Search - Twilight Singers :: She Loves You

Best one yet.

N. Kuppalli | Richmond, Va USA | 08/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of the Afghan Whigs for years. When Greg Dulli decided to put that band to rest and go in a different direction musically, I followed. The first Twilight Singers cd, "Twilight", took me by surprise. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. Very slow and loose and not at all like the Whigs stuff. And so, it took me a while to really get into it. The second release, "Blackberry Belle", was better and more solid and I loved it immediately. Now comes a covers cd. When I read the track listing, I knew this was going to be a great release. It doesn't disappoint. The Twilight Singers (okay, Greg Dulli) cover everyone from Fleetwood Mac ("What Makes You Think You're the One") to Bjork ("Hyperballad") and on to John Coltrane ("A Love Supreme"). His interpretations of the songs are awesome. Very gritty and soulful and full of sex. Dulli's voice just exudes dirty, late night, drunken lust. There really isn't a bad song on here. Highlights, however, include "Hyperballad", "Strange Fruit", "What Makes You Think You're The One", "A Love Supreme", "Please Stay (Once You Go Away)". This is probably the most accesible Twilight Singers cd yet. Not to say it's commercial. Musically, it's very cohesive and sounds like the cd that the Afghan Whigs would have put out after their swan song "1965". If you like your "rock" music with a lot of soul, this cd will do it for you!"

Great Cover Album

Brent Chapman | indianapolis, in United States | 09/14/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After being blown away by "Blackberry Belle", this release threw me a bit. Sure, covers are nothing new for Dulli. I've always enjoyed them as b-sides on Afghan Whigs singles. Songs like "Creep" and "Beware" are favorites of mine, and live versions of "When Doves Cry" and "Beast of Burden" always get the crowd going at shows. Dulli's subversion of the source material, often fairly popular songs and old motown standards, intrigued me. But I wasn't really looking forward to a cover album, because I always liked the remakes sprinkled amongst the original songs, which are uniformly excellent.



That said, this is about as good as a cover album is going to get. The thing that struck me initially was that I wasn't that familiar with half the songs. so there goes my frame of reference, which was tied pretty closely to the fun of the old Whigs covers.



The really cool thing about the record is that you can see a lot of Dulli's influences in the songs, and then in turn see how he reinterprets them through those influences. For example, I was suprised how Fleetwood Mac fit into the Dulli oeuvre. After hearing "What makes You Think You're the One", it's obvious the Mac was a huge influence Dulli, especially on "Blackberry Belle."



The music sounds great all across the board. "Too Tough to Die" is a real standout, as is the Marvin Gaye song "Please Stay." And the Singers pull off "Hyperballad" which is a feat considering they're covering Bjork. Actually, a majority of these songs were originally performed by women, which presents a challenge for Dulli's unique vocal style. Unique meaning soaked in booze and cigarettes. But I digress...



It works out beautifully, and gives the songs a unique spin. In true Dulli fashion, the more obvious cover of "Summertime" really rounds out the proceedings. This song is what I expect for the guy who fearlessly remakes "Moon River" and "I Hear a Symphony.""

Another Season in Hell with Greg Dulli

D. C. Phillips | 08/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Greg Dulli has always displayed as much creativity and passion in covering songs as he has in performing his own; and they are almost always surprising - in their arrangement, in their interpretation, even, at times, in their selection. Dulli, a poet in the Baudelairean tradition, discovers in the seemingly most innocuous lyrics hidden landscapes of pain, fear, guilt, shame, and emotional sado-masochism previously unimagined and unimaginable. But once Greg Dulli has done a song, it becomes his song - a different song than the one you've heard before, and often a better song.



The Afghan Whigs' re-working of the Wizard of Oz song "If I Only Had a Brain" - titled "If I Only Had a Heart" - becomes a disturbingly dark and sinister confession after having alchemized in the crucible of Dulli's tortured-artist brain. The classic soul/R&B "I Keep Coming Back," while featuring some of Dulli's most off-key vocals, is also one of the most quietly compelling and heart-rending tracks on the "Gentlemen" album. The Ass Ponys' "Mr. Superlove" grows by leaps and bounds with the inclusion of a mandolin. "Come See About Me," "The Dark End of the Street" - even Andrew Lloyd Webber's "The Temple" and the Mancini/Mercer sappy classic "Moon River" ...



"She Loves You" is the first collection of covers in Dulli's career - and I have to admit that I am unfamiliar with most of the songs - but if you didn't know better you'd think it was simply a sequel to the Twilight Singers' incredible "Blackberry Belle." Because none of what we have come to expect, love - and even fear - is missing here. Simply put, "She Loves You" is knock-the-wind-out-of-you-and-then-breathe-new-life-into-you album.



"Feeling of Gaze" is, in Dulli's hands, every bit as dreamy as Mazzy Star could make it, though the tenor is a bit different. "Too Tough to Die" is here an anthem of arrested-adolescent bravado (and though it doesn't have quite as much bombast as it does live, it can still scorch even as it smolders). "What Makes You Think You're the One" has the same spiritedness that makes "Teenage Wristband" one of the best cuts from "Blackberry Belle." The album's second half is not as strong as the first - but that says more about the first five tracks than it does about the ones that follow (the album would be worth every penny for the staggering "Strange Fruit," alone) . And "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" (which you probably already own if you're an initiated fan) and the drastic and fantastic face-lift of "Summertime" provide a perfect ending to a phenomenal work.



The Afghan Whigs were (and are) one of the most overlooked (though not underrated) bands in recent music history. But with the Twilight Singers, Greg Dulli is living out their legacy with as much poetry, passion, and pain as he brought to his earlier work with the Whigs. And it really doesn't matter how much attention they get from the "public" - because after producing such artistic efforts, recognition is only the icing on the cake. And this cake doesn't need it.

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