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Tracy Chapman - Telling Stories Audio CD

A fair review of the Tracy Chapman "Telling Stories" 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.

Tracy Chapman Band: Tracy Chapman
Title: Telling Stories
Rating:
Release Date: 2000-02-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Telling Stories 2: Less Than Strangers 3: Speak The Word 4: It's Ok 5: Wedding Song 6: Unsung Psalm 7: Nothing Yet 8: Paper And Ink 9: Devotion 10: The Only One 11: First Try

Solid & Consistent
The Only One is a great story of lament & sadness. From beginning to end, each & every song has a good flow to it. The music & lyrics on the entire album blend together effortlessly. She should have put out a few more music videos for this album. Her songwriting is as good as it's ever been.


The Only One
With 'Telling Stories' Tracy Chapman once again deals with difficult issues in simple terms. Too often artists are chided for changing without justification. From the lovelorn and rueful 'Less Than Strangers' to the hopeful but apprehensive 'Devotion' Tracy tackles love and life on, what is for her, new ground. Emmylou Harris's back-up vocals on 'The Only One' help to provide a soulful mix to a sad song. The often bitter lyrics in 'Nothing Yet' ("from forty acres to a forty-ounce/it don't seem fair") perfectly contrast the simple purity of 'Wedding Song' ("for you I'd don a veil"). Perhaps the biggest gem on the album, however, is the title track, 'Telling Stories. ' This beautiful-but-biting song strikes back at the people who say Chapman should go back to the ways of her earlier album. In 'Telling Stories,' Chapman does return to the soulful ways of her earlier albums; however, it is on her own terms. Her stunning vocal arrangements and more positive lyrics show that while she has returned to an older style, she is not trying to reclaim past glory. On the contrary, it seems more likely it seems that she is simply retracing to pick up the ideas she missed.


No stories to tell
No doubt about that. Tracy Chapman can certainly sing in a unique, emotional way.

The trouble is, with the album »Telling Stories«, that she has nothing new to contribute. She has become more joyful, less worrying, and maybe that's why her music doesn't really work out anymore. It doesn't catch. It bores.

Pity.

Buy her beautiful - but sad - debut album instead of »Telling Stories«. 'Cause Tracy Chapman has no stories to tell anymore.


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.

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