... I really hope you enjoy and appreciate reading it, thank you!
Tracy Chapman the album is without doubt of the best album's which I have ever bought simply for its real beauty in inner song form. Tracy Chapman is you do not know is a singer and songwriter who began her career as a busker ... Read review
appearance at a Nelson Mandela tribute concert that same year, it was never going to be easy for Tracy Chapman to deliver a similar bolt from the singer-songwriter blues a year later on this, her "tricky" second album. On Crossroads Chapman plays it cautiously from a musical point of view, offering a slightly fleshed-out version of the smouldering acoustics of her debut. But Chapman's subdued sound can't conceal the unabated anger of her lyrics. "Freedom Now", dedicated to Nelson Mandela, "Material World and "Subcity", a scalding diatribe against racism and urban poverty are reminiscent of Nina Simone in their quivering indignation. After this album, however, Tracy Chapman had made her point and seemed to lose interest in her career. --David Stubbs
Collection - Tracy Chapman
Some albums just can't be bettered. Tracy Chapman's 1988 self-titled debut is one of them. ... more
Led by poignant singles "Fast Car", "Baby Can I Hold You Tonight" and "Talkin' Bout a Revolution", its fragile acoustic laments tugged at the heart-strings and established Chapman as a songwriter with a uniquely human touch--selling 10 million copies and picking up three Grammies in the process. As this collection illustrates, such genius sets a difficult precedent. Despite including some truly beautiful songs from her four subsequent albums, the impact of those emotive early singles still dwarfs everything here. "I'm Ready" and "Smoke and Ashes" line up as the best of the rest, but with "Speak The Word", "Wedding Song" and "Open Arms" brimming with tender melodies and sentiments that touch in a way that most songwriters can only dream of, it's a close run thing. "Fast Car" & Co. may be untouchable, but with the quiver in her voice adding a depth of emotion to her words of love, need and hope, these 16 tracks make n salient point: with Tracy Chapman, there is no such thing as an average song. --Dan Gennoe
musical persona, as so many singer-songwriters have done to boost their declining credibility. If anything, her style is as conservative as it was on her previous three albums. That said, the contents of New Beginning are slightly lighter than her eponymous debut, and her political views--which were emblazoned all over her second album, Crossroads--have been toned down. "Give Me One Reason" is a punchy bluesy number, and the "Smoke And Ashes" is a stylish, romantic composition. Admittedly, nothing can match the originality and brilliance of her debut album, but New Beginning proves that she is still just as unique and relevant in a world full of Tracy Chapman wannabes. --John Galilee
gone back to the spare, unsentimental feel of her early work, recapturing some of the urgency and simple melody lines that made her 1988 self-titled debut such a classic. There's maturity here, and strong sense of spiritual metaphor. On "Unsung Psalm", for instance, she imagines her funeral, singing: "I'd have a halo and flowing white robes / If I live right", while "Wedding Song" has the devotional line: "I reach out for your hand / For you I'd don a veil". The musical arrangements, too, are pared-down, with ghostly bluegrass banjo, silvery fiddle and guitar woven into subtle drum loops. Though not as immediate as her debut, it's Chapman's most focused work in a long time. --Lucy O'Brien
The most beautiful album ever produced by Tracy Chapman herself.
A review by surfaholic18 on Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman May 30th, 2009
Author's product rating:
Originality
Groundbreaking
Lyrics
Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks
Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Powerful and meaningful lyrics that are together with beautifully produced songs .
Disadvantages:
None .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This review is taken from my Dooyoo page also but as I put so much effort into writing it I felt I should have it on both sites. It is however, entirely my own work and I absolutely love this album. I really hope you enjoy and appreciate reading it, thank you!
Tracy Chapman the album is without doubt of the best album's which I have ever bought simply for its real beauty in inner song form. Tracy Chapman is you do not know is a singer and songwriter who began her career as a busker and really has taken herself to the next level, she has performed at many anti-poverty shows around the world. This album was released in 1988 and contains 11 absolutely beautifully written songs.
The album is very country folk and this becomes very clear throughout the album, the lyrics are quite simply umbelivable and they are just so powerful which is what I love about her and the album. She really does write straight from the heart and unlike many other artists you can be sure that Tracy Chapman is in the business for the music rather than money. She is an inspiration to many people and really is something special.
"Talkign bout a revolution" is one of my favourties and has a superb main guitar chord progression has a fantastic quality of lyrics that really are personal. I cannot tell you how good this song is and considering this album also contains "Fast car" that alone should be enough to persuade you to buy this album. "Fast car" has a slower tempo than other songs and has a beautiful guitar riff that features throughout the song. The thing about "Fast Car" is that the lyrics are umbelivable, they are just so beautiful it even makes you tearful. This song is one of my favourties and I really cannot recommend it enough, to be writing a song about trying to escape poverty by writingg music is just inspirational. It is so moving and I love the way the chorus is more upbeat and with a faster tempo which helps to chear you up effectivly.
Tracy Chapman writes lyrics like poetry and she is the best song writer that I have ever come across in music and she really should be recognised for it. She writes throughout her songs in this album story's about her life experiences and it is fascinating to listen to. She also has a very beautiful voice that really I feel accompanies the guitar very well indeed. "Across the lines" has another beautiful introduction which is a great start to this beautiful song. The song is again umbelivably beautiful and depicts how whites are sepreated from blacks in a culture where racial tension still exists. The lyris are just umbelivable and again it is very moving, the chord progression helps to emphaise the vocals and what is being said. The frequent repetition of particular lines helps to emphasise what is being said which I find to be inspirational.
With the album the booklet supplied comes with all of the lyrics printed which just shows that Tracy Chapman really cares about the music she writes and she is trying to gether message across. It allows you to sing along to the beautiful songs. "Behind the wall" features ' A cappela' which means that Tracy Chapman just sings with no backing, singing "Last night I heard the screaming". This song is describing another one of her life story's and how the police don't provide enough care and support. It is just beautifully written and I cannot tell you how moving it is, to have just the vocals really is effective and it is a true privilege to hear.
"Baby can I hold you" has had countless remakes made but Tracy Chapman was the person who originaly wrote it. This is a beautiful love song that without doubt is describing one of her many life experiences. The chorus is very catchy and I generally found this album song to be more upbeat and happy as it were than many other songs featured in the album. "Mountains O' things" is a very catchy song with an excellent introduction. It is a life describing all of life's stuggles and having dreams to get you through. It really is a beautifally written song that is very catchy, I like how it is more upbeat. Whilst the album is at many points sad to listen to there is an intangable respect that people have for the music and its quality. There is also many more upbeat and postive songs that are within the album which gives the album a real sense of vareity and diversity, effectivly adding to the interest.
"She's got her ticket" has some great lyrics together with a very postivie rhythm and some very cool guitar riffs. This time the lyrics tell the story of a girl moving away and Tracy Chapman says how nobody should stop her from going because she is mature enough to make her own decisions. It also depicts how there is too much corruption and greed and I think this girl is a personification of Tracy Chapman wanting to leave from her home to a better place and "Fly, Fly, Fly away.....". The guitar licks throughout the song make it really enjoyable to listen to together with the upbeat rhythm featured. "Why?" has such a good introduction and guitar riff I cannot tell you, it is just so catchy! Tracy Chapman here asks the questions about many of the things in her life that she is not happy about such as war and famine. The vocals are superb and together with a fantastic guitar riff this is one of my favourtie tracks. Imbetween the chorus the verses have a slower tempo with some fantatsic broken chords which really add effect and give a real emphasis to the music.
"For my lover" has another fantastic introdution which leads me to believe that Tracy Chapman is very good at creating effective introdcution to set the scene for the songs. I love the lyrics in this song and how they depict all of the sacrifices and everything that she does for her lover as it were such as "Climb a mountain if I have to". It really is poetry in music and I just cannot fault it, without doubt is this one of my favourite albums the general production and quality of the songs is just fantatsic. I love how half way between the album you have a contrast between the more sorrowful songs and the more upbeat, songs in the second half of the album. "If not now" is a very acoustic song with another excellent intoduction with a piano to aid the introduction. I love how it gradually builds up and uses the vocal and piano to aid the image and message that is trying to be depicted to the listner. The song is very catchy indeed, especially the chorus with some fantastic melodies specially by the piano and vocals. "If not now" asks the question of 'When?' as apposed to the song "Why?" which is a nice contrast and cliche. It also regularly makes references to the power of promises which adds power to the song in general.
"For you" is the last song of the album and like "If not now" it has a slow tempo acoustic melody played before the beautiful voice of Tracy Chapman comes in with her romantic lyrics. It gave me the impression that the album overall has a clear distinction between being a romantic album and portraying her true feelings about the world which I think is a really nice contrast to make in an album. "For you" is a song about how Tracy Chapman is trying to tell her partner everything from deep inside her heart and what strong feelings she has. She feels she is loosing control of her emotions "No longer the master of my emosions". This is a great line and really adds to the beauty of the song. I love how the guitar suddenly picks up along with the vocals and the song is taken forward.
As I have said previously, I absolutely love this album and could not recommend it more. The lyrics are like none other and contain hidden beauty just like poetry does and yet it is contained within a song. I found it easy to listen to and above all to understand that this artist loves to write music and nothing else. The album features some umbelivably powerful songs including "Fast Car" and "Baby can I hold you" which really add to the quality of the album as a whole. For £5 I see no reason why you should not buy this, it really is something ground breaking and I'm so thankful for it. Tracy Chapman has I'm sure aquired a lot of respect from producing this album and it is easy to see why. I think it is important to support an artist who plays at anti-war and poverty concerts out of the goodness of her heart and is not interetsed in the money but the music. Full Digitial recording really have excelled by helping Tracy Chapman produce this album and I only hope that you too can have the enjoyment that I have had from this. It is an absolute pleasure for me to write about an artist and album that I am so fond of and I really hope that you find it of use. Thank you so much for reading this and I really would greatly appreciate any comments that you may have.
More Reviews
i got a faster car Review ofTracy Chapman - Tracy Chapmanby
kineticspade
Advantages: good songs and lyrics Disadvantages: none
ABIT ABOUT TRACY CHAPMAN
Tracy Chapman was born in Cleveland, Ohio on the 30th March 1964. She went onto go to university and Majored in Anthropology and African Studies in 1986.
She recorded her first demo while at university at the university radio station, and was heard by a fellow student, who recommended her to his father. Who introduced her to Elektra Records, where she linked up with her Manager Elliot Roberts.
This is her Debut album which ... ...cover has a picture of Tracy with her name displayed down the Left hand side. The booklet has the lyrics inside and it is actually shown in 5 different languages. The writing could have done with been a little bit bigger though in the booklet.
MY PERSONAL VIEWS
I just loved this album, as i love Acoustic songs, but maybe if you like the music to be louder on the tracks and more upbeat music, then this really would not be the album for you. As all ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Thought- provoking songs Disadvantages: Only 11 songs
...for all music lovers.
Tracy was given her first guitar by a teacher at school- it seems that perhaps we have him to thank for her international presence for he is thanked personally in the inlay of this debut. The first track "Talkin bout a Revoultion" is, perhaps, a plea with the less fortunate of the world to finally stand up and be counted- "poor people gonna rise up and take what's their's" Tracy insists. The second track is the classic "Fast ... ..."lives with the bottle" and who hopes for a better life with her boyfriend; "you have a fast car, is it fast enough so we can run away?" Unfortuantely, the dream quickly disappears to the hard stench of reality "you see more of your friends than you do your kids.......you have a fast car, is it fast enough so you can run away?"
Other classics include "Across the Lines" detailing the race struggles in America, and "Mountains O' Things" in which we're ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Great lyrics - sung beauitfully Disadvantages: none
...'TracyChapman' by TracyChapman is my all time favourite album of all times. Although I only purchased it on CD recently - it is the most played Cd in my collection.
TracyChapman is one of those artists we rarely hear of these days - but in my eyes we shoulf hear a lot more of her - her voice is second to none - deep and very thought provoking.
This album contains some of Tracy's better known song such as Fast Car, Bbay can i hold you - a full list of tracks on the album are as follows :
1. TALKIN' BOUT A REVOLUTION
2. FAST CAR
3. ACROSS THE LINES
4. BEHIND THE WALL
5. BABY CAN I HOLD YOU
6. MOUNTAINS O' THINGS
7. SHE'S GOT HER TICKET
8. WHY?
9. FOR MY LOVER
10. IF NOT NOW ...
11. FOR YOU
Each of these tracks will send you into a though provoking spin - the lyrics are all related to...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Great lyrics, very thought provoking Disadvantages: sad at times
...' tells the story of how racial hatred is tearing the world apart.
'Baby Can I Hold You' sorrowfully covers the 'guy takes advantage of the girl' relationship and was recently covered by Boyzone (badly I might add).
'Behind the Wall' paints a vivid picture of domestic violence and what it was like before it was taken seriously as a crime.
'Mountains O' Things' which is a parable set to music concerning the way we enslave ourselves to material objects and obsession with what we think to be success.
I also have all of TracyChapman's other albums and apart from maybe 'crossroads' none of the others come close.
TracyChapman deserves far more success than she achieves.
This album is one I listen to time and again and certainly makes my top 10 album list....
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: A stunningly emotive debut album Disadvantages: Perhaps a little too short for my liking
...As debut album's go, this multi-platinum beauty is a darn good one. First released in 1988, I was far too young to catch it the first time round, but on hearing Tracy's latest release, Let it rain (also a damn fine album) , I thought I'd better get this one as well, and excellent decision it was too.
This is TracyChapman's most commercially successful album, (even though her music is still as gorgeous as ever), and it won her four Grammys. TracyChapman grew up as a black working-class child, but succeeded in gaining an excellent education, including a degree from Tufts University, where she first began to get involved in radio performances. This background obviously shows through in some of her songs, such as Talkin' bout a revolution and Across the lines.
This use of her personal experiences (always an excellent way of creating...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Album Notes: Personnel: Tracy Chapman (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, percussion); Jack Holder (guitar, dobro, electric sitar, hammered dulcimer, Hammond organ); Ed Black (guitar); David LaFlamme (electric violin); Steve Kaplan, Bob Marlette (keyboards); Larry Klein (bass); Denny Fongheiser (drums, percussion); Paulinho Da Costa (percussion). Recorded at Powertrax, Hollywood, California. Tracy Chapman exploded out of the Boston folk scene in the late eighties, carrying the acoustic guitar-playing singer/songwriter mantle to a more political and socially conscious level than had recently been achieved. Her deep alto and throttled vocal delivery, combined with attentively scrutinized social scenarios presented in a simple, accessible manner, rocketed Tracy to the top of the charts and into the Grammy record books. Instrumentally crisp and minimal, TRACY CHAPMAN is a compelling statement from the no-holds-barred black singer/songwriter, stealing the focus away from the popular folk mafia. Chapman expresses a heretofore unmined black, feminist, disenfranchised point of view--from the helpless-but-hopeful underclass of the smash hit "Fast Car," to the defiant politicos of "Talkin' `Bout A Revolution." In regards to other issues, Tracy responds to Suzanne Vega's "Luka" with her own a capella song about domestic violence, "Behind The Wall"; and the percussive "Mountains O' Things" is about material wealth. But TRACY CHAPMAN is not all social politics; there are several rapturously tender love songs included as well. There are many strong influences to be heard in Tracy's voice, particularly Joan Armatrading (on "Baby Can I Hold You") and Odetta. Infused with those powerful roots, Chapman dramatically changed the commercial stakes of folk music by blending a catchy, acoustic backdrop to her social rhetoric, and delivering her manifestos in a unique, commanding voice that seemed like a beacon in a sea of mediocrity.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.136) - Ranked # 28 in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...[This album] brought some charge back to activist folk rock..." Rolling Stone (11/89) - 4 Stars - Excellent - Ranked # 10 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The 80s" survey.
Titles on disc 1
1.: Talkin' 'bout A Revolution
2.: Fast Car
3.: Across The Lines
4.: Behind The Wall
5.: Baby Can I Hold You
6.: Mountain O' Things
7.: She's Got Her Ticket
8.: Why
9.: For My Lover
10.: If Not Now...
11.: For You
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Listed on Ciao since : 27/08/2005
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