Azeem wrote:
>And talk of Joan Armatrading has made me dig out the LP of her third,
>untitled and unimprovable album. Anyone who hasn't heard of her and
fancies
>checking her out (especially outside the UK, where she was quite well
known),
>my advice is to go straight for this record, ignoring
>dip-your-toes-in-the-water compilations. This album will be a beautiful
>revelation, and will also make newbies say "ah, so this is why people were
>mentioning Joan when Tracy Chapman's first album appeared."
I agree that compilations should be avoided. Although there are a
half-a-dozen or so, none of them are compiled well enough to do her music
justice.
Although her first album is truly unimprovable, anyone who likes this album
really should dive in further, particularly the very similar follow up
'Show Some Emotion'. In my mind, to stop at the eponymous album is
comparable to enjoying 'Blue' and not listening to 'For the Roses', let
alone 'Hejira'. My personal favourites are the reggae-ish 'To The Limit'
criminally now deleted and 'Me Myself I', which is just flawless.
She had a run of dodgy album in the eighties - hmm, who does that remind me
of? - only to come back with some of her best work like 1995's 'What's
Inside'. The new album 'Lovers Speak', which I first heard about this
morning(!!!) should be interesting after a 6/7 year hiatus.
I wonder how the fest's going...?
Rob
NP Joan Armatrading - You Rope You Tie Me (Live 1980) Thanks John
_____________________________________________
Free email with personality! Over 200 domains!
http://www.MyOwnEmail.com
