LOI Album Thoughts/Opinions

[Jessel]

right now my favorites listed in order of which songs i like most.

-forgiveness
-rivers of love
-awakenings
-heartbreak

[lonliness]

Sarah's new album is amazing...

Front Stage had posted a rave review on LOI, please read and leave a positive comment to support the review, an Sarah .

http://front-stage.blogspot.com/2010/06 ... music.html

[Magellan]

So I've listened to it several more times now, and my earlier assessment still holds (for me).
But I thought I'd give specific ratings.

Warning - I'm a hard, slightly analytical marker Some songs just fill you up, make you shiver, cry, or just plain blow your mind. I get that from "Pearls Dream" by Bat For Lashes, or "Cosmic Love" by Florence and the Machine. But nothing on LOI quite does that for me (and believe me, I didn't approach it cynically, am always looking/wishing/waiting for those kinds of truly mind blowing songs). But despite the middling scores here, the news is not all bad. Overall I quite enjoyed the album.

Awakenings - 3.5/5
Interesting musically, with some evocative moments, but not much of a melody.

Illusions Of Bliss - 3.5/5
Plaintive and sweet, with some nice breaks and hooks.

Loving You Is Easy - 3/5
A cute and sunny toe-tapper that goes nowhere, but the riffs are immediate and likeable enough for use in a commercial.

Changes - 3/5
A sweet and inoffensive tune, but only leaves a featherweight impression.

Forgiveness - 3.5/5
Emotive and lyrically impressive ballad, with a nice melody and some very trademark Sarah styling.

Rivers Of Love - 3.5/5
A languid, bluesy ballad in which Sarah drawls "how long till you drown?" with only the vague sympathy you'd expect from someone who's been through a lot. It does little for me melody wise, but I can see the merit in her craft.

Love Come - 4/5
Evocative and dark, and peppered with cold electronics. Some gorgeous chord shifts. Dreamy, atmospheric and complex around a thin melody, but it's still vintage Sarah.

Out Of Tune - 3.5/5
Starts with a little percussive pattern + piano that recalls Peter Gabriel circa "I Grieve". The chorus is fairly pedestrian, but the break from chorus back into verse is gold.

Heartbreak - 2.5/5
- Inoffensive middle-of-the-road number that could have come from a lot of people. Almost painfully conventional once it gets into the guitar solo.

Bring On The Wonder - 3.5/5
- Stripped back, layered vocals that recall "Song For A Winter's Night"'s cold atmosphere. A great way to end the album, though I wish it could have continued longer and perhaps gone a bit epic (I'm thinking "Gold Dust" at the end of Tori's Scarlett's Walk album, which was superb). Still, nice ending.

Just my opinion though, so ignore all this if you disagree completely (as I'm sure many of you do! - and that's ok)

On the plus side, if I was going to rate every song based purely on how hot she looks in the sleeve notes, it would be 5/5 across the board (Still love you Sarah! Despite giving one of your songs a 2.5!! Call me sometime babe )

Rob.
(who doesn't expect a call)

[OzFumbler]

I really loved "Love Come" as well - Sarah's voice and electronica go perfectly - this
song reminds me a little of Sneaker Pimps or Massive Attack.
"Don't Give Up On Us" sounds like a John Mayer song to me with a female lead singer
but I love John's stuff too (please John and Sarah make a record together!!)

[Miguel]

Heartbreak is catchy and one of the best tracks there IMO, I hope it gets released as a single. It sounds good for radio and I think it will sound better after they mix it a bit.

Based on the songs they listed on the promo sticker placed on the wrapper (or case): Illusions of Bliss, Heartbreak and Forgiveness.. I have no doubt those will be the singles. Whatever songs they put on the promo sticker is usually an indication of the forthcoming singles. I remember the original one of Afterglow had Fallen, World On Fire, and Stupid and they turned out to be the singles.

While they listed 4 altogether (LYIE being the other), 1 of them might be a quiet release, like Push for Afterglow.

[Mooncrown]

First of all, thanks to everyone for being so welcoming to this newbie!!

I've listened a few times (didn't listen to anything except LYIE before 6/15) and wanted to give my 2 cents track-by track, so here goes:

Awakenings: Amazing!! I love how it's sweet one minute and then distorted and loud the next. Also love the lyrics to the very last verse. Great opening, hope she explores this sound further on the next release. 5/5

Illusions Of Bliss: This is a great catchy, sing-a-long song. I agree that it is not as impressive following Awakenings, but on its own it's really quite good. 4/5

Loving You Is Easy: There's something kinda sexy about her delivery on this one. Usually I like my Sarah served up dark and brooding but there's something about this song that makes me feel so happy-Find myself singing this one around the house a lot. 4/5

Changes: Didn't strike me at first and I agree with the comparisons to Drifting-has some of the same sounds. I like it a little better than when I first heard it and it's probably a notch above Drifting for me. 3.5/5

Forgiveness: Love this one! So sad and bitter and beautifully sung. This is what she does so well-simple, sad and haunting. Love the way it builds. 5/5

Rivers Of Love: This is supposed to be a love song to herself but it strikes me as being quite dark and I love that! For some reason during the chorus it sounds like a James Bond theme to me-not sure why. I love the way she sings "How long have you waited, how long til you drown"-so haunting! 4/5

Love Come: Another beautiful haunting song. I love the opening lines - so ethereal. The referece to Unchained Melody does annoy me though because I know she could have come up with a more original and equally as beautiful line. Doesn't ruin the song for me though fortunately. Love the electronic sounds throughout. 4.5/5

Out of Tune: On this one, I like the verses much more than the chorus. the chorus has grown on me though and I kinda like the contrast with the verses now. My favorite part though is before the last chorus when her voice is singing all different parts kinda "out of tune". That sounds amazing!! Wish more of the song had that. 3.5/5

Heartbreak: This is a cute song, but hasn't really grabbed me yet. Maybe it's a grower... 3/5

Don't Give Up on Us: I know it's old but I like it. The best part for me is the ending with the layered vocals. 4/5

U Want Me 2: This one is really so sad. I wish it had a bridge or took a twist or turn somewhere, but it is a solid song. 3/5

Bring On The Wonder: This one stopped me in my tracks-it's just breathtaking. I love all of the Sarah's singing at once - reminds me of Mercy. She just sounds so good on this one. I haven't heard the Susan Enan version so this was my first exposure to the song. It proves she doesn't need much more than her voice to make magic. 5/5

Love Come (Piano version)- Didn't think this one could get much better-simple and gorgeous. 5/5

As you can see, I'm quite happy with the album-great lyrics and beautiful vocals as always. It doesn't surpass Fumbling for me, but on its own it is great. It''s hard when an artist has a masterpiece like Fumbling not to compare the two. I think she's still making great music and she seems to be really excited about this album. Hopefully we won't have to wait 7 more years for the next one!!

[Jessel]

Rivers Of Love - 3.5/5
A languid, bluesy ballad in which Sarah drawls "how long till you drown?"...

I like that part very much.

[Miguel]

My favorite part though is before the last chorus when her voice is singing all different parts kinda "out of tune". That sounds amazing!! Wish more of the song had that.

I forgot to mention that before. I love that part as well. It was kind of unexpected and after that ended, the drums kicked in and back to chorus! It was fantastic... if the song was a little longer, it could have ended like that with the layered vocals.

I liked your review too

[chadwick]

there seems to be a lot of love for "awakenings" but it hasn't opened itself to me. it's still a bunch of noise with no clear definition. i need to give this one more attention because its the opener! there are a couple other songs in the same category... i'm hoping to make friends with them on my car ride home for father's day this weekend.

i watched the DVD for the first time last night and it was amazing. i heard the audio rips of the in-studio performances first and i liked them (i always love just sarah and the piano) but when i saw her perform them, it brought it to a completely new level... she was really feeling those songs and it made the viewing experience more fulfilling. i'm really glad we received a DVD of this quality... most DVDs in these deluxe packages are so lacking.

another thing i noticed while watching the DVD, and tori fans will appreciate this, is that sarah was playing a Bosendorfer.

after i watched the acoustic performance of "love come" i had to re-watch the sarah DVD, "a life in music" that was released sometime after "afterglow" and the piano solo that plays over the segment where she talks about growing up and her parents is what i believe to be the early beginnings of "love come." i always enjoyed that piano solo and was curious to why it was never released in some form.

[Mooncrown]

My favorite part though is before the last chorus when her voice is singing all different parts kinda "out of tune". That sounds amazing!! Wish more of the song had that.

I forgot to mention that before. I love that part as well. It was kind of unexpected and after that ended, the drums kicked in and back to chorus! It was fantastic... if the song was a little longer, it could have ended like that with the layered vocals.

I liked your review too

Thanks Miguel! I'm still trying to figure of what's going on during that part. It almost sounds like the record's playing backwards or something.