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32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Listen to it again., November 18, 2005
I've always thought Fiona seemed wise beyond her years. I've read some reviews of her past works that have included the word genius. Although I always thought she was a bright girl, I also thought people really needed to quit throwing around the word genius so lightly.
As I listened to about half of each song on her Extraordinary Machine CD I thought to myself, what was that poor misguided girl thinking? Please Please Please was the only song I liked enough to load onto my mp3 player.
A few days later as I was jogging I was so stunned I actually stopped cold and just stood there for a minute. Then I started the song over and listened to it again. The lyrics that caught my attention were "Give us something familiar. Something similar. To what we know already. That will keep us steady. Steady going nowhere."
I then realized the reason I added this song to my player was because it was the only song that reminded me of her earlier stuff. I did exactly what she was pointing out in the song and truly felt like she was straight up calling me on it.
After listening to the whole thing a few times I'm utterly addicted to it. Not only was I initially wrong about Extraordinary Machine. I was wrong about Fiona. She truly is a genius and I honestly think this CD is her best work to date.
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109 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Extraordinary Effort, October 5, 2005
Fiona Apple's first new album in six years, Extraordinary Machine, faced a Wilco Yankee Foxtrot Hotel dilemma when her label, Epic, held off releasing it because they thought it was too uncommercial. Due to an aggressive internet campaign and the leaking of the songs, Epic changed their mind and gave Ms. Apple the green light. The album is a stunning collection of songs, many of which were written in the aftermath of Ms. Apple's break up with director Paul Thomas Anderson. Due to this circumstance and the fact that she is no longer a teenager as she was on her first release, the songs have an air of maturity that her previous efforts lacked. The album features producers Jon Brion (who worked the original sessions, but only ends up as a producer on two tracks, Brian Kehew and Mike Elizondo who work with hip-hop artists shows up on the album. Mr. Kehew & Mr. Elizondo don't turn the album into a hip-hop affair, they beautiful match Ms. Apple's smoky voice and soft piano with simple loops that accentuate not dominate the sound. "Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)" is a perfect example of their work. They also move away from the baroque sounds of the internet album by adding guitars, horns and slamming drums to the mix. Ms. Apple is the real star though and her work on the piano driven "Get Him Back", the wicked "Red Red Red", the intense "Window" and the great "Better Version Of Me" show that she is ready to take the leap into superior singer-songwriter territory.
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103 of 121 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FINALLY!, October 4, 2005
After two years of waiting, grumbling, downloading, and sighing for lack of, we finally have Fiona Apples amazing third album, Extraordinary Machine.
You can definitely tell that she has matured a great deal since "When the Pawn...". She made a lot of changes from "Tidal" to "When the Pawn..." and made a lot of changes from then until now. She seems to have fused the sounds from both albums together, making a musically biting, yet soft album that incorporates a few new sounds as well. For instance, "Tymps" has a very...hip hop feel to it. It's the danciest track she's EVER done, and I think it's absolutely amazing.
She embraces her soft side from the getgo, letting EVERYONE know that this is still very much her, regardless what "Fast As You Can" and "Limp" had to say about it. Her lyrics are great, and I think the ode to her own amazing abilities is extremely well-done. I find this song very fun to listen to, and relaxing at the same time.
The next track, Get Him Back, is a rompin' tavern song (at least I can imagine it being one, with that piano!). Her voice sounds great on this song, and the lyrics are clever and interesting. One of my favorites!
O'Sailor was one of the songs released on Itunes before the CD was released. It's got a very bluesy, merry-go-round sound to it that compliments her smoky voice perfectly. This is one of those "Tidal" fused with "When the Pawn..." songs I told you about. I really enjoy this.
Better Than Me is another fun, bouncy song. I tell you, I love the piano! I just love it! You'll like this one. The chorus is fantastic. This song also utilizes some interesting synth work we haven't heard from her before.
Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song) is the most fun you can have on this CD while still remembering that it's heartfelt, soulful Fiona that's singing. Add the beat and you've got yourself a DEFINITE radio track. Take THAT stupid record labels!
The album continues in this general trend, vascillating from slow to warm and fast, till it concludes with the truly clever, interesting, and downright wonderful track, "Waltz (Better Than Fine", which utilizes, as the title suggest, a waltz as background music. It's pretty soft, at the beginning, but as it progresses it gains edge and volume. You gotta hear this to understand just why I love it so much.
Oh, and some background on this album incase you aren't aware.... In 2003, this album was up and ready to go, but her label "shelved" it because they didn't feel it had a leading radio single to push sales of it. Then, an internet DJ apparently leaked the tracks all over the internet, and when mad Fiona fans heard it, they only got madder. Why keep this brilliance "shelved"? What the hell? "Free Fiona", a website dedicated to getting this album released was then erected (which she thanks in her liner notes) and I wholly attribute this release to their efforts. Fiona, you ROCK, and your fans ROCK HARDER! I love you all!
Pick this up, if not for Fiona, then for the love of music. Do it. Now. Stop reading this, and press "buy".
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