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Director's Cut
Barnes and Noble
Director's Cut
Current price: $27.99
Barnes and Noble
Director's Cut
Current price: $27.99
Size: CD
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During her early career,
released albums regularly despite her reputation as a perfectionist in the studio. Her first five were released within seven years. After
in 1985, however, the breaks between got longer:
appeared in 1989 and
in 1993. Then, nothing before
, a double album issued in 2005. It's taken six more years to get
, an album whose material isn't new, though its presentation is. Four of this set's 11 tracks first appeared on
, while the other seven come from
.
's reasons for re-recording these songs is a mystery. She does have her own world-class recording studio, and given the sounds here, she's kept up with technology. Some of these songs are merely tweaked, and pleasantly so, while others are radically altered. The two most glaring examples are
(previously known as
) and
The former intended to use Molly Bloom's soliloquy from
's novel
as its lyric;
was refused permission by his estate. That decision was eventually reversed; hence she re-recorded the originally intended lyrics. And while the arrangement is similar, there are added layers of synth and percussion. Her voice is absent the wails and hiccupy gasps of her youthful incarnation. These have been replaced by somewhat huskier, even more luxuriant and elegant tones. On the latter song, the arrangement of a full band and
's strings are replaced by a sparse, reverbed electric piano which pans between speakers. This skeletal arrangement frames
's more prominent vocal which has grown into these lyrics and inhabits them in full: their regrets, disappointments, and heartbreaks with real acceptance. She lets that voice rip on
supported by a tougher, punchier bassline, skittering guitar efx, and a hypnotic drum loop.
's son
makes an appearance as the voice of the computer (with Auto-Tune) on
On
pays homage to the
' opening riff from
in all its garagey glory (which one suspects was always there and has now been uncovered). The experience of
, encountering all this familiar material in its new dressing, is more than occasionally unsettling, but simultaneously, it is deeply engaging and satisfying. ~ Thom Jurek