Folk & Country > Folk Folk & Country > Epic

Advantages: Good random selection
Disadvantages: all songs available on other, better albums

...worth the money, it isn't. 4.5 was released in 1995 and seems to be a kind of "greatest hits" album without announcing itself as such. Here is the playlist and the album on which the songs first apeared: Joking ( Rites of Passage) Hammer and Nail ( Nomads, indians, Saints) Kid Fears ( Indigo Girls) Galileo ( Rites of Passage) Tried to be True ( Indigo Girls) Power of Two ( Swamp Ophelia) Pushing the Needle Too Far ( Nomads, Indians Saints) ...
...collection 4.5 is a waste of money because it only gathers some of the songs from earlier albums and packages them cheaply and without the excellent sleeve notes and photos that are included with other albums. Shame really, I wish I had known before I forked out my twelve quid...Sniff... ... Read review

Advantages: Fantastic selection of Rock, Country and Folk
Disadvantages: one bad song "You've got to Show"

This has become my second favourite Indigo Girls album in a very short space of time. My fave is and will always be "Come on Now Social" because it is where my obsession began, but to be honest, the songs on "Become You" are better. The lyrics are meatier and more eloquent and the tone is more reflective and slightly melancholy. However, this is not a downbeat album that you can put on and listen to while sobbing into your Horlicks after a poo day ...
...Moment of Forgiveness Deconstruction Become You You've Got to Show Yield Collecting You Hope Alone Bitterroot Our Deliverance Starkville She's Saving Me Nueves Senoritas "Moment of Forgiveness" is classic Indigo fare, clever lyrics and gorgeous counter harmonies. "Collecting You" is catchy and the guitar motif is lovely. "You've Got to Show" is so awful that I cannot believe it is on the album, it is jazzy, lounge lizard stuff with a sax!!! ... Read review

Advantages: Great drums, rocking tunes, well-crafted songs
Disadvantages: Not country enough

...released in 1998 and 2008's Bulletproof is their eighth. The band's name is a reference to Australian outlaw Ned Kelly and the cover art of the Bulletproof album shows a man clad in the sort of armour that Kelly was famed for wearing. I should say first that Reckless Kelly will never win any awards for originality, either in their lyrics or the music itself. However, they pen practically perfect country rock songs that are catchy, well-constructed ...
...False Move 7. Guy Like Me 8. American Blood 9. How Was California 10. Mirage 11. Don't Say Goodbye 12. God Forsaken Town 13. Wandering Eye 14. Bulletproof www.recklesskelly.com www.myspace.com/recklesskelly ... Read review

Advantages: Cohens influencial greatness, lovely songs
Disadvantages: ...No Hallelujah

OPINION I first heard of Leonard Cohen at a friends house as a record, the song was "Suzanne" and I loved it. I remembered the name and to my delight I found his CD in the Woolworths price crunch a while back now. His songs are so calming but have lyrics that explore ideas of religion, isolation, sexuality and complex interpersonal relationships, so as calm as they seem their underlying provocations are deeply moving. ARTIST Leonard Cohen is a ...
...rooted in European folk music, his 1970's music encompasses pop, chaberet and world music and since the 1980's his high baritone voice took on more low registers, often accompanied by electronic synthesizers and female backing singers. His writing has influenced lots of singer-songwriters and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. TRACK LIST 1. Suzanne 2. Sisters Of Mercy 3. So Long Marianne 4. Bird On The Wire 5. Lady Midnight ... Read review

Advantages: everything!
Disadvantages: nothing!

This was the first of Blackshaw's albums I owned and have loved it every single time I've played... I'm surprised I haven't worn it out! Its composed by the young James Blackshaw purely on 12 string guitar with other drone like instruments involved. The influences that can be heard here are him drawing on, almost, Free-Jazz, 60's Psych, Drone and Ethnic music. Personnel: James Blackshaw (12-string guitar). Here's what the magazines said: Uncut ...
...and processional drums enhance the title track, but even the atmosphere ... Full Descriptionof glittering tranquility, of meditative clarity, remains." The Wire (p.70) - "[T]he often dreamlike combination ensures the music gathered here deftly avoids pale imitation and leaden devotion." Its a truely beautiful piece of work. I'd recommend it to anyone. ... Read review