Two Words, One Answer.
Fiona Apple
 Extraordinary Machine $8.99 I've grown up to Fiona Apple's sounds. I have been in love with her melodies and inspiring lyrics. When I first purchased "Extraordinary Machine" I nearly wrote it off as "trying too hard to adjust". But, with my love of Fiona's music, I put it in the cd player again... and again... and again. Now I am at the point where I can sing along with her. This album is like her first, in that it has beautiful lyrics and interesting mixes of instruments- but it has more music, more sound, more instruments, and more "pop". Without knowing it was Ms Fiona, I may have described it as a bit "hip hop." The beats are a bit odd, and her mix of her lovely vocals is almost quirky, but so amazing. Give it another listen. You'll love it.  Extraordinary Machine $19.97 It's easy for me to understand why the apple was the forbidden fruit in the garden. If Fiona Apple is news to you, I'm sorry, but, better late than.....well, you know. Hopefully, this rather wonderful third album will not be her last. If it is, "oh well." Give it a listen. You'll understand what I mean.  Tidal $8.99 When I was hating trends in music played on commercial radio with dreadful albums like Nirvana's Nevermind and Silverchair's Frogstomp, Fiona Apple, as a singer/songwriter only slightly older than me, appealed greatly because of comparisons I had read with Tori Amos' first two albums. Being who I was back in 1996, "Tidal" had considerable appeal at the time and I felt it a worthwhile purchase. However, with hindsight, Fiona Apple cannot stand up to any claim to be anything more than an ordinary singer/songwriter. The beautiful ballads "The First Taste" and "Never Is a Promise", however, do come quite close to standing up with the top tier of the field with their touching singing and highly thoughtful lyrics. The morbidity of "The First Taste" in particular is as good as the best traditional folk songs about death, despite Apple's lyrics having a distinctly modern twist. "Never Is a Promise" is not far short of Tori Amos or Renaissance's John Tout in its keyboard work. Unfortunately, the rest of "Tidal" does not manage to live up to the standard of those two tracks on repeated listening. The opening two tracks, "Sleep to Dream" and "Sullen Girl", sound sly at first but upon repeated listening it is clear that Apple is sacrificing her personal art for something that is far too close to the kind of posturing that allowed Alanis Morisette's annoying Jagged Little Pill to become the first record to sell a million copies in Australia. "Criminal" at first can seem a passionate cry but its overblown nature becomes apparent with more listening experience, and "Shadowboxer" is worse and less intense with far too little melody for a piano-playing singer/songwriter. "Slow Like Honey" is beautiful but far too slight, though "The Child Is Gone" and "Pale September" are touching enough to be worth a recommendation. All in all, despite a few good songs, "Tidal" is mediocre for its genre and compromises with the dreadfully bombastic alternative rock and synthesiser music of its time too much. |
|
