Search - Indigo Girls :: Nomads Indians Saints

The definitive work of a powerful duo of singer/songwriters

Robert E Head | Kent, WA USA | 01/05/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nomads Indians Saints is very old news by now, but remains for me the definitive highlight of their songwriting careers. If one wanted only one Indigo Girls album, this should be it.Emily's well-crafted poetry is both brilliant and accessible. Hammer and a Nail was one of her bigger radio hits, but only one of six great offerings on this record. Southland In The Springtime and You and Me of the 10,000 Wars remain some of her most poignant works. Her earlier work is less well developed and her later work, with a few exceptions, loses a bit of the passion and attention to detail present here.Amy's songs paint less with well-constructed verse than with imagery and emotional outbursts. For me, this album was the sweet spot in her career as well, with youthful passion that enraptures the listener almost shamanistically, but still finds a universality that slowly drained away in later work. The highlight for me on this album is World Falls, which is probably Amy's most ecstatic, upbeat, and, dare I say, radio-worthy song.As a side note, I saw probably three or four live Indigo Girls shows during the tour that followed this album, even one on the night the Gulf War broke out. These were some of the most powerful concerts I have ever witnessed and made a lifelong impact on my interest in and understanding of the capacity of art to transform lives and create transcendent collective experiences."