Pros: All over the place... can't recommend it to others, but I still dig it.
Cons: Seems somewhat archaic sounding in parts, quite the change from In Exile Deo, rather short
The Bottom Line: If you're a fan, you'll likely enjoy this album. If you're not, this likely won't make you one. Great singles, but Made in China fails as a whole.
rader6795's Full Review: Made in China by Juliana Hatfield
At the tale end of 2004 and through early 2005, Juliana Hatfield did the unthinkable. Two singles from her personal archives were release every week and available for download on her webpage.
However, rather than force secure downloads to ensure she got real paid, Juliana Hatfield ran the honor system with a link to Paypal. Should you feel the need to pay for what you downloaded, do so. If you're the pillaging pirate type, then run off with the loot.
Considering the number of greedy people who, frankly, couldn't care less about an artist's well-being, it was risky. Surely she could bank with another album like Gold Stars 1992-2002: Juliana Hatfield Collection or even a box set along the lines of Nirvana: With the Lights Out. It was an experiment, she said, and one wonders if she received the results she wanted.
Now, though, it looks as though Juliana Hatfield isn't through experimenting. Her latest album, Made in China, is the first release on her Ye Olde Records label.
This is, at its core, Juliana Hatfield making the music she wants to make. Free from the constraints and demands of a label, Juliana Hatfield is allowed to experiment and continue to plod away in the niche she's found herself deep within since the late 90's.
What the outcome of Made in China is, it seems, is a mess of heavy guitar licks and distortion that surely would have made her famous during the grunge movement. Instead, more than a decade after the fact, it just seems like she's blindly groping through an unfamiliar room in the darkness looking for the light.
Mind you, it doesn't start that way. In fact, as I sit listening to it, I assure you there are moments of greatness to be found. The album switches between pretty Beautiful Creature songs and ugly, harsh Total System Failure songs fairly regularly. However, you can only jump tracks so many times before the law of averages causes a derail. And, at some point, the album does derail.
This album is raw, perhaps underproduced. Coming straight off of In Exile Deo, the most heavily produced album and, dare I say, prettiest, this is a stark contrast. I know this was Miss Hatfield's intention, what with her artistic freedom sitting soundly in her lap for the first time in years, but I find myself missing the snazzy sound of her last effort.
I don't know if Miss Hatfield just couldn't make up her mind when she was crafting Made in China or if she was aiming for musical chaos a la Gibby Haynes, but it doesn't matter either way. Seperately, the tracks do come together rather well ("Going Blonde," "Hole in the Sky," and "Digital Penetration" quickly spring to mind.) and I'll surely not skip a track when it pops up on my iPod. As an album, though, it just doesn't work. The songs have no cohesive properties other than the minimalist production that went into the entire ordeal.
I love Juliana Hatfield, so much so that I named my daughter after her. However, had this album been my first exposure to Miss Hatfield, I imagine I would have given my daughter a different name.
I'm glad Juliana Hatfield has the freedom to make music the way she wants to make music and I'll be the first in line (or queue, should she sell another album through her website) when her next effort drops. With all the negative things I've said about Made in China, I'd be lying if I said I didn't still like it, warts and all.
As stated before, if you don't mind the lack of cohesion, this album's really not bad. Actually, it's rather good. With the increasing number of people who listen to their music on an MP3 players with storage in excess of ten thousand songs, I can't imagine a reason not to include the twelve tracks that were Made in China.
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