Audio CD review:
Marianne Faithfull - 20th Century Blues

Marianne Faithfull - 20th Century Blues

Band: Marianne Faithfull Title: 20th Century Blues Rating: Release Date: 04 March, 1997 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Alabama Song 2: Want to Buy Some Illusions 3: Pirate Jenny 4: Salomon Song 5: Boulevard of Broken Dreams 6: Complainte de la Seine 7: Ballad of the Soldier's Wife 8: Intro 9: Mon Ami (My Friend) 10: Falling in Love Again 11: Mack the Knife 12: 20th Century Blues 13: Don't Forget Me 14: Surabaya Johnny 15: Outro: Street Singer's Farewell

Editoral Review Standards such as "Alabama Song," "Mack the Knife," "Pirate Jenny," and "The Ballad of the Soldier's Wife" sound fine, if a bit shopworn, making her version of a lesser-known Weill tune such as "Complainte de la Seine" stand out. A live album billed as "An Evening in the Weimar Republic," Faithfull marches confidently through the work of the German composer Kurt Weill. Actually, some of the album's better moments draw on composers and performers other than Weill. The title track and "Don't Forget Me" are satisfying nods to a pair of non-Teutonic gods, Noel Coward and Harry Nilsson. Two other songs, "Want to Buy Some Illusions" and "Falling in Love Again. " approximate Marlene Dietrich's Blue Angel cabaret to convincing effect. Overall, 20th Century Blues is no match for Faithfull's best albums, Broken English and Strange Weather, but Faithfull's fascination with the glamour and decadence of pre-World War II Berlin is more befitting a twilight performer than the barely-legal fantasies of her '60s/'70s peers, Mick Jagger and Steven Tyler. --Keith Moerer .. You can see a complete list of all Marianne Faithfull discography, or go back to the Marianne Faithfull tabs