Roll - Anne McCue > Reviews > Boy, can she handle a guitar!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Unknown, undiscovered, untainted by so - called 'success'
Disadvantages:	Only one weak track  -  "Gandhi"

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Hearing veteran Radio 2 Bob Harris raving about how Anne McCue's CD "Roll" was his favourite album of 2004 made me take note of the tracks he featured during several of his shows that year. I hadn't come across her name before, which often is a good thing as far as I am concerned - all I knew about her before plumping for this release was that she is Australian and that this was her second album. Oh, and that if Bob was raving about it, then it must be worth listening to.... Acquired it straight away and never regretted it once. If I'm away from home for more than a day or two, the CD comes along in the car with me as part of an 'essential listening' collection I seem to have amassed and can't bear to be without for more than a couple of days.

After having listened to the CD for the first time, I was struck by just how good a guitarist she is (a girl and a good guitar usually being enough to win me over anyway), plus she's no slouch in the vocal department either, although if I'm pushed, the latter trails slightly in second place. Still, when you experience the quality of her guitar, that's no criticism at all. There's quite a selection of styles and formats on "Roll", from straight up rocky tracks like "I Want You Back" right through to traditionally-based songs such as "Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman", plus the inclusion of a Hendrix cover ("Machine Gun").

Thirteen excellent tracks comprise this album:

1. I Want You Back
2. Nobody's Sleeping
3. Stupid
4. Crazy Beautiful Child
5. Hangman
6. 50 Dollar Whore
7. Tiny Little Song
8. Milkman's Daughter
9. Roll
10. Gandhi
11. Where The Darkness Grows
12. Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman
13. Machine Gun

Her exquisite guitar playing kicks off "I Want You Back", soon accompanied by a thumping good drum and her almost trans-Pacific vocals - she might be Australian but she could equally be from middle America. The song rattles along nicely but its her guitar that keeps it all together, especially the instrumental break that lifts the whole thing out of mediocrity.

There's a slight change of pace to "Nobody's Sleeping", a slightly more insular sound dragging her voice down lower, their sultry tone in keeping with the hanging notes drawn from the guitar. When you're comfortable with this, however, her vocals suddenly rise above it all, an uplifting last third running hand-in-hand with another wonderful guitar solo that brings the song to the final choruses.

"Stupid" was one of my initial favourite tracks on the album, an instantly accessible song with a jangly intro crashing into the first verse and a sweetly delivered chorus.

"Hangman" provides not only a change in pace but also of style - not only is there a 'down and dirty' guitar sound running right through this track, but Anne's vocals are also changed (electronically) a little to give an oddly warped sound. Strangely enough, these changes are rather suited to both the song and the subject. The lyrics are dispensed with after a couple of minutes to let the thumping beat and hyped up guitar have centre stage for the remaining four or so, the latter really letting fly when it's unleashed.... yes, it's long but when it's this good, who cares?

"50 Dollar Whore" shows the softer, acoustic side of Anne McCue's performances - there's nothing here apart from her voice, mellow guitar and a brushed drum. She could almost be sitting next to you on the couch and singing this directly to you, it's that stripped down and intimate. Her vocals are sweetest though on "Milkman's Daughter", a sympathetic acoustic guitar and minimal accompaniment providing all that is needed here.

Don't miss the amazing performance that is "Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman", though - in the wrong hands this could have been just another 'story' song but she delivers it beautifully before cranking up the guitars in the second half - and if you want to hear her handling a guitar like a female Hendrix, just listen to her take on "Machine Gun"....

I liked this album so much I bought her follow-up ("Koala Motel") virtually sight unseen when it was finally released and didn't regret that either - no doubt I'll have to review it too. Again, another non-household name but don't let that stop you listening to her at least once. That's all it took for me to be hooked on Anne McCue's music.

(I can't really comment on the CD inlay as I obtained a promo CD of the album shortly after getting to know about it.)