I wish Fiona Apple's record label would just release her stuff

this review is from her When the Pawn... effort

the reviewer nailed it

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Fiona Apples: When the Pawn Hits. . . (Epic)
by Sam Seiler

Go ahead. Call Fiona Apple what you will, but never use the word “afraid”. She is not afraid to voice her opinion. She’s not afraid to examine her life in song, and she was not afraid to let new, fresh sounds into her songs. She wasn’t even afraid to one-up Mark Eitzel when naming those songs collectively. But most importantly, she was unafraid to allow When the Pawn Hits to be limited only by her artistry and imagination. Where, say, Jewel, has reached lofty heights with the masses as a unidirectional sled dog, Apple has forsaken the packed-down trail of the musical Iditarod for virgin snows in some unknown wooded enclave. And that has made all the difference.

Take, for example, “The Way Things Are.” What began as a predominantly quiet triumph of rationalized will over desolation worked pretty well in its skeletal form. It would have been familiarly “Fiona” enough to be a solid, middle of the pack song on the album. Then Apple allowed Tom Biller to a lay a simple shot-of-chords guitar track on top and it became When the Pawn Hits' best piece. Transitively, it elevated the entire album. Another great move was displaying Matt Chamberlain’s drumming more prominently—and allowing him respectable latitude (check the jazzy backbone he sets in place for “Paper Bag” and “Get Gone”). It appears Apple had the foresight--and, more importantly, the modesty—to avoid the sophomore jinx by inviting musical ecumenity into the recording studio. A minor miracle for a twenty-two year old.

A miracle, that is, unless Fiona Apple is generally mature beyond her earthly years. Listen closely to When the Pawn Hits, and it becomes obvious that this is the case. The veil of maturity is no illusion; Apple is quickly becoming one of the best—if not the singular—songwriters of her generation. This is true in both her unique take on ordinary subject matter and the deft manner in which she expresses her perspectives. The pangs of loss are the focus of “Paper Bag”: “Hunger hurts, but starving works/When it costs too much to love.”

Apple’s skillful fragility shines on “Love Ridden” as she examines the steps of love’s decline, observing, “No, not ‘baby’ anymore—if I need you/I’ll just use your simple name/Only kisses on the cheek from now on/And in a little while, we'll only have to wave.” So many times on this album, she walks that sad line between objective intellectual and broken-hearted lover. This theme begins early and often harbors more than a hint of compunction; on the first track, “On the Bound,” she sings, “It’s true, I do imbue my blue unto myself/I make it bitter.” Her portrayal of this message usually escapes connotations of pity and, somehow, plays more like someone approaching self-actualization. Seriously intriguing stuff, but don’t try this at home.

Now, people in the communication disciplines will tell you that the medium is the message. This concept certainly applies to music, and that proves greatly beneficial to When the Pawn Hits. Apple’s vocal track efficiently runs the gamut from the gravelly howl (“On the Bound” and “Limp”) to the jazzy (“Paper Bag”) to the crooning balladeer (“Love Ridden” and “I Know”). And it all works for a reason so simple that most frontperson-wannabies miss it: the emotions behind the words seem sincere. Believe it or not, that stuff will work at home.

When the Pawn Hits’ lesson, though not as coarsely stated, is essentially the same one Apple took so much shit for at the MTV awards a few years ago: Go and do what feels right, even if it’s not immediately easy on your heart and mind. This album is airtight evidence that honest, diligent means increase the likelihood of producing finely crafted ends. Just imagine what Fiona Apple will make us so plainly realize after she’s turned, say, twenty-four.

© 1999 CD Consumer

I heard she's still writing the title for her next album. Each disc will come with a telephone book-sized liner booklet.

see...

On a more serious note, the second album was too self-indulgent for my tastes, although I own and like Tidal.

I dig both & I'll be buying the 3rd

CalhounSq said:

Same here!

"A Mistake" is classic.

VoicesCarry said:

"Get Gone" and "Limp" are my favorites from the cd. Actually I like the whole cd....but out of the two cds...I choose Tidal. I really like her version of "Across the Universe" too.

Thunderbird said:

Mistake, Get Gone & Limp are my faves on the last one