Audio CD review:
Melissa Ferrick - Valentine Heartache

Melissa Ferrick - Valentine Heartache

Band: Melissa Ferrick Title: Valentine Heartache Rating: Release Date: 2001-05-08 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Welcome to My Life 2: One Night Stand 3: Who Knows Why 4: Crack the Mirror 5: Mercy 6: I Still Love You 7: To Feel Real 8: Break Up Song 9: Sky Above 10: Will You Be the One 11: E-Mail 12: Moses - Melissa Ferrick, Griffin, Patty

Unbelievable I would have to say that it is by far my favorite. I absolutely LOVE this CD. melissa is an excellent artist and i totally recommend her to everyone! I have seen many of her shows and you should too! She rocks! So look her up and see if she's in your area (rightonrecords. com) :) I know you will all be as addicted as i am. Yay!. The Least of a great artist. I caught her down in Northampton, Mass. I've been a fan of Melissa Ferrick for years now. while she was hyping Valentine Heartache. The news songs she played were excellent, I must say. Fast forward a little to when Valentine heartache was released. I had informed my local record store to get me a copy, even if they weren't ordering any for general sales. When I got the call that it was in, I ran down to the store, eager to tear the shrink wrap off. Bottom line: A disappointment. Even most of the songs I liked simply didn't stack up to the live versions I had heard. I have all her other records, so I know she can do much better. If you want to hear middle of the road, mainstream singer/songwriter-styled music, you probably won't be too bothered by Valentine Heartache. It is an okay album, but far from the level Melissa is capable of. She is much better represented by "Massive Blur" and "Freedom. " Two songs from this album can be found in superior live versions on "Skinnier and Faster Live. " The album isn't completely without Merit. I'm happy to have any version of "One Night Stand" and "Crack the mirror," and "Welcome To My Life," Along with "Will you be the one" are good, albeit not as good as the SaF live versions. In the past, I have used Melissa Ferrick to set the standards of excellence for her style of music, so it is painful for me to condemn this album to middleground status. however, she adds nothing new to the style, the genre, or really her repitoire with this album. With a new album soon to reach the public, I honestly hope we have better Ferrick on the horizons. Disappointing I think her past is catching up with her in this album and holding her back from her real talent as a songwriter. Since her album of EVERYTHING I NEED Melissa's music was getting better and better, and now it seems all of her talent went into something rather self-pitying. realized potential Plucked out of near-obscurity to open for Morissey, she was signed to a deal by Atlantic Records. Melissa Ferrick has had an unconventional career. While those albums have moments of brilliance, they are nothing compared to what Ferrick has been able to put out now that she has started her own label and taken control of her music. Valentine Heartache is a splendid album, a rare find. It is "intense" and "raw" and many other somewhat cliched critical terms. In my opinion, however, it is primarily the reaching of a benchmark. Finally Ferrick is behind the wheel and has made an "essential" album. While the prior release, "Freedom," is also excellent, "Valentine Heartache" sounds more comfortable, more at ease. It is a pleasure to listen to. It is true, Ferrick's lyrics tend to cover old ground: love, betrayal, change, growth. She sings about hurt in a way that many will dismiss. However, the combination of power and musicianship sets this album above her others, and on par with or above many of the artists she once shared a label with. She also plays the trumpet on this album (she went Berklee College of Music for her trumpetmanship) and experiments with slower tempos in more successful ways than on previous albums. There is no substitute for a Ferrick live show; she is *that good* live. However, look to either this album or "Skinnier-Faster-Live at the BPC" for an introduction to her music. Stand out tracks include the roaring "One Night Stand," the dedication of sorts to her fans "Welcome to my Life," the trumpet-filled treatise against earlier labels "E-mail," and "Mercy. ". An amazing CD You won't be disappointed. This is truly her best work to date, and that is saying a lot considering the remarkable talent that she reveals in previous albums. You can see a complete list of all Melissa Ferrick discography, or go back to the Melissa Ferrick tabs