Search - Andrea Perry :: Two

Slanderously Good!

Tom Verre | The Great Northwest Shoreline | 04/20/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The songs found on Perry's "TWO" and previous album "Saturday Morning Sweet Shoppe" are so far above the norm and so full of heart, I would dare call them perfect - No half baked rants. No ego projection. No self-deception. I find most interesting, Ms. Perry's lyrical content, consider the title "I think of Nothing". Zen stuff, Indeed. Her vocals play counterpoint and set the stage without wasting time. At the expense of prose, perhaps but far more poetic and honest in coming from the heart than purely from the head. A cleverly chosen time signature jolts you from pre-conception and leaves you alone with the music. In The Now as the Taoists say, completely empty, but full of possibility and in this case, open to the simple but universal experience of learning the hard way. The aforementioned comment may seem insulting to your typical ego-driven lyricist - which it would, but Andrea Perry has no interest in philosophizing or playing the authority on any given subject. Her stories are told from experience to a close friend, you, the listener. What makes this album most engaging (or...affective, literally) is the fact that her technical skills in playing multiple instruments is rivaled only by her seemingly pitch-perfect and passionate vocals and harmonies. Couple this with the undeniable fact that she provides a rollercoaster of real, interpersonal triumph and tragedy, fully communicated and empathetic, and you have one unforgettable album. Almost a concept piece if not disclosed as such, it presents the temporary nature of so many relationships and the hope that follows a failure. Something all who have a soul can identify with. One can almost fall in love simply listening to her journey, although it is VERBOTEN that you project the message onto the messenger, capisca? Ms. Perry also seems to be preoccupied with state of the art sonic clarity, as are most musicians fortunate enough to both understand the need for good engineering and know how to get it done. Listening to "Higher" layered in such devout and objective digital love, makes me wonder if Ms. Perry is a person at all, and not some Muse with a Masters Degree in Engineering and the 3x3inch limited CD release of Oranges and Lemons. Her songs, or rather her honestly felt projections and knowledge of what songs can be are so fun and free that only a miser with a grain of sand for a heart could fail to see the charm.Luckily, that's the only bad news- the delusional AM radio retiree social set who hate Crash Test Dummies because they have a stupid name and weren't around back when they were cool in high school, will hate this music! The type that think Todd Rundgren, Burt Bacharach and Gilbert O'Sullivan are timeless, just because their first kiss was had while listening to Hello It's Me, will reject Andrea's highly polished production values, digital finesse and tasteful mixing (despite the fact that they know Todd extravagantly engineered the XTC masterpiece Skylarking.) Those whose musical lexicon range from Eric Carmen to Air Supply will find Andrea Perry's albums the work of a sham artiste. This is the same sort of iconoclastic reaction that your typical 70's wedding band, never-weres might feel towards real talent and real heart with the time to do something about it.The Simple secret is that Andrea's music is beautiful because it comes from Andrea, a one-of-a-kind Renaissance Ma'am, wise well beyond her years. And you can't fake that. In a rational world, they'd play "Gettin' to Know You" from all the street corners and the real people would tap their toes, feel real hope and not take themselves so damn seriously. Besides, you've spent more on garbage that you've already forgotten you have."

A Brilliant Golden Gem!

G Martin | England | 04/14/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"OK, John Lennon and George Harrison had a time machine. They went to the future and nabbed a DNA sample from Andrea Perry. Then they took their parents further into the future and had that DNA implanted into their DNA so that when they returned everything back to its place and they were born, they would have some of what Andrea's got, Pure Musical Genius.Andrea Perry continues to deliver brilliant songwriting and sweet sentiments in witty and smooth music. "Two" explores a deeper look into the mind of an emotional savant who seems to be able to catalog every thought and feeling ever experienced by humans, at least in the way she sees it all!Another sweet turn on the road of a brilliant path!"