Audio CD review:
Marianne Faithfull - Blazing Away

Marianne Faithfull - Blazing Away

Band: Marianne Faithfull Title: Blazing Away Rating: Release Date: 21 March, 1990 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Les Prisons Du Roy 2: Strange Weather 3: Guilt 4: Working Class Hero 5: Sister Morphine 6: As Tears Go By 7: Why'd Ya Do It? 8: When I Find My Life 9: Ballad Of Lucy Jordan 10: Times Square 11: Blazing Away 12: She Moved Through The Fair 13: Broken English

Customer Reviews Blown Away by Blazing Away She's still singing today, but you'd never call her work "pretty" anymore; she's all grown up now, and her songs are rougher, tougher, and punkier: even "As Tears Go By," (it's worth getting her first "Greatest Hits" just to hear how she sounded then. Marianne Faithfull has had a remarkably long singing career; the British songster started out in the 1960's as the pretty girlfriend of Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, and in 1964 delivered a pretty, tinkling version of "As Tears Go By," a song written for her by Jagger and Keith Richards, also of The Stones. ) And she acts, too. Faithfull, daughter of an Austrian mother of the lesser nobility, has been around, and has had her problems with drink and drugs (if she's a favorite of yours, as of mine, you might want to look up her autobiography). But she's going stronger than ever now, specializing in art rock, although people tell me she lacks, or at any rate lacked, the breath control of a trained singer: this might have a negative impact on the further length of her career. But she's been doing very strong work for quite a while now. Her albums "Strange Weather" and "Broken English" were great critical favorites. She gives several strongly supported concerts in New York every year. In the interests of full disclosure, I've gone to quite a few myself: her voice is like nobody else's, and her backing group has an edgy punk sound you don't find every day. So, I've been to her show of Kurt Weill works at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (another record worth getting. ) And I was there, at Saint Anne's Church, Brooklyn Heights, when she and her band recorded "Blazing Away. " Truthfully, I was just blown away. "Sister Morphine," another song by Jagger, Richards -- and Faithfull-- is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," by Shel Silverstein, blows a lot of people away. She's got "Strange Weather," "Guilt," John Lennon's "Working Class Hero," "Broken English," which she had a hand in writing herself; and the famously obscene "Why'd Ya Do It?" on here. She's also got an all-grown up "As Tears Go By" that sure doesn't tinkle anymore. Faithfull is one of the finest art rock singers now working, but you'd better appreciate art rock to appreciate her. And a further warning to the sensitive; she uses some language you may never have heard a woman using before, let alone on record. . J'Adore Curiosity piqued, I picked up "Blazing Away" at my local record shop. In 1990, as a naive young music fan, I read a rave review of a live album by the intriguingly-named Marianne Faithfull. What followed was intense - an hour of dark, moody music, sometime wistful, sometimes vicious, sung in a husky alto that seemed to define the term "chanteuse" to a college freshman with only the vaguest notion of what that meant. I became an immediate fan, and though I discovered her studio albums were fantastic, nothing matches the raw emotion poured forth in the suitably sombre, acoustics of St. Anne's Cathederal. The album wanders a bit in the second half, and though others on this site have raved about "Times Square," I feel the studio version is vastly superior. However, the incredible live renditions of "Guilt," "As Tears Go By," "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," and "Broken English" are without equal. It's also a pleasure to hear her versions of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" and Tom Waits' "Strange Weather. " However, my personal favorite track is the harrowing "Sister Morphine," which benefits from a masterful arrangement. And how delicious, after the blisteringly obscene rant "Why'd Ya Do It?," to hear dear Marianne sigh, "Ah, I feel better now. " Ten years on, still a delightful album, best enjoyed in the dark. Marianne is ever Faithfull Anne's Church in Brooklyn, NY, "Blazing Away" ranks as Marianne Faithfull's truest testament to who and what she is: a one-time media darling, presently a woman expressing her own feelings on her own terms. Recorded live in front of her adoring fans at St. The album opens with the dark, haunting "Les Prisons du Roi. " She follows it up with a slow, dark, and absorbing reading of "Strange Weather. " The album progresses through dark, slow ballads ("As Tears Go By") to angry rock ("Why'd Ya Do It?"). She does a splendid version of Lennon's "Working Class Hero. " The standout is the desolate tale of woe "Times Square. " It will absolutely give you chills. Following these excellent tracks is an a cappella reading of "She Moved Through the Fair. " And after that, the apocalypse: a pounding, driving "Broken English," the title track of her 1979 watershed. Through all of the changes in music and in the rock scene in general, Marianne Faithfull remains a force to be reckoned with. Her songwriting, her singing, and her lack of desire to "sell out" for the mainstream stardom she so richly deserves ensure that her voice and name will echo for generations to come. . You can see a complete list of all Marianne Faithfull discography, or go back to the Marianne Faithfull tabs