Blessed--or is it cursed?--with a visage that's a distinctly haunting echo of her father's, Lisa Marie Presley has either spent most of her adult life assiduously avoiding a music career or engaged in Machiavellian schemes to secure one, depending on your spin source. But here it is, informed by no small amount of tabloid-ready living (three failed marriages, including two bizarre years the King's daughter spent playing Princess of Pop to Michael Jackson) and a slate of modern record-biz heavy hitters. The album's first single, "Lights Out," is a countryfied pop collaboration with Glen Ballard in which the singer's tough, bittersweet lyrics obliquely confront the daunting legacy of her father and the Memphis where her "family's buried and gone." Her husky alto isn't the only thing that recalls Sheryl Crow; the bristling textures of Andy Slater (Wallflowers) and Eric Rosse (Tori Amos) are a veritable textbook of modern-rock techniques, wed to some smart cover choices that bolster her music's moody, introspective bent. But that gloss sometimes makes Presley seem like a guest artist on her own album, making one curious to hear her in the setting where her father was so often riveting: Alone in the spotlight. They don't call it the gene pool lottery for nothing.
Jerry McCulley
-from Amazon.com website
Audio CD (April 15, 2003) Original Release Date: April 15, 2003 Number of Discs: 2 Label: Warner Brothers
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. What's The World Coming To
2. Murrow Turning Over In His Grave
3. Illume (9/11)
4. Thrown Down
5. Miranda
6. Red Rover
7. Say You Will
8. Peacekeeper
9. Come
10. Smile At You
11. Running Through The Garden
12. Silver Girl
13. Steal Your Heart Away
14. Bleed To Love Her
15. Everybody Finds Out
16. Destiny Rules
17. Say Goodbye
18. Goodbye Baby
Disc: 2
1. Not Make Believe (previously unreleased)
2. Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Bob Dylan cover)
3. Peacekeeper (live from AOL Sessions)
4. Say You Will (live from AOL Sessions)
-from Amazon.com website
Chan "Cat Power" Marshall's performances have become legendary marathons marked by Marshall's shyness and her ability to create moments of fragmented beauty. Five years on from her last collection of original songs, 1998's Moon Pix, Marshall has reined in the silvery brilliance of her shows. The 14 pieces on You Are Free maintain a spontaneity, but, compared with their digressive live incarnations, they've been given focus--a development that owes something to a notable supporting cast that includes Dave Grohl on drums and Eddie Vedder on vocals. Marshall's impressionistic vision is expressed with a new clarity while retaining its affecting understatement and sense of dislocation. Her past kinship with Bonnie Prince Billy and Smog gives way to PJ Harvey and Nina Simone comparisons. You Are Free confirms that Marshall is one of the most original and compelling singer-songwriters around. --John Mulvey
-from Amazon.com website
Lucy Woodward isn't just a blonde pop princess trying to jump onto the tale end of a dying medium. Oh no, this 26-year-old chanteuse has grit in her honeyed voice and scores to settle on her debut album. All 11 tracks were written or co-written by Woodward, who also had the foresight to brings in a bevy of studio ringers like Who bassist Pino Pallindo and Bob Dylan drummer Kenny Aronoff to give her fierce songs of love and willfulness the proper send-off. But Woodward ably holds her own in such elevated company: "Dumb Girls," is a self-deprecating, no holes barred look at about getting hoodwinked in the romantic wars. With lines like, "You bring out the blonde in me," you just know this man isn't ever getting a second chance. On "Trouble With Me," Woodward ponders why she's alone, while on "What's Good For Me" she knows, deciding to quit picking on herself and trust her own intuition. The daughter of an opera singer and a BBC musicologist, Woodward is bristling with talent and canny rhythmic timing, but stylistically she's still all over the map, veering between the ire of Missy Elliot and the sweet soulfulness of Sheryl Crow. Once she hones in on her own voice, she's going to be unstoppable. --Jaan Uhelszki
-from Amazon.com website
Lovers Speak marks not only Joan Armatrading's return to recording after an eight-year hiaturs, but to the stripped down, folk-rock sounds of her earlier years. Armatrading here plays most of the instruments herself, as well as the role of producer, and while she’s a fantastic talent,the collection has a few thin spots, both in terms of production and song quality. However, Lovers Speak is a solid enough collection for the true fan, and would serve the novice listener well as an introduction to her more current output. The numerous standouts include the guitar- and percussion-driven title track and "Let’s Talk About Us," the heartrending "Less Happy More Often," the beautiful and intimate "Crazy for You," and the introspective "Blessed." "In These Times" is a solemn piano ballad, surprisingly written before the events of 9/11, that makes you want to call your best friend. --Lorry Fleming
-from Amazon.com website
