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Member since:23.02.2009
Reviews:8
Review rated by 5 Ciao members on average: very helpful
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.
I haven't listened to this album for years, but I can remember being really blown away by it when it was first released in the 80's - I played in non-stop for weeks. Lexy
Really good review, which I enjoyed reading. One word of advice though. You're going to have to start rating other people's reviews as well if you want member rates - on both sites - otherwise your writing is not going to get the exposure it deserves. Nice work 8^)
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31.05.2009 09:55
I haven't listened to this album for years, but I can remember being really blown away by it when it was first released in the 80's - I played in non-stop for weeks. Lexy
31.05.2009 01:45
Really good review, which I enjoyed reading. One word of advice though. You're going to have to start rating other people's reviews as well if you want member rates - on both sites - otherwise your writing is not going to get the exposure it deserves. Nice work 8^)