Out Of Range - Ani DiFranco

...if you're interested to find out about Ani’s music.
Because this album has such a wide range of songs, I’ll go through it track by track. (Some of the songs are hard to describe, and I know I'm not doing them justice, but I hope you know what I mean.)

1. Buildings and Bridges
This is a good opening track, not too loud and not too calm, with a strong riff and thought-provoking lyrics. This song certainly shows that Ani ...
...sleepy.

9. Out of Range (electric)
The loudest song on the album, with loud drums and electric guitar, but it’s not loud and out of control. This is very upbeat and lively, a powerful song.

10. You Had Time
This is one of my most favourite songs ever, it is truly amazing. It is about half instrumental, starting with quiet, simple, but beautiful piano, and gradually adding guitar. It’s very quiet and restful; ... more

This album was released on Righteous Babe Records, Ani's own record label, in 1994, but I only discovered it last year, and found it to be completely timeless. It is one of my very favourite albums, probably most favourite album in the world. It’s not perfect, (many songs come pretty close) but of all the twelve tracks, there is only one that isn’t particularly brilliant. On the other hand, there are (at least) three songs that I’d include in my top 10 favourite songs!

I would say this CD is a very good introduction to Ani DiFranco, as it has a very wide variety of songs, and is not as extreme as some of her work, though of course it is never boring. It would make a brilliant present, or would be worth buying if you're interested to find out about Ani’s music.
Because this album has such a wide range of songs, I’ll go through it track by track. (Some of the songs are hard to describe, and I know I'm not doing them justice, but I hope you know what I mean.)

1. Buildings and Bridges
This is a good opening track, not too loud and not too calm, with a strong riff and thought-provoking lyrics. This song certainly shows that Ani has a unique voice.

2. Out of Range (acoustic)
A great song, getting a message across.
“I was locked/into being my mother's daughter/I was just eating bread and water/thinking nothing ever changes/I was shocked”
It has a fairly simple arrangement, but is effective. It is quite different to the electric version, so it works well to have both versions as it is the title track, and they bring different elements to the album.

3. Letter to a John
A rather bitter song, but it proves a point. Not one of my favourites, but I think it adds to the album as a whole.

4. Hell Yeah
A fantastic song, looking at life as a whole, and it always makes me feel better when I’m down. It has beautiful guitar which reminds me of rain, and is always good for quoting! Here’s an example: “life is like a b movie/it's stupid and it's strange…. sometimes there's some poetry/if you turn your back long enough/and let it happen naturally”
Life, in this song is described in an orginal but impressively accurate way. It's also about liking someone who hardly knows you, and it describes those feelings perfectly.

5. How Have You Been?
Another emotive song, about feelings for an ex-partner after they have split up. As with many of Ani’s songs, it seems so accurate to many situations that people have experienced, phrased in such an impressive way.

6. Overlap
A quiet song, helps me fall asleep. Very beautiful with perceptive lyrics. A simple song, it only has guitar and Ani’s soothing vocals, and is quite haunting.

7. Face Up and Sing
This song is hugely inspirational, quite upbeat. “You don't have to be a supergenius/to open your face up and sing” One of the very best songs I've heard.

8. Falling Is Like This
Another lovely song, with beautiful vocals. This is a happy song, another good one for being restful and sleepy.

9. Out of Range (electric)
The loudest song on the album, with loud drums and electric guitar, but it’s not loud and out of control. This is very upbeat and lively, a powerful song.

10. You Had Time
This is one of my most favourite songs ever, it is truly amazing. It is about half instrumental, starting with quiet, simple, but beautiful piano, and gradually adding guitar. It’s very quiet and restful; it’s the perfect going to sleep song. The vocals are sublime, it’s an emotive and powerful song, whilst being calm. This song does have a momentary scraping of a guitar, which (in my opinion) adds to the song and the album as a whole, showing that its not perfect, otherwise this song could well be! I think it’s worth getting this album just for this song!

11. If He Tries Anything
Quite a fun song, a bit sarcastic, a bit tongue-in-cheek, not very loud but not particularly quiet either. Good guitars.

12. The Diner
This is not one of my favourite songs; it’s the only slight down point of the album. To be honest I usually skip past this when I’m listening to the CD, but I know it is thought of as one of the more important songs on this album. It may not be my cup of tea, but it still has emotive lyrics and is a powerful song. The few seconds at the end after the song is finished are interesting! (You might have to turn the volume up to hear properly.)

Ani is an accomplished and perceptive lyricist, with huge musical ability. Many of the instruments played on this CD are played by Ani herself, and she has released albums made, produced and recorded by her alone. Ani has been releasing records since about 1990, since she set up her own record label to ensure she was not involved with corporate businesses and being commercialised. Righteous Babe Records has grown to include a number of different artists, though has remained far less corporate than other record labels. She is known for her poetry as well as songs, Self Evident being particularly notable.

It may be worth noting that this album contains a few uses of strong language, though not used with the intent of offending.

The production on this album may not be world-class (though I’m not the authority on that) but the music is a joy to listen to. The order of the songs on this album could also be improved, putting Out of Range (electric) right after a peaceful song, Falling is Like This, and before You Had Time, the quietest and calmest song, could be changed for the better. This, however, does not affect the quality of the music, which would be difficult to improve. Ani has a wide range of vocal styles and adjusts her voice to suit each song, making them even more distinct and effective. This album has songs to suit all moods, and can be uplifting or calming, inspiring or thought-provoking.

I would recommend this album highly, whether you have never heard of Ani DiFranco or are looking to increase your collection of her music.
 

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