Release Date: 23 August, 1994
Audio CD
Tracks
- Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic
- (Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night
- One Cool Remove
- Satin Sheets
- There's A Rugged Road
- Killing The Blues
- Window To The World
- Someday
- Twilight
- If These Walls Could Speak
- This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
- You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
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Rating 4.0
SHAWN COLVIN'S "COVER GIRL" IS A WASTE OF HER TALENTWhen Shawn Colvin appeared on the scene with her breakthrough album, "FAT CITY", it was clear that we were witnessing the arrival of a major new talent. Her voice was pure and clear, not unlike her mentor, Joni Mitchell. Her writing was intelligent, powerful, with hint of mischief that intrigued many listeners and left us wanting more. "COVER GIRL", a lukewarm rehashing of mediocre songs from past artists, is hardly the follow-up we had hoped for. There is precious little positive to say about "COVER GIRL" except that Ms. Colvin's intent seems to have been good. In her liner notes, she talks about lending something new to each of the covers...yet this reviewer sees nothing fresh about any of the covers. And, in fact, some of the songs, like "One Cool Remove" and "This Must Be the Place" are embarassingly bad and do not fit her voice at all. The best I can say about "COVER GIRL" is that a few of the cuts, for example "Every Little Thing" and "Window to the World" are somewhat pleasant, if not inspiring. Why a wonderful writer and artist of the calibre of Shawn Colvin would reduce herself to a second-rate lounge-act is the greatest mystery. Let's hope this was a one-time misstep that will not re-occur.DO buy this one along with Shawn's earlier work!I am amazed to see an earlier 1 star review when the reviewer raves about 5 of the cuts! This album introduces you to the following writers: Tom Waits, Jimmy Webb, Sting, Willis Alan Ramsay, Greg Brown, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, David Byrne, Robbie Robertson, J.Sill, and T. Littlefield. A few cuts are live. Some with a full band and others with Shawn and guitar. You can hear her smile while singing the live cuts! A duet with Mary Chapin Carpenter is great. And the liner notes are interesting to boot, which is something I miss with the advent of CD packaging. I found it fun to hear her rendition of songs I already knew and enlightnening to hear writers I never would have heard otherwise. I have not seen her live but from this album I would LOVE to see her in a small venue with just Shawn and her guitar. I think her guitar playing has been overlooked.A fun album with a good range...I've been a Shawn Colvin fan since even before she came out with her own album. (I discovered her doing backups for/with other people I like, such as Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Lucy Kaplansky.) _Cover Girl_ is my second-favorite album of hers, next to her first. It has a good range of songs, and her cover of "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" (by The Talking Heads) is amazing and gives a much different feel to the song than the original. Other great songs are "The Heart of Saturday Night" (by Tom Waits), "Killing the Blues" (John Prine), "Window to the World" (by Greg Brown), and "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesone When You Go" (by Bob Dylan). The clearly marketable "Every Little Thing (He) Does Is Magic" (by The Police / Sting), while adept enough, I feel actually detracts from the overall mood of the album. |
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