O Brother, Where Art The Music?
Written: Aug 06 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Delicate, Volcano, and Older Chests
Cons: Pretentious, monotonous, directionless, and lacking creative verve
The Bottom Line: Despite the critical acclaim, Damien Rice's debut O is not brilliant, not evocative, not engaging, nor worth buying. Three AMAZING songs, but seven highly forgettable ones.
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| lambchops's Full Review: O by Damien Rice |
Consider me unimpressed. After reading time and time again about the merits of Damien Rice’s debut album, I took it upon myself to buy it--full price, mind you. That was months ago, and still I cannot completely understand or concur with the appeal. Rice does little for me; heck I’ve heard similar and better music from other modern singer-songwriters (Rufus Wainwright and Grant-Lee Phillips). In the end, his 2003 debut O doesn’t really offend me and it serves well as languid and unobtrusive sleepy-time material. Unfortunately, those characteristics don’t amount of “genius” or “classic” or “outstanding” in any way, shape, or form.
Hailing from Ireland, Rice made a major impact with O pretty much across the board. His attention to melody, stark instrumentation, and modest styling lend themselves well to the whole contemporary folk slant of his songs. However he has one major fault--his songs are annoying in their monotony. If you’ve heard one Damien Rice song you’ve pretty much heard them all. This isn’t to say that other tracks might not have merit, but the fact remains that they are all mostly equal in pace, emotion, and instrumentation save for the outrageous self-importance of Eskimo and Amie. If you’re looking for music to fade into the background then O works wonderfully. If you’re looking for something to hold your interest or keep you from falling asleep while driving O is not an option.
I don’t mean to completely discount Rice’s talent. He shines brilliantly on Older Chests in particular--a song so good in fact that it could obscure the many problems apparent throughout much of the rest of the album. A lovely, memorable melody is threaded with true emotion, beautiful acoustic guitars, and Lisa Hannigan’s breathy voice. It is my favorite song of the entire album. The lyrics are perfectly written and seamlessly executed:
Like time, time, there's always time
On my mind
So pass me by, I'll be fine
Just give me time,
Time, there's always time
On my mind
Pass me by, I'll be fine
Just give me time
There are a whole host of songs I do not like. The Blower’s Daughter, Cannonball, Amie, Cheers Darlin’, Cold Water, I Remember, and of course Eskimo all are painfully lacking in staying power. Eskimo and Amie are the worst of the lot. Rice seems to think himself something special, maybe even revolutionary. They are overly large songs. He could have done things much simpler, and I think had he they would be less pretentious. This built-in unintentional goofiness is what I really dislike about these two tracks. Orchestral strings paired with his voice and (dear god) supporting operatic vocals do not work well in these cases. The other five songs I’ve mentioned are just merely forgettable.
That leaves listeners with but three songs. I’ve already spoken to the outstanding quality of Older Chests. Also impressive are Delicate and Volcano. Both, without question, songs of the highest caliber. They do listeners a great disservice in opening the otherwise generally crappy O. Even I was bamboozled at first into thinking that Rice’s debut was incredible on the merits (like I said AT FIRST) of these two songs and Older Chests. Delicate is a modest, mildly alt-country offering. Even now after dozens of listeners, I am taken aback by the sheer beauty of Rice’s voice paired with the acoustic instruments and the violin. As the song builds to the glorious conclusion, it is hard to believe that so much of O is something less than perfect. But it is. Volcano is slightly different. It has a certain groove, funk, and zest that is markedly missing from the rest of the material.
I think many people also have been tricked into thinking O is something special. Indeed Older Chests, Delicate, and Volcano represent some of the best songs recorded by anybody in the last few years. Three songs do not make an album--regardless of inherent quality. Rice’s career has been bolstered by the critical hype machine. His music does not live up to my expectations nor to the standard set by so many others. Rice could definitely benefit from some tough love.
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Delicate
02. Volcano
03. The Blower’s Daughter
04. Cannonball
05. Older Chests
06. Amie
07. Cheers Darlin’
08. Cold Water
09. I Remember
10. Eskimo
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
lambchops
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 - Top 50 |
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Member: Shelly T.
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
Reviews written: 1172
Trusted by: 841 members
About Me:
Bye-bye CL hat. Hopefully I'll write some new reviews some time soon!
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