Search - Holly Cole :: Temptation

An amazing work of art

Peter J. Smith | Clifton, VA USA | 09/15/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can understand some reviewers not liking this album. I bought it and was shocked at how far off track Holly had gone. At one point I was sure she was headed into drugs. The disk sat on the shelf for months and then one day I was testing a new stereo and played it. Today it is one of my favorite disks of all time.



The more you listen, the more your stereo can render, the more you will feel the passion in this album. The pacing and verve of each song holds its own within context of the larger album. I read somewhere that Holly and crew tried to do the songs in one take to keep them edgy. They succeeded. Every song takes you to a place in your past, for better or for worse. There are some songs on this album I cannot listen to while others never let me go. Even parts of the nonsensicle cuts will take you somewhere.



I carry this disk with me on stereo testing trips. The cuts can sound mushy or flat or dry or endlessly deep and wonderful. There is a lot of material below where most subwoofers go and many subs simply mush all the bass together. There are also a lot of delicacies in the back of songs. I am always suprised how I will find some voice or tinkle in the back when a cut is played on a super-audiophile system. There is actually a fair amount of background discussion in many takes if you can render it.



This is an album heavy into the art side of music. It departs from Holly's torch song jazz style on her other great albums, "Don't Smoke in Bed" and "Blame it on my Youth". Grab a glass of Amaretto and slump into a big overstuffed chair.



P



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