time* sex* love*

Mary Chapin Carpenter

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 29, 2001)
• Original Release Date: May 29, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005BGHD
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,402 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
On albums like State of the Heart, Shooting Straight in the Dark, and Come on Come On, Mary Chapin Carpenter melded folkie singer-songwriter concerns with melodies and hooks that country (and, occasionally, adult-pop) radio programmers could get behind foursquare. Since those late-'80s/early-'90s high points, the Brown University graduate has often pushed niceties such as catchiness to the artistic back burner. Despite some too-languid stretches, Time* Sex* Love*, her first studio disc since 1996, finds Carpenter recapturing some of the balance that marked the best of those earlier records. "In the Name of Love" lifts off with a trademark midtempo groove and a complex lyric about attraction and independence. Other tracks subtly spice Carpenter's formula with lovely, sighing vocal harmonies and fleeting evocations of Beatles-era AM radio. Her need to attempt major statements about the sad realities of grownup life may ultimately be Time's biggest flaw; where's Carpenter hiding her gifts for limning small moments (State's "This Shirt") or events that few other songwriters would think to commit to tape (Shooting's comet-appearance commemoration "Halley Came to Jackson")? There's reality, and there's reality. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Get 'Swept Away' In This Ambitious CD, June 6, 2001

By	cdset "cdset" (Saylorsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews

Time*Sex*Love finds Mary Chapin Carpenter meditating upon middle age and looking back on her life sometimes with a sense of helplessness and sometimes with sadness, but always with poignant and thought-provoking insight.

She resigns herself to the swift passing of time and the inability to start again in the catchy "Simple Life" and sings "there's fast, slow, and stall- no reverse...be glad you made it". In the Beach Boys like/Beatlesque, "Maybe World", she cries, "What's the point of backward glances that lead me nowhere; I can't go back there."

Carpenter ruminates about lost love and opprtunities in the exquisite and heart-breaking songs, "What Was It Like" and "The Dreaming Road". "I feel like a big mistake that you managed to not quite make; I feel like a passing glance that you never gave a chance," she movingly sings in "What Was It Like", a song with heart-wrenching lyrics surrounded by a beautiful, haunting melody.

My only issue with this CD is that it may be too ambitious for anyone to pull off without stumbling- even the wonderful Mary Chapin Carpenter. I would have pared down the CD to ten or eleven songs and edited out some of the longer endings of some of the tunes.

This CD requires your careful attention, and, therefore, many of her fans will not appreciate its pensive, reflective mood. Take out a bottle of wine, light the fireplace and be ready to refect upon your own life in a way that only Mary Chapin Carpenter can make you do.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful look at what drives us, June 4, 2001

By	Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

As stated in the title *Time*Sex*Love* Mary Chapin Carpenter adresses themes that we can all relate to...growing up, growing apart, unfulfilled dreams, looking back with longing, all these are a common bond. At first listen, this did not set as easily on my ear, what was it? Finally, I figuredit out. The inclusion of more electric instruments(on some tracks)lends an unfamiliar sound. Unfamiliar, but not unwelcomed. What the listener gets is 14 tracks filled with outstanding song writing and tight musical arrangements. Standout tracks "This is Me Leaving You","Simple Life","Alone, but Not Lonely" and "Late For Your Life". This CD does not fit into the MCC mold, there is a change in tempo and musical instrumentation. What is unchanged is the rock solid songwriting and the insight into the human condition, top notch!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Quiet Storm, August 24, 2001

By	J. M. Zuurbier (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Mary Chapin Carpenter's first album since 1996's A PLACE IN THIS WORLD, TIME* SEX* LOVE* is a wonderful album. The album shows a reflective, somewhat sombre side of Carpenter. Not to say there are not the great upbeat songs fans love from MCC, like the Shawn Colvin like Whenever You're Ready, or the spirited This Is Me Leaving You and The Long Way Home. The beautifully written and sung songs like Alone But Not Lonely, What Was It Like, Swept Away, Someone Else's Prayer, The Dreaming Road, among the best will leave you breathless. The album deals with maturing and dealing with growing old, and relationships among many things. So kick back, have a glass of wine, sit by the fire and become "swept away" by this new album by Mary Chapin Carpenter, it's definately worth the wait between albums.