Amanda

Advantages: Great lyrics, more good songs than bad, nice album cover
Disadvantages: Gets old quick, sounds very harsh,

...Amanda Palmer is best known as half of the duo "The Dresden Dolls." Is she better as a soloist? Well, certainly different, anyway. The Dresden Dolls always sounded so new and different and fun, but this album is a bit middle of the line. To be honest, it's just not enjoyable to listen to. The slow songs are brilliant. "Have To Drive", "Blake Says", "Point of it All". Some really great songs there. It's the more upbeat ones that I have the problem with. If I could describe them in a word? Harsh. Repetitive. Tuneless. "Runs in the Family" comes to mind, as it has all these features. I was quite disappointed with the album - but, then again, all the songs I didn't like on the albums were ones I had heard quite a few times before. Had I just outgrew them? If that's the case, they don't have much lasting power. When I first heard... Read review

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Advantages: 'Astronaut', 'Blake Says', 'Ampersand'
Disadvantages: 'Another Year'

...So anyway, Amanda Palmer then. Generally speaking I guess when someone bothers to blog about a pre-release album (it's a advance copy..honest guv'ner), you might surmise they are a big fan of the artist. Well in this case, actually no. I was blissfully unaware of Ms Palmer's day job as singer/pianist in the Dresden Dolls, or that she planned a solo release, until she rather oddly gate crashed Ben Folds rather damp Glastonbury set this year. Cutting a rather curious figure somewhere between a punk princess and a 30s burlesque German model, she performed three tracks from this forthcoming record, which were enough to get me to attempt to lay my hands on it some months later. Palmer's day job is fronting a Brechtian piano punk duo, but this record, produced by Mr Folds, is perhaps a more traditional and certainly to me, more palatable... Read review

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Advantages: Fun, Catchy, Funny.
Disadvantages: A couple of weak songs, and a couple of weak singers.

...I ordered this album online, the day I came out from watching the film at the cinema. And the album did not disappoint! However, there has been alot of critiscism of certain Actor's singing voices since the release of the film, so I would advise seeing the film before buying the album [pretty obvious, i guess!] However, i personally think that every actor and actress involved in the album did a brilliant job of singing, considering they are not professionals! 1. Honey, Honey - Amanda Seyfried (***) Firstly, Amanda is definitely one of the better singers of the album, and this song is a great cover version in my opinion, however I am not particularly a fan of Abba. However, certain words in the song are overacted which, I guess, is the only problem with buying a movie soundtrack of a musical. 2.Money, Money, Money - Meryl... Read review

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