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CD reviews

New Beginning

Tracy Chapman - New Beginning Audio CD

A fair review of the Tracy Chapman "New Beginning" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Tracy Chapman reviews here, or go back to the Tracy Chapman tabs.

Band: Tracy Chapman
Title: New Beginning
Rating:

Release Date: 1996-09-24
Media: Audio CD

Tracks:

A wonderful CD
I love her voice and the cd is a wonderful addition to any collection. This is one of my favorite cds by this singer.

new beginning
the cd was in excellent condition i gave it to a friend and he loved it.

Got Tracy?
Nevertheless, here is what I have to say for anyone who cares to read it. With so many other reviews of this album already posted, to post yet another may seem superfluous.

I purchased Ms. Chapman's debut album in 1988 whence it was first released, and may I say of that one that it was really hard for me to believe that it was a first effort. Very often one is able to conclude from a singer/song writer's first album that s/he is going to be around for a long, long time, and this was the conclusion I reached in 1988 about the young Ms. Chapman. Happily, I was correct. There are a goodly number of names that come to all our minds whence we think of the singer/song writer genre, and although Ms. Chapman falls under the heading of singer/song writer, I think there should be a subcategory entitled Legendary or Spectacular where her name and a couple of others may be listed. Ms. Chapman is obviously a highly intelligent woman who writes incredible lyrics and music, and her voice, well, all I can say is WOW. There is nothing less than genuine about everyhing she does.

I bought the "New Beginning" album in 1995, and I was also extremely impressed with the quality of the lyrics, the music, and once again, with Chapman's voice on this album as well. I cannot think of anyone else with her sound. Even whence you hear the voice all alone, you know right away you are hearing Chapman. As she was only 24 whence her first album was released, and as it was so stunningly good, I wondered what, if anything, might have changed seven years into her professional recording career, and I found that nothing had changed except the industry's ability to improve the sound quality of cds in general. As for Chapman, she is still writing profound, moving, intelligent, and truly articulate lyrics and beautiful, beautifully played music. If anything about Ms. Chapman has changed, perhaps it is that her voice has gotten even better, more confident, more sonorous, more rich, like a fine wine.

If I had to choose just one song from this album as my favorite, it would probably have to be "Smoke and Ashes. " It is crystal clear that whence Tracy gives her heart, she gives it all, but she is no one's fool, as is proven by this song which is a moving love song that leaves no doubt of the love she had for her lover but also tells so intelligently and beautifully of the lover's betrayal not so much of Tracy but of the lover's own self. The music is so great, too. It "rocks," as they say. At more than six and half minutes long, I have literally listened to this track repeat for well over an hour at a time, and I have never grown tired of it. A very close second is "The Promise. " It is so sensitive, so loving, so gentle, so hopeful, so Tracy. You will just have to hear for yourself.

Whence I listen to Ms. Chapman's music, I feel so proud of my own sex, and of being a human being, something that not many of today's female performers cause me to feel. I was curious to know more about Ms. Chapman, but as she is a quiet, shy, and very diginfied woman, there is not much information about her on the Internet. I did read that she began playing guitar and writing songs at eleven years of age. She was one of a very few students chosen each year to participate in "A Better Chance," program for gifted young persons of colour who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. This allowed her to attend a prepartory school in Connecticutt, after which she attended and graduated from Tufts University. By the time she graduated, she recorded her debut album, and the rest, as they say is history. Tufts has since given her an honourary doctrate in recognition of her achievement in music.

If you enjoy profoundly intelligent, as well as emotionally intelligent, and socially concious lyrics, if you enjoy beautiful, unique, clear, soulful, voices, and if you enjoy beautifully written and played guitar centric music, you should give Ms. Chapman's albums a listen. You have precious little to lose in doing so, and you have a lot to gain in my opinion. In Ms. Chapman, we have a true humanist, a gifted and dignified woman. I purchased her earliest albums on cassette, and I recently upgraded them to cd. It is a testiment to the value of an album, I think, whence one is willing to upgrade from LP to cassette, to cd, to whatever format will come next. So, what more can I tell you? Get Tracy.

Difficult to find music this good anymore
Heaven's Here on Earth, The Rape of the World, Tell it Like it is, Give me one Reason, are enough to possibly make this a five star album, but she nails down any idea of making it a four star album with the song "Remember the Tinman". Given that there are usually only 1-2 good tracks on an album anymore, this album has five excellent, high quality songs and the others are not even that annoying like you see a lot of times. This song that could be called "Who stole your heart" is very subtle and she gives the solution to this cosmic problem at the end of the song, with the "Remember the Tinman" not even mentioning "The Wizard of Oz"; Nope she's far to subtle for this. This and the popular hit "Give me one Reason" make this one of the better albums ever produced in my opinion. .

Repetition, repetition, repetition
After two or three songs like this, the album becomes incredibly boring. Just as in my title, Tracy's songs repeat the same word or phrase over and over again, ad infinitum. If she avoided this technique, her songs would be fine. I bought the album for one song "Give Me One Reason". I do like that song, but I wish I had saved some money and just purchased that one. .

You can see a complete list of all Tracy Chapman discography, or go back to the Tracy Chapman tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.