Damien Rice - 9
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CD Details
Artist: Damien RiceEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2006-11-14
Music Label: Heffa/Vector/Warner Bros.
Soundtracks:
- 9 Crimes
- The Animals Were Gone
- Elephant
- Rootless Tree
- Dogs
- Coconut Skins
- Me, My Yoke, and I
- Grey Room
- Accidental Babies
- Sleep Don't Weep
Music reviews of 9
Music Review: Pales in comparison to its predecessor but still shines brightly amidst his inferior competitors...
Rating: 4 Stars
Damien Rice is, in my humble opinion, the greatest musical artist of our generation. That opinion was formulated after experiencing the brilliance that was his debut album `O'. When `9' was released I rushed to purchase it and listened to it probably three or four times straight through that same day. My opinion has not changed, but I will say that to anyone who swears by `O' as much as I do `9' can come off as a bit of a disappointment. This is hard for me to admit since Rice truly is an inspiration to me and is someone I consider not just a musician, not even just an `artist' but I truly feel he is one of music's only geniuses. His music is inventive, exciting, well thought out and creative and transcends the boundaries of primitive musicianship and conveys feelings and emotions that most artists can seem to comprehend. I was really expecting `9' to take what he delivered in `O' and blow it out of the water. Instead it hands us a group of tracks that are impressive, I won't deny that, but that can't seem to rise above the brilliance that was its predecessor.
You wouldn't guess that right off the bat though. `9' opens with the powerfully haunting `9 Crimes', a song about infidelity and the disturbing realizations it casts upon the couple in question. Set to a tragically delicate piano riff and featuring the beautiful addition of Lisa Hannigan, `9 Crimes' proves to be one of Damien's most beautiful and all around powerful tracks ever recorded. Not a bad way to begin. In fact there are a few tracks here that compare to the weight of `O', I just wish they all did. `Rootless Tree' is another flawless track (although live he played this on the piano and it was even better). The song is a bitter breakup song that, rumor has it, he wrote about ex-girlfriend Renee Zellweger.
`The Animals Were Gone' as well as `Grey Room' and the closing `Sleep Don't Weep' all sound like tracks that could have been on `O' arrangement wise at least. They are your basic acoustic Rice and they work very well. `Grey Room' is probably my favorite of the three. It's a very well done track. `The Animals Were Gone' has such a beautifully orchestrated climax that I wish he had used that throughout the song, but overall I really can't complain. It's classic Rice. `Sleep Don't Weep' is the perfect way to close out this album. It's beautiful, haunting and memorable. It reminds the listener why Damien Rice is so special and compels them to listen to the album once again.
The album though is not without its faults, and that's where it differs from `O', an album I consider to be arguably perfect in every facet. `Elephant' is my first complaint. I enjoy the song but it's no `Blowers Daughter' and the fact that it tries to be (the more sexually charged version albeit) upsets me. It's set to the same chord structure, same vocal patterns, which in it of itself is not a horrible concept, but in order for that to pay off the song should be better than the original, and `Elephant' isn't even in the same league as `Blowers Daughter'. `Me, My Yoke, and I' is the worst track here. It's practically inaudible and he keeps repeating the same things over and over. I think the reviewer hit it on the head when he/she said that it sounds as though it was written on the spot. Sadly, that is the case. It's a song about self-pleasuring that fails to please anyone but Rice.
The final three songs, or the three that I have yet to mention, are not bad songs but I can't bring myself to say they are good either. Both `Dogs' and `Coconut Skins' are fun, I will admit that, but they add nothing new to the man we know as Damien. When you listen to the magnificence that is `9 Crimes' or `Sleep Don't Weep' you become almost embarrassed for tracks like `Dogs'. Damien said that `Dogs' was his happy song amidst a slew of depressing ones but personally I prefer him depressed (ouch). `Accidental Babies' is one I'm on the fence with. Overall it is a beautiful song, one that is touching and emotional and it works, I just wish it had a little more range. It's the same repeated piano chords and the same vocal patterns and it just feels like one long verse, even when the chorus rolls in.
`9' is no `O' that is for certain, but what also is for certain is that Damien Rice is one of music's finest artists, no, what did I say earlier...geniuses, and I truly mean that. Sure, he hit somewhat of a sophomore slump, but really, how do you follow up the brilliance that was `O'? If only the release dates on these albums had been swapped, then it would see right. Even with its faults the album still rises above most of what's released these days. I'm confident that his third full-length album will be a major improvement and until that day comes I sit and I wait and I enjoy every second I can get with this man and his music.
Description of 9
9 is the extraordinary follow-up to young Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice's critically acclaimed 2003 debut album O-which sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, including more than one million in the U.K. The single "9 Crimes" will have its network television debut on the hit ABC show Grey's Anatomy in the November 23rd episode.Not quite as endearing as his raw and seductive 2002 debut, O, the second full-length album by Irish troubadour Damien Rice finds him taking a more slapdash approach to his lyrics and arrangements, with balmy tracks like "Rootless Tree," "Coconut Skins," and "Me, My Yoke, and I" seemingly made up and recorded on the spot. Strange then that it took so long for 9 to actually arrive, with just a handful of odd collaborations (Tori Amos, Herbie Hancock) and one promising benefit single ("Unplayed Piano") to hold fans over during the four-year delay. Nothing here quite achieves the lush poetry on display there, although Rice and his singing companion Lisa Hannigan come close with the creepy opening track "9 Crimes" and the damaged whisper-to-a-scream ballad, "Elephant." --Aidin Vaziri
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