Today was a Beth Orton type of day. With the back drop of the moody, cloudy, and rainy day, her tunes carried a lot more power. They were also uplifting enough to provide a bit of silver lining to the day. Her voice is powerful, and with the backdrop of the soothing music, it's the perfect balance.
Each song on the album sounds different. One moment it veers into an indie pop inspired tune, or the next more with folk roots. I could see Norah Jones having potentially being inspired a lot by the tune of Beth Orton. The album did start out a little slow to me, but as it continue on I did relate to the songs better, and I enjoyed the instrumentals of each tune, and how it grew the personality of the album as the songs went on. It grows into a beautiful album.
The 1999 album will also bring you back to the late 90's, and make you think of the music that transcending us into another century. It received great reviews and feedback from the critic audience, and proved a success with fans as well by shooting to the top of many charts around the world. It would also win awards and receive recognition.
Now there are also many artists of varying genres these tunes put me in mind of as well if you enjoy these other ones, like Tori Amos or Sarah Maclachlan. She has a rustic tone to her voicing, and with the wide range of instrumentals adding a variety of emotions to her singles it adds impacts.
It will take time to know whether this will be an album I will go back to, but tunes like "Feel to Believe" still stick with me.
When you think about it Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around a very long time. There career actually spans back before I was even before. These guys have been making music since 1983, and are working on an 11th album now. One of their most popular albums, and arguably the most popular at that, is Californication. Even at the age of 11 I remember the hits that came from this album.
History: Dave Navarro leaving the band must have let loose a lot of pent up creative energy they wanted to disperse that they hadn't been able to since John Frusciante had departed the band after Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album seems to emerge with a lot more maturity than even that album, and it channels sounds that sound more intentional. It would spawn many hit singles as well including "Californication" and the one I remember most clearly, "Scar Tissue".
Vocals: Anthony Keidis are very noticeable whether he is singing fast, or in a more serious tone. While I can hear the appeal of faster tracks like "Parallel Universe" I'm more into the tracks where not only the instrumentals slow down a bit, but also the vocals. Some of the favorite tracks where I thought the vocals were some of the highlights were "Around the World" or "Otherside". There seems to be a lot more burst of emotion throughout as well. You can't forget "Scar Tissue" though, which features some of the most impressive vocals because without the little emphasis on certain words you wouldn't have near as memorable a song that stuck with you after listening, which is also why it was such a memorable single.
Instrumentals: I assume that most fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers were very glad to have the guitar work of Frusciante back. While the various other musicians are good the other unique signature of Red Hot Chili Peppers is the way the guitar sounds. With the darker themes on the album the guitar still has a more upbeat vibe that just doesn't quite match the lyrical content of what ranges from drugs to suicide. For the listener it provides some introspective thoughts while also not getting us down in the dumps listening to the album.
Did I hear any tunes from this album prior to listening?: I was vaguely familiar with this album before listening, but this isn't one of the albums I had listened to as I had other albums from the band. It lives up to expectations though from the one single I had heard, "Scar Tissue". There were many songs that kept catching my attention on the album, to be honest though I still don't prefer the faster ones though and remain a fan of the slower tunes.
I think any album like this could be enough to convert a person into a fan of the band. There is a reason this band has found longevity in their music. It's remained consistent over the years in making music that stays in line with what fans know from the band, but always keeping it unique. This album provides a different offering with each tune, but regardless of what you like it sounds like the band.
