pop sensibility than the heavier sentiments attempted on the predecessor, Become What You Are, which despite its tighter band dynamics wasn't as strong or consistent a piece of songwriting as Only Everything.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underappreciated Effort, March 8, 2002
This is easily one of the top ten releases of the last decade. The songwriting is consistently strong from track to track. Standouts include the energetic opener, What A Life, the crunchy pop of Universal Heartbeat, and the heartfelt whimsy of My Darling. O.K. O.K. and Dumb Fun also provide some upbeat pop/rock hooky energy. Strong lyrics, full of equal parts longing, disdain, alienation, and acceptance contribute depth to the over all experience. Very insightful stuff in an industry where lyrics in general tend to exist merely to support the melody.Although I'm not overly familiar with all of Juliana's work, to me, this is her strongest effort, even topping her wonderful, yet inconsistent work with the Blake Babies. Add this to your collection.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Juliana's finest!, November 29, 2003
I have been listening to this CD (origanaly cassette!) consistantly for eight years now and have never tired of it.
Following on from 1993's "Become what you are" popularity peak, this CD should have broken Juliana into platinum territory.However it soon was proven that would not be the case, with both juliana and this CD fading from public view soon after.On release it received a lukewarm reception, which is a shame since this is her most consistant CD to date. For starters the sound is huge, with guitars and drums (by A Perfect Circle's Josh Freese on song tracks) way up to the fore. Then of course theres Julianas vocals, as sweet as they have ever sounded. Unlike earlier JH cd's, this set is not at all helmed in by a rigid "sound". Several tempos styles and moods are explored over the 14 tracks, whilst keeping a unified flow. Great use is made of the varied keyboard touches throughout, Clavinet, organ , piano even Wurlitzer and Mellotron are utilized to great effect. There are so many stand out tracks, "What a life", "Outside", "Live on tomorrow"...And "Bottles and flowers" is the best hit Smashing Pumpkins never had! As i said this CD sold very little, and its follow up "God's Foot" remains unreleased to this day. However Juliana is still recording independently and still producing great music. Apparently this overlooked gem is no longer in print. I recomend it to anyone to seek it out second hand (like right here!), you might be pleasently suprised!
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