Search - Alannah Myles :: Alannah

Folkish, rockish, and what a voice!

05/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have Alannah's first three CDs, and love them all. They are all done in different styles.The first one is hard, raunchy rock and roll, with a couple slow sultry songs (including Black Velvet) thrown in.Rockinghorse gets slammed a lot, unjustly IMO. It is slick and maybe somewhat overproduced, but has some great rockin' tunes and great ballads. Alannah has a wonderful voice.This, her third CD, explores folk- and blues-based music. Again, fast or slow, hard or soft, she does them all justice. Mistress of Erzulie, Family Secret, Blow Wind Blow, Dark Side of Me are the standouts.I wish we'd hear more from her."

Alannah tangles with blues and some folk in third release

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 11/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Given how Alannah's second album Rockinghorse quickly hit the bargain bins, I was surprised Atlantic Records decided to keep her on for one more album. She was dropped after this third album, which from the getgo, has a stronger, more consistent sound overall. I get the sense of the wandering troubadour, hard-bitten lonely soul who's tasted life and all its bittersweet flavours. There are good songs here, and she even tries out some new sounds, such as folk and bluegrass, Celtic folk, and they work well for her.She does continue to explore the lonely evening night life and its adventures in the blues rock of "Mistress of Erzulie," Erzulie being the Haitian goddess of love.She plays with folky blues in "Blow Wind Blow", which spells out more of life's maxims. "Life comes true/in spite of/everything we do/you gotta learn to laugh/when the joke is played on you." So for everyone, she raises a toast: "So may you never end/all my sweet and ragged friends/won't you raise your glasses, your voice/and your will to fight/cause your life belongs to you."Her sweeter voice comes through in the slow melodic blues of "Family Secret", about rumours that spring after a father's death and the mysterious woman that comes into his money, and how the truth is bent among the community. This sports the dark bluesy sound that made "Black Velvet" a hit, but given the subject matter, not something that would make a single.Rocking blues time with "Mother Nature", which sports mandolin and accordion like "Blow Wind Blow." She sings of how sweet Mother Nature tastes when two are in love, "like Tahitian orchids", according to her."Irish Rain" portrays the bleakness of an unfriendly Belfast, the guitar is accompanied by a tin whistle, bodhran, and melancholy fiddle, things one would find on an Enya, Maire Brennan, or early Corrs album."Dark Side Of Me" is another chugging blues number, made alive by Kurt Schefter's electric guitar."Lightning In A Bottle" utilizes a 50's skiffle beat , rolling acoustic guitar riffs during the refrain, in which she challenges how much someone is willing to embrace life and all its knocks: "Tell me, are you ready like a sparrow in a hurricane?"With a mandolin, banjo, and accordion, "Keeper Of My Heart" straddles folk, country, zydeco, and bluegrass, the chorus echoing a campfire sound reminding me of Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime." Key line: "Remember who your princess is/your smile will be the guardian/of all my weaknesses." Definitely a standout cut."Do You Really Wanna Know Me": Gosh, one of those very important questions, right? Well, one of many she asks here. And Alannah asks them tenderly in a slow, quiet ballad featuring guitar, organ, accordion, and cello. "If I bare my soul, can you accept it all?", or "Do you know what makes me smile?" "Do you care what's inside?" A nice little ditty too great to be overplayed on FM."Everybody's Breaking Up"-how true that is today, be it seven year itch or mid-life crisis, "looks like love's in for a run of nasty weather." The overall reason is that "the tough are getting' goin' cause the goin's getting tough."Alannah then does a melancholy the Jaynetts' "Sally Go Round The Roses", which sports some Irish vileann pipes. She says the roses can't hurt, and then pleads with Sally not to go downtown because "the saddest thing in the whole wide world/is to see your baby with another girl."There are a few songs that are merely okay, but on the whole, with that voice that goes from rough and bluesy to sweet and melodic, she's got it. Slow blues, rocking blues, folk, bluegrass, Celtic music, this is quite an eclectic mix for Alannah Myles."

I miss this CD soooo much!!!!!

Chris Bock | Wilmington, DE USA | 07/09/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had this CD stolen from car one late Sunday night and have missed it ever since. Whoever has it I hope you are giving it the care and respect it deserves for this CD is something truly rare.
I had liked "Black Velvet" from the first album and actually ordered it from Columbia House and they sent me "Alannah" instead. Their mistake was my fortune as I immediately got hooked on it. It was in my CD player all the time, which I guess contributed to it's eventual theft. There was much more I think of herself thrown into this one than her previous two albums and it paid off for her. "Do You Really Want to Know Me?" was an awesome song that really helped me open up to someone who I am thankful to call a friend and this whole CD is just good medicine. I'm so glad it became available again because it was hard to find for the longest time. Buy it! You won't regret it!"