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Life on a String

Laurie Anderson Format: Audio CD

4.4 55 ratings

$16.24

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Track Listings

1	One White Whale
2	The Island Where I Come From
3	Pieces And Parts
4	Here With You
5	Slip Away
6	My Compensation
7	Dark Angel
8	Broken
9	Washington Street
10	Statue Of Liberty
11	One Beautiful Evening
12	Life On A String

Editorial Reviews

Product description

No Description Available.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 21-AUG-2001

Amazon.com

A new Laurie Anderson album is usually a thing to welcome. Often less a performance artist than point person for global-village storytelling--as on 1995's The Ugly One with the Jewels--she's also demonstrated a high level of musical savvy. Life on a String's meld of Biblical references, New York wanderings, world rhythms, and chamber music doesn't cohere like it should, though. Caught between bemusement and empathy, Anderson's knack for nailing oddball details can lift her work beyond mere wit, but not here. On "Dark Angel," she damns consumerism with lines that would've been laughable even at the outset of her career in the '70s: "Look at all the things I bought / I'm feeling kind of lost." Her quoting "I'm a Little Teapot" on "One Beautiful Evening" sounds like self-parody, or the result of a lost dare with another artsy type. And is the observation that it's a small world but she wouldn't want to paint it supposed to sound fresh? For true Anderson wigginess and smarts, try Ugly One, or for that matter, her classic debut, Big Science. --Rickey Wright

Product details

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 5.75 x 0.35 inches; 4 Ounces
Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Nonesuch
SPARS Code ‏ : ‎ DDD
Date First Available ‏ : ‎ July 27, 2006
Label ‏ : ‎ Nonesuch
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000050K9A
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #122,229 in CDs & Vinyl (See Top 100 in CDs & Vinyl)
- #1,155 in American Alternative Rock
- #1,798 in Special Interest
- #2,139 in Progressive Rock

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4.4 55 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Daniel Ágreda-Sánchez

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!!

Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2008

Verified Purchase

Laurie Anderson is a genius, but her music does not make you happy. It makes you think! It has a lot of sense of humor (O Superman, Experiment #22) and a little bit of beauty (Sharkey's day), but if you think about "Bright Red"... I like so much that album but I don't feel good with it, so many dead and destruction (but i love Puppet Motel, Mudy River, etc). But "Live on a String" is absolutely beautyful. Anderson continues making think about anything, but now she delights and sounds amiable. It's a delight to brain and heart and soul. God! I can't stop to hear once and again "Here with you"! That is a masterpiece! And please, get the CD, not the MP3... MP3 kills the sound quality, and Laurie needs to be hear on an excellent way...

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Baranabus

Solid work from Laurie

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2012

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A nice balance of her violin and singing and her usual narratives without too much of her tendency towards cutesiness/cloying storytelling or ticks. I've seen her a few times in performance and she can be both irksome and sublime. I wish she would release a version of "End of the Moon", which had a lot of her violin playing, which is often beautiful and mournful (as it is in "Born, Never Asked", off I believe "Big Science"). There are a couple of really nice tracks here; nothing that reaches any great heights but it's a solid work overall. Underrated.

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Ducman

Beautiful - a bit hippy trippy

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2011

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Nice album - a good Sunday morning or rainy afternoon album. Beautifully recorded -if you have a good hi fi system this will show it off. She is one of a kind and a bit out there but that's OK now and then and it will show your girlfriend you have a sensitive side.

One person found this helpful

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Kevin Barrack

Songs -- Not Just Stories

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2001

Verified Purchase

While I very much appreciate the strange tales that Laurie Anderson can tell, I prefer it when she sets them to music, which is what she has done in this album. These are well crafted songs with lyrics that range from off-the-wall juxtapositions to poignant observations. I think the music on this album is similar to the music on her previous album, "Bright Red": somewhat experimental with some nice melodies thrown into the mix. If you like "Bright Red" then you will like this album too. If you are looking for something more similar to her storytelling performances then you should check out "The Ugly One With the Jewels" or "United States Live" which are both great examples of her less musical style.

4 people found this helpful

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matthew klemm

life on a string, heartbreaking

Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2015

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I like it very much, but it lacks the color and imagination of her 1984 album ' mister haertbreak

not to mention the personell.

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Scorpio

EXCELLENT!

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2019

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Came in a bitchin' case in excellent condition!

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Neil B. Kalmanson

For Anderson Fans

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2005

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This is a good album, but not great! I f you like Laurie Anderson, you'll like this album...but not love it. The innovative sounds of United States (Big Science and Mr. Heartbreak) have been recycled into these new songs, good...but not memorable.

4 people found this helpful

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JSC

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2018

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LOVE!

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Moxalain in Google

Quand la folie se pose et devient beauté

Reviewed in France on December 27, 2013

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Peter Gabriel m'avait amené a un CD de Laurie Anderson où il avait participé : Mister Heartbreak
Puis j'ai oublié Laurie Anderson depuis les années 1980.

Et un pote est passé avec le CD "Life On A String" pour l'écouter sur ma chaine. Ce n'était donc qu'un test entre audiopathes (!)
J'écoute sans savoir qui j'écoute. Et là ... je n'écoute plus ma chaine mais le morceau de musique (les audiopathes comprendront ...)
Superbe voix posée de Laurie Anderson. Même l'entendre parler est mélodique.
Très bel accompagnement des cordes et même si je ne suis pas fan du violon électrique, ça sonne comme du Michel Gerber
Très beau disque et un CD techniquement parfait

Il est dans mon bac 5 *****

One person found this helpful

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Kallistan

Laurie Anderson

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

I love Laurie Anderson, and I don't care who kows it. I first heard "O Superman" on late night radio back in the early 80s, and was both astonished and somewhat freaked out. I have followed her ever since, and even got to see her live back in 2004. She has never diappointed.

This album has some wonderful sounds, some great songs and some high emotion (Slip Away).

Really, she is not easily described, or categorized. If you are looking for something a bit different, something which does not assume you have an attention span of 30 seconds, something which respects your ability to appreciate complexity, Laurie Anderson is probably it

2 people found this helpful

Christopher Ball

Good addition to a collection

Reviewed in Canada on February 27, 2017

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For a Laurie Anderson fan this is a good addition to a collection, though it is not her best album. lots of great material though.

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on October 22, 2016

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Great.

Mr Frosbee

In a class of her own - truely !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

There's nothing I could possibly contribute towards the praise submitted by others about her vast body of work -she's the best -nuff said.

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