my review: poseidon and the bitter bug
as a long-term indigo girls fan, i like to allow their new albums to "settle" before i post any sort of public review. it's too easy to simply hope that their new work sounds like their golden days (1990-1995, in my opinion). and it's too easy to write off an album because i do not harbor the same feelings that i harbored for nomads*indians*saints on its release date (i was 13 when n*i*s was released, and was just a young and naive fan girl who believed everything about the indigo girls was "awesome." as i grew older, i became much more of a critic). and, my first impressions are not always the ones that resonate. that said, poseidon and the bitter bug already had an unfair disadvantage: once the novelty and the initiation period wore off, i think that the indigo girls two most recent albums, despite our differences and all that we let in are the weakest of the indigo girls catalog. AND, i am not a big fan as mitchell froom as a producer. so that all tainted my opinion of poseidon and the bitter bug, and i didn't want to review it too soon.
i've had the album (regular and acoustic version) for almost two months now. and since release day is less than a week away, i am ready to go public with my thoughts. ;)
in fairness to amy and emily, it's a good thing that i waited so long to write anything. my initial reaction to poseidon was, "this is the end of the indigo girls' career." i found it to be trite, over-produced, and musically immature. but then i saw the girls live at a private concert. and they played a bunch of songs from poseidon. and then, a few nights later, i got high (the best way to listen to music, in my opinion), and sat down with a musically minded friend and analyzed the album from start to finish. gradually, in my mind, poseidon went from one of emily's weakest efforts to one of emily's strongest efforts. and for the first time ever, my favorite track on an album is an emily song, not an amy song. poseidon is truly an emily saliers masterpiece. and i am so glad, because despite our differences, all that we let in, and even (somewhat) become you were weak for emily. amy shines too, but amy has consistently, and even more so recently, been the creative genius of the indigo girls. so the fact that this album is such an emily masterpiece is almost a bit surprising. of course, it's a mixed bag. it's not a perfect album, or even one of their greatest albums. there are a few tracks that irk me (nowhere as a bad as "last tears" or "free in you" from their two most recent albums). but some of the songs are standouts.
my favorite track on the album is emily's "love of our lives." at first listen, i laughed and scoffed at it. cheesy love songs are not my forte. i like politically charged tunes the best. but "love of our lives" is not a cheesy, "lite rock" love song like "power of two" or "free in you." it is politically charged ("we've been wanting to be held by binding ties, we've been fighting for the love of pour lives"); it could be a catchy jingle for the "no on 8" campaign. and it's synical. and it sums up the lesbian dating cycle so well ("broken pieces, broken hearts, fix me, oil me, match me with the next best thing"). aside from the lyrics, the song has some badass harmonies. they are different than expected, and perhaps even boring at first listen. but having amy sing everything one octive below emily (except for one distinctive part) sounds pretty damn amazing.
other highlights are the radio single "what are you like" (emily), the insightful "fleet of hope" (emily; again, listen to the harmonies), the dark political "sugar tongue" (amy) and my favorite amy track on the album, the prom-esq "ghost of the gang."
amy and emily took risks on this album that longtime indigo girls fans will either love or hate. for example, emily claims that "digging for your dream" is r&b inspired. it's interesting, that's for sure. and for the first time for the indigo girls, amy converted one of her solo songs into an indigo girls song. i find the re-arrangement of "driver education" to be a bit tragic. i am a huge fan of amy's solo work, and think that song is better off as a solo song. while amy tried something a bit different, "true romantic" irks me. the lyrics are not amy's best, and i'm not a big fan of what she is trying to do with her voice. the weakest track on the album is emily's "i'll change." it feels very "lite rock" and cliche.
allison brown appears on banjo on a few tracks, namely amy's "second time around" and "salty south." "second time around" showcases amy's gift-given ability to write a politically charged story that isn't too simple or too obvious.
all in all, poseidon and the bitter bug is an album with quite a few masterpieces, and a dud or two. but i think that once it's a permanent (not new) part of the indigo girls collection, it will outshine its two predecessors. this is also the girls' first independently released album since strange fire. be sure to listen to both CDs, the studio one and the acoustic one, for better or worse, the production on the studio album gives some of the songs a completely different feel.
i've had the album (regular and acoustic version) for almost two months now. and since release day is less than a week away, i am ready to go public with my thoughts. ;)
in fairness to amy and emily, it's a good thing that i waited so long to write anything. my initial reaction to poseidon was, "this is the end of the indigo girls' career." i found it to be trite, over-produced, and musically immature. but then i saw the girls live at a private concert. and they played a bunch of songs from poseidon. and then, a few nights later, i got high (the best way to listen to music, in my opinion), and sat down with a musically minded friend and analyzed the album from start to finish. gradually, in my mind, poseidon went from one of emily's weakest efforts to one of emily's strongest efforts. and for the first time ever, my favorite track on an album is an emily song, not an amy song. poseidon is truly an emily saliers masterpiece. and i am so glad, because despite our differences, all that we let in, and even (somewhat) become you were weak for emily. amy shines too, but amy has consistently, and even more so recently, been the creative genius of the indigo girls. so the fact that this album is such an emily masterpiece is almost a bit surprising. of course, it's a mixed bag. it's not a perfect album, or even one of their greatest albums. there are a few tracks that irk me (nowhere as a bad as "last tears" or "free in you" from their two most recent albums). but some of the songs are standouts.
my favorite track on the album is emily's "love of our lives." at first listen, i laughed and scoffed at it. cheesy love songs are not my forte. i like politically charged tunes the best. but "love of our lives" is not a cheesy, "lite rock" love song like "power of two" or "free in you." it is politically charged ("we've been wanting to be held by binding ties, we've been fighting for the love of pour lives"); it could be a catchy jingle for the "no on 8" campaign. and it's synical. and it sums up the lesbian dating cycle so well ("broken pieces, broken hearts, fix me, oil me, match me with the next best thing"). aside from the lyrics, the song has some badass harmonies. they are different than expected, and perhaps even boring at first listen. but having amy sing everything one octive below emily (except for one distinctive part) sounds pretty damn amazing.
other highlights are the radio single "what are you like" (emily), the insightful "fleet of hope" (emily; again, listen to the harmonies), the dark political "sugar tongue" (amy) and my favorite amy track on the album, the prom-esq "ghost of the gang."
amy and emily took risks on this album that longtime indigo girls fans will either love or hate. for example, emily claims that "digging for your dream" is r&b inspired. it's interesting, that's for sure. and for the first time for the indigo girls, amy converted one of her solo songs into an indigo girls song. i find the re-arrangement of "driver education" to be a bit tragic. i am a huge fan of amy's solo work, and think that song is better off as a solo song. while amy tried something a bit different, "true romantic" irks me. the lyrics are not amy's best, and i'm not a big fan of what she is trying to do with her voice. the weakest track on the album is emily's "i'll change." it feels very "lite rock" and cliche.
allison brown appears on banjo on a few tracks, namely amy's "second time around" and "salty south." "second time around" showcases amy's gift-given ability to write a politically charged story that isn't too simple or too obvious.
all in all, poseidon and the bitter bug is an album with quite a few masterpieces, and a dud or two. but i think that once it's a permanent (not new) part of the indigo girls collection, it will outshine its two predecessors. this is also the girls' first independently released album since strange fire. be sure to listen to both CDs, the studio one and the acoustic one, for better or worse, the production on the studio album gives some of the songs a completely different feel.