Search - Jill Sobule :: Things Here Are Different

Best of the first 3

R. Rundle | 06/11/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have not heard the most recent release, but I can tell you that her first album is the best of her first three albums. I thought her self titled album was good as well, but the hit on that one "kissed a girl" is really over-rated. Her true first "hit" was on this first album, it's called "Too Cool to Fall in Love" and is really a great, great song. If you like the first two albums, I'd say stay away from "Happy Town" because it's very different in tone than the first two."

A debut that was too cool

Tim Brough | Springfield, PA United States | 09/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The debut from Jill Sobule was a wonderfully promising first effort in the years that saw a multitude of female artists getting deals in the wake of Tracy Chapman and 10'000 Maniacs' breakouts. Jill's sweet, high voice found a perfect foil in the usually over-bearing Todd Rundgren. Where he often made anyone he brought into a studio sound like a Utopia side-project, in the case of Jill, he framed her almost perfectly.



The song that made me a fan was "Too Cool To Fall In Love," a jazz-lite piece of desire/heartache that got modest radio play at the time. It is, in my humble opionion, one of Todd's finest moments as a producer, next to XTC and Meat Loaf. While "Things Here Are Different" wasn't all that successful (Jill was dropped by MCA and it was another five years before Atlantic issued Jill Sobule and "I Kissed a Girl," the excellence that came forth on her later albums is apparent in "Living Color," "Pilar (Things Here Are Different)" and "Evian." "Pilar" was written with inspiration from Jill's year in Spain while a student, contrasting the brash young and American optimism with the staid and sad view of women under the traditions of old Europe.



Even more stunning is "Evian," a subtle prick at the historical failure of Europe to give asylum to German Jews before Hitler decided that, if he couldn't exile them, he'd exterminate them. While not part of the lyric, a quote from an anonymous Austrian representative stings: "As we have no real racial problem, we are not desirous of importing one." Bearing that in mind as the star-crossed lovers whisper:



"What did they decide to do to help them through?

He said 'Don't let it worry you...

there's nothing we can do for them in Evian.'"



It points to the brilliant insight that would follow on her various albums to come, as sporadic as they may have been released. While I doubt I will part with this CD, I would recommend starting with the second album of the near perfect 2005 "Underdog Victorious." She is also a total blast live, if you ever get the chance to see her play."