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Michelle Shocked - Kind Hearted Woman Audio CD

A fair review of the Michelle Shocked "Kind Hearted Woman" 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 Michelle Shocked reviews here, or go back to the Michelle Shocked tabs.

Michelle Shocked Band: Michelle Shocked
Title: Kind Hearted Woman
Rating:
Release Date: 1996-10-15
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Stillborn 2: Homestead 3: Winter Wheat 4: Cold Comfort 5: Eddie 6: Child Like Grace 7: Fever Breaks 8: Silver Spoon 9: Hard Way 10: No Sign of Rain

dire
By contrast, this album is a god-botherers dirge. I really liked her 1st three albums, mainly for their funny streak. As it says on the 1st inside page "All Glory to God!". Had it been on the cover, I might have had the good sense to save some money.


Michelle's Dustbowl Ballads
These are tales of ordinary folk, some hard, some humorous, some sad and some hopeful. In the fashion of Guthrie or early Dylan, this is the authentic folk music. Michelle Shocked is one of the few truly gifted lyricists in popular music. She writes with an uncommon clarity and poignancy. I did find this album difficult at first. The unsettling wail on 'Stillborn' is confronting but palpably represents the anguish of one woman bringing a child into the world only to find the spirit already departed. My entry point into this world was the intensely moving 'A Child like Grace', where a lilting hypnotic melody carries the tragic tale on the slightest breeze while a shadow of illness and death is cast over the lives of the family who helplessly witness their little girl slipping away. The narrator is left to declare; Now it's a grave mistake/God in his wisdom makes/What does he care?/He fashioned us from clay. The short story form is exceptionally well represented in this powerful collection of songs. These are vignettes recalling a time when life in rural farming communities meant hardship, loneliness, isolation and deprivation. Michelle Shocked evokes scenes from the Great Depression era as well as her adolescent years in East Texas. My favourite song (because like so many, I can relate its theme of misspent youth) is 'The Hard Way'. That song should have been heard over the airwaves everywhere. An instantly appealing tune that was never realistically going to find much of an audience given the legal impasse with her record company. The Production by Bones Howe is marvellous -uncluttered and perfectly balanced. I can't imagine anyone doing it better.

Footnote: Ms Shocked has re-released Kind Hearted Woman through her own label now that she has finally won the rights to her own songs. She has also released some new material. 'Deep natural' and 'Don't ask, Don't tell' are two that I can highly recommend . All her re-releases are remastered and include a generous swag of alternate versions and rarities. .


Desert Island Material
Her CDs always cover a wide range of styles and the music has just become a part of my life. I've been a Michelle Shocked fan for years. I laugh or cry or just feel good hearing her voice. Kind Hearted Woman was something of a departure in that it was way more intense than her previous works which can include very intense songs mixed with more upbeat stuff. This CD is just plain intense on the emotional scale. One reviewer referred to the "wailing" on the first track as being too much, but I disagree. On first listen, maybe, but it's an essential part of the album and helps set the theme for the album. And if you live in Texas, or any place where the crickets and cicadas really cut loose on a hot summer's day, then it makes more sense.

This is one of those works that is worth far more than the sum of the parts. I would be severely depressed if I had to go to a desert island with only ONE of her CDs, but this would be the one I'd take. And while it's so serious with some depressing themes, she managed to throw in the obligatory references to hobos and railroads. I smile, even though it's not a cheerful song.

If you like upbeat music, go with something like Captain Swing or Short Sharp Shocked. But if you don't mind going into a musical dark crevice, then you can't beat this gem!
.


not her best, but good
The sound is different from both Deep Natural and Short Sharp Shocked. It took me a couple of times listening to this album to really be able to enjoy it. This isn't to say that the sound is bad, but it was different enough to require several spins on my cd player. The more I listen to this album, though, the more I like it. I'm not quite sure how to describe the music, even compared to her other work, but Michelle Shocked is one of the best musicians I've heard. The only track that I can't really listen to is the first one, "Stillborn". The wailing is too much for me. I haven't gotten into the story behind the song, but this may be a song that'll grow on me in a few years (much like "Professional Widow" by Tori Amos did). The rest of the album is quite solid and includes the gem "A Child Like Grace".


interesting but falls short
This album thought tends to be much darker than her early work. I really like Michelle Shocked and loved the previous albums, excluding "The Campfire Tapes" which I have yet to hear. On the previous albums there was a balance of happy and sad songs, but this one is definitely on the sad side through and through.


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

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