Release Date: 25 May, 1993
Audio CD
Tracks
- Let the Mystery Be
- These Hills
- Hotter Than Mojave in My Heart
- When Love Was Young
- Our Town
- Fifty Miles of Elbow Room
- Infamous Angel
- Sweet Forgiveness
- After You're Gone
- Mama's Opry
- Higher Ground
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Rating 5.0
Iris Dement will touch your heart.When I first got this CD about a decade ago I treated it as a bit of a guilty pleasure. A short time later, Iris Dement performed in a church in Berkeley, and I came up ticketless when the show sold out within 24 hours. Then I understood the universal appeal of Iris Dement. She has a simply unique voice, absolutely without artifice, that's somewhat reminiscent of the high lonesome sound of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Hank Williams, or Kitty Wells. She's a wonderful songwriter whose songs speak of the human condition: love, death, redemption, foregiveness, family. "Let the Mystery Be" has sweet lyrics and an infectious melody, but the subject is no less serious than the meaning of life itself. "Our Town", a nostalgic glimpse of the past, acknowledges that "nothing good ever lasts". "After You're Gone", which she wrote when her father was very ill, can move anyone to tears who has lost a loved one. The title track, "Infamous Angel", deals with home; where you're always welcome to return, even if you have strayed. I've listened to this CD hundreds of times in the past 10 years and still love it. No longer a guilty pleasure, I recommend Iris Dement to everyone.Unique, very special, and very beautifulI first heard Iris DeMent on British television on the "Transatlantic Sessions" and was overwhelmed by the unaffected lyrical beauty of her performance. Emmylou Harris was also featured on those sessions and she joins Iris on a track of this CD. All three of Iris's solo albums are worth having but this, her first, is undoubtedly her best. If you like Joni Mitchell, Buffy Sainte-Marie and other female singer/songwriters in the folk/country/protest tradition, then you really must hear Iris DeMent, for she is the greatest of them all. The first track on this album, "Let the Mystery Be", deserves classic status and the CD is worth buying just for that song. I could have done without the final track, which is Iris's mother in a performance that I would have thought only a daughter could enjoy (although I note some other reviewers liked it). Still, that leaves 10 tracks of great songs from this unique and very special voice.
GreatTHis young lady is great. A wonderfully refreshing voice, and a story to tell. She is a breath of fresh air. |
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