Laurie Anderson - Life on a String (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

Brims with musical ideas but is too inconsistent

William Merrill | San Antonio, TX United States | 08/23/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Listening to Laurie Anderson's new disc, it's easy to remember her roots as an avant garde performance artist. Unfortunately "avant garde" often means challenging, intriguing music that you listen to only once. "Life on a String" has really cool packaging, marvelous sound quality, a top drawer collection of backing musicians, and a lot of interesting ideas. What it does NOT have is an album's worth of "Excellent Birds" kind of melodies you'll want to hear again in the future. The 21st Century Laurie Anderson seems to be interested in trying an even wider palette of song concepts and arrangements than usual, including a decreased emphasis on synthesizers and more on strings, vocals, and other sources. I thought I was missing the synths, but when they showed up on track six, "My Compensation," I wished they had stayed away. Besides the random electronic blips and blurps, the only character the song has is in Laurie's bland cadence of a vocal. One of the many impressive collaborators is Van Dyke Parks, but he and Laurie brought out the worst in eachother -- Parks contributing one of his generic "zipidee-doo-dah" orchestral arrangements to go with Anderson's wandering narrative on "Dark Angel." Terminally un-memorable. Then, FINALLY, things come to life on the last 4 or 5 cuts. For example, "Statue of Liberty" is a powerful meditation on a citizen's responsibility to speak out, made strong by a haunting melody, Ms. A.'s sorrowful violin, and subtle yet effective swashes of keyboard effects. If only the whole disc were made up of songs like those in the last third of the CD, this might have been a keeper."

Beautiful

08/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I couldn't disagree with the Amazon reviewer more. This is a beautiful sonically textured and highly intimate work that reveals a more personal side of Laurie Anderson. While there is still humor and social commentary to be found, the music and lyrics don't hide behind glib irony, as some of her other work has. However you'd like to categorize it, this is pure and emotional music. And her violin playing is gorgeous. This is an album that will continue to reveal its colors as time passes, and won't date itself from trendy production."

Narrative Prose

Jason Stein | San Diego, CA United States | 09/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Laurie Anderson's first proper cd since 1994's "Bright Red" continues the same half-spoken, half-sung stories she's been making since 1982's "Big Science". This time out the stories aren't as interesting, and the music doesn't grab you like her other efforts do. My bias in Anderson's catalogue is towards "Strange Angels" and "Bright Red". "Life On A String" seems somewhere between those other discs. This is not to say that this cd doesn't have its share of interesting tracks like "Slip Away", "Pieces And Parts", "The Island Where I Come From" and "One White Whale". Overall, it just felt like Laurie is sitting on the sidelines instead of being the innovator she usually is. However, any Laurie Anderson cd, including this one, is far more interesting than what's on the radio!"

Pulling Out All The Strings?

andyx | Seattle, WA United States | 08/31/2001

(2 out of 5 stars)

"
There's that adage, "you had to be there," and maybe that is why she chose to only use three songs from Moby Dick for Life on a String. Unfortunately, the other works are only pale imitations of her earlier stronger work on United States 1-4, Big Science, Mister Heartbreak, and The Ugly One With The Jewels. Sure, this is a more musical album, and I enjoy listening to the often-knocked-as-too-"pop" album, Strange Angels. It soars musically, where Life on a String just plucks around. Perhaps in her desire to keep us all guessing and always remain faithful to her avant guard roots, Laurie has simply strayed out of the familiar territory that I personally have enjoyed as a fan. Or perhaps she really has exhausted her themes and abilities. I doubt that, as the opening song from Moby still moves me after several listenings. There's more there, but it's not here on this disk. I hope we don't have to wait as long for another album from her, but on the other hand, if she needs time to recharge so she can put out a more interesting and musically interesting work, I can wait."

Will click with further listening

D. Nixon | Los Angeles, CA | 08/28/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Being serious fan of the artist since 1984, I hold all of her albums in revered esteem. What I forget, though, is that in almost all cases I was initially "disappointed" on the first couple listens. Mr. Heartbreak didn't have that hypnotic feel of Big Science. Strange Angels was too "pop" and not avante garde enough. Now that I have had time to digest these albums, I find that I still come back to them frequently and they are all "desert island discs". I still have reservations about much of Bright Red. I thought that the Eno pairing would be magical all the way through. The title song still blows me away, though. I think that Life On A String will be the same. The sound palette, which is very orchestral, is so lush and warm, in sharp contrast to the purposely alienating textures of her earlier work. Her voice would pull you in even as the background music was spare and neutral. Here, the music invites you in, and the difference in mood is noticeable. I really believe that in the years to come, I'll cherish One White Whale, Pieces and Parts, Slip Away, Washington Street, and many others on the album, as I do her previous material. I do agree that some of the lyrical originality that draws me to Laurie Anderson is a bit lacking here - I believe that Steven Wright coined the "it's a small world but I wouldn't want to paint it" line - but her rhyme in the text with "Wright" may be a subtle bow to him (or not..). Also, for a more rocking "I love your brain", try Frank Black. I've come to realize that Ms. Anderson is just ahead of me. I need to catch up, and that takes time. Once this album clicks in, as most all of hers do, I'll wear it out. We'll see how the songs stack up in concert (At the El Rey in LA on Sept. 9th)."

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	Laurie Anderson Life on a String Genres: Alternative Rock, Special Interest, Pop, Rock Track Listings (12) - Disc #1 One White Whale The Island Where I Come From Pieces And Parts Here With You Slip Away My Compensation Dark Angel Broken Washington Street Statue Of Liberty One Beautiful Evening Life On A String Japanese Version featuring a Bonus Track
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