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Essence
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Essence
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| Price | New from | Used from |
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MP3 Music, June 5, 2001
"Please retry" | $9.49 | — |
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Vinyl, November 16, 2018
"Please retry" | $60.76 | $55.96 |
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Track Listings
| 1 | Lonely Girls |
| 2 | Steal Your Love |
| 3 | I Envy The Wind |
| 4 | Blue |
| 5 | Out Of Touch |
| 6 | Are You Down? |
| 7 | Essence |
| 8 | Reason To Cry |
| 9 | Get Right With God |
| 10 | Bus To Baton Rouge |
| 11 | Broken Butterflies |
Editorial Reviews
Product description
Lucinda Williams ~ Essence
Amazon.com
Few artists in recent memory have been able to wring more from less than Lucinda Williams. The hauntingly beautiful, wistful, and often breathtaking Essence is another case in point of how far raw emotion and honesty can carry an artist. Williams's singing is at its paralyzing best throughout 11 bare originals, an incredibly affecting vocal performance by a woman who was not blessed with exceptional tone, range, or pitch. Throughout, her voice is incredibly naked, vulnerable, and wrought with feeling. "Blue" and "Broken Butterflies" are gorgeous anti-lullabies whose simple melodies belie their poignant ruminations. The title track is a sultry and susceptible sex-as-drug come-on while "Reason to Cry" has all the hallmarks of a classic country lament. The only departure from the subdued mood is "Get Right with God," a rousing gospel tune that practically begs for salvation through punishment and is the rare acknowledgement of a world beyond Williams's own fears and desires. More meditative than the personal narratives found on Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, Essence is ultimately more powerful. Williams wallows in sorrow and weakness, and the result is moving and disarming. --Marc Greilsamer
Product details
- Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
- Language : English
- Product Dimensions : 5.59 x 4.92 x 0.39 inches; 3.53 Ounces
- Manufacturer : Lost Highway
- Item model number : 1972722
- Original Release Date : 2001
- SPARS Code : DDD
- Date First Available : December 7, 2006
- Label : Lost Highway
- ASIN : B00005B8GS
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: #26,641 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #47 in Acoustic Blues (CDs & Vinyl)
- #150 in Alt-Country & Americana (CDs & Vinyl)
- #160 in Contemporary Blues (CDs & Vinyl)
- Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States
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Her songs are deceptively simple. Their power comes from her images, her delivery and the way the music supports the lyrics. "Lonely Girls," the first cut, sets the stage for the rest. The brisk, light melody, juxtaposed against her sorrowful wail, pushes the sadness deeper. Backup for the predatory "I'm Gonna Steal Your Love," beats like an excited heart. She drags out the words, savoring every anticipated pleasure. The slow, rocking instrumental to "I Envy the Wind," and her voice, almost breaking with sorrow as she tenderly, and with exquisite sensuality, describes the way the elements are free to touch the one she longs for, is painful to hear. The words to "Blue" create the most delicate and beautiful images of the color blue - that particular deep, purple blue that suddenly surprises the eyes and the heart in an ordinary moment. But the lodestone at the center of this amazing album is the pulsing, and obsessive "Essence," with a beat that drives her passionate lyrics of carnal cravings to a boiling point.
In between these heated cuts are tender, sad songs of lost loves. The last cut, " Broken Butterflies," is a personal message to a lover whose anger destroys beauty and love. All this is the stuff of lonely girls.
The music ranges from the whining, bleeding sound of country and western, to jazzy blues. Especially delicious are: the sultry openings for "Are You Down," and the sexy, staccato guitar opening for "Can't Put the Rain Back in the Sky," with it's organ echo, and. punctuated drum beat with a brushed whisper.
The only cut that seems out of place is "Get Right With God." Perhaps a little penance is necessary after these hot, lustful numbers. It's the most upbeat number on the whole album. Maybe we needed it.
With little need to attack vocally, Williams creates an aching, quavery, yet raw vocal delivery that breaths a chilling life into these slow and midtempo explorations of inner vulnerability, loss, and anxieties. There is little need with Williams to mention this or that cut on any of her albums. Those that don't reach out and grab you the first time, usually do so with a bang sooner or later.
It is possible some will find it difficult to follow Lucinda Williams on this trip, but with all great songwriters (and she is among the very best of our time) it is wisest to hop on board and let them take you where they are going. It's always worth the trip.
Top reviews from other countries
Pero a lo que vamos, que si os gusta esta señora y queréis haceros con este vinilo, lo que vais a encontrar es un doble disco en vinilo traslúcido y en su carpeta doble tipo "Gatefold".
¿Por qué un vinilo doble cuando esto se puede meter en un solo vinilo? Pues básicamente por el tema de la compresión (Sisi, en vinilo también existe de eso) Los pros: Para los más puretas del sonido, pues eso, un mejor sonido. Los contras: Que cada diez minutos te tienes que levantar a cambiar de cara, y.., el precio. Que 36 euracos son 36 euracos.
¡En tus manos queda!
Great album, for some reason, it acts as relaxation therapy, and I always feel refreshed after hearing it again.
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