- Audio CD (4 Mar 2002)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Hut Recordings/Virgin
- ASIN: B00005V90Q
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 120,068 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Product details |
Track Listings
| 1. Sex With Strangers (Explicit) (Feat. Beck ) |
| 2. The Pleasure Song |
| 3. Like Being Born |
| 4. I'm On Fire |
| 5. Wherever I Go |
| 6. Song For Nico |
| 7. Sliding Through Life On Charm |
| 8. Love & Money |
| 9. Nobody's Fault |
| 10. Kissin' Time |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Marianne Faithfull is--after 38 years in music--still more famous for whom she had sex with in the 1960s than for her talents as singer and lyricist. Her 11th album, Kissin' Time, uses her wise and angry knowledge of this unjust state of affairs, and comes up smelling not of roses, but stale perfume, spilt gin and sex. The result is her best-ever album. Comprising collaborations with the likes of Beck, Blur, Pulp, The Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan and The Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, Kissin' Time takes in everything from spiky electro-pop (Beck's superb "Sex with Strangers") to Tom Waits-lite (Blur's rather self-conscious title track), by way of "Song for Nico"'s no-punches-pulled ballad tribute to the late Velvet Underground chanteuse, and the magnificent "Sliding Through Life on Charm", where Pulp's rousing anthemics provide the perfect backdrop for Ms Faithfull's hilariously filthy autobiographical defiance. Faithfull's cracked cabaret growl and painfully personal lyrics remain an acquired taste. But, if you can deal with a middle-aged woman's sexual and emotional honesty, and the album's deliberately eclectic tunes and textures, then Kissin' Time is a classic of bold, bitter and elegantly profane pop art. --Garry Mulholland
Review
The annals of classic pop history have been recently sullied by what has come to be almost a genre in its own right - the Duets album: career-boosting "collaborations" wherein old-timers drag younger, hipper names into the studios to wildly variable and often excrutiatingly embarassing ends. Does anyone really believe that Tom Jones hangs out with the Stereophonics? And may the Lord forgive Lulu for her forthcoming addition to the oeuvre. The point being: if you're getting on, you shouldn't have to try and reinvent yourself for a younger audience. Marianne, the grande dame of louche can afford to wait for people to approach her - for the first lady of sixties excess makes the young 'uns look cool by association. This is why Kissin Time, is the embodiment of growing old gracefully. Ms Faithfull DOESN'T CARE whether she's graceful or not; just telling it as she sees it. So who wins the mix'n'match competition to be Marianne's new musical beau?
Let's deal with the stragglers first. Dave Stewart is, of course, neither young or particularly cool these days and "Song For Nico", while having all the correct lyrical and cultural tropes turns autobiography into a dull plod. Etienne Daho's contribution to "The Pleasure Song" is suitably smooth in that Gallic cheese way that's so de rigeur. Faithfull gave Jarvis Cocker the job of coming up with a song to match the title "Sliding Through Life On Charm" (a misplaced piece of modesty when you consider work such as Broken English). Alas, all Jarvis could give us is a Pulp-by-numbers remake of "Common People" with a few salty lyrics thrown in to give the effect of risqué soul searching. It fails to rise above its dated britpop roots.
So who are the winners? Billy Corgan's collaborations show a remarkable sensitivity previously lost in the sub-goth mire of the Smashing Pumpkins. "Wherever I Go" is a slice of glistening pop perfection - stately and deeply affecting. Beck, by Marianne's own admission a genius, comes a close second in the collaboration prize-fight. "Like Being Born" is a plaintive baroque masterpiece, drawing on the filigree folk arrangements that peppered his Mutations album. "Nobody's Fault" from the same album, pales next to the original. Where Beck ultimately fails is in making Ms F sound as though she's a guest on one of HIS albums. The single "Sex With Strangers", with its squelchy beat box mechanics, could easily be an outtake from Midnite Vultures.
Which leaves the winner; Blur! Their increasingly avant garde leanings have collided with La Faithfull's cracked vocal musings at a perfect juncture. Krautrock with dub overtones lends itself perfectly to the more obtuse lyrics of the title track. It makes you wish that the whole album had been done with them. Maybe we can hope that she'll repay the favour on their next outing. In the end Marianne Faithfull remains an icon, and far more than the mere über groupie/muse that the media portrays. --Chris Jones
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is the album that all die hard Marianne fans have waited the past decade for. Following on from 1999's melancholy yet infectious offering, Vagabond ways, Marianne shelves contemplative, earth mother for sassy rock goddess - welcome back Marianne.The list of collaborators reads like a who's who of rock royalty, old and new - Beck, Blur, Jarvis and Billy Corrigan to name but a few. The opening track (Sex with Strangers) sets the tone for the entire album, its Marianne sultry, laid back defaint and above all the girls speaking from experience....."Time for sex with someone else?" 'The Pleasure Song', 'I'm on Fire', and 'Wherever I go all provide an insight into what Marianne's made of but 'Song for Nico' marks a point where Marianne pulls out all the stops. Without doubt the Jarvis Cocker/Faithfull penned 'Sliding through Life on Charm' is one of the albums highlights if not the sassiest offering of her career. This is Disco 2000 sung by a woman who knows what she's talking about, and will have you tapping your toe before she even refers to her most intimate parts by a word that a woman of her age should not even understand! The next couple of tracks support everything before, but Marianne comes back with class in the form of 'Kissin' time' - Faithfull's conviction and Damon Albarn'raw talent fuse to provide a breath-taking conclusion. This album will astound fans and newcomers alike from the opening line of the first track to the last note of the last it is amazing that a woman with so much real talent just keeps oozing more.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
One of the things lacking in most electronica, is personality, and that is a quality Ms. Faithfull has in abundance. Even though there were several different musicians involved, the CD has a cohesiveness. This disc is VERY modern sounding, but I think this will stand up very nicely with past glories, Broken English, Strange Weather, and A Perfect Stranger. Highly reccomended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The amazing list of collaborators on this album drew me to buying it as I wasn't too familiar with any other Faithfull songs except "Broken English". The input from Beck, Dave Stewart and Blur gives the album a great deal of musical authority and depth, but each of the songs is very careful not to swamp the overall 'theme' of the album, Marianne's retrospective and bitter-sweet lyrics. The album hangs together very well, it's surprisingly coherent considering it has had so many different producers involved.
My main problem with it though is that it is too introspective, in my opinion. The Jarvis Cocker co-write "...Charm" is pretty much the only even vaguely upbeat track on the album, the rest of the songs are all ballady. Not that I've got anything against a good ballad, mind you, but in my generalising opinion the best albums are a balance of the up and the down. And this is too down. A matter of taste, of course, but something to bear in mind if you're buying this because you're a fan of Blur, Pulp, etc., whose albums are much more balanced in that way than this one is.
My main problem with it though is that it is too introspective, in my opinion. The Jarvis Cocker co-write "...Charm" is pretty much the only even vaguely upbeat track on the album, the rest of the songs are all ballady. Not that I've got anything against a good ballad, mind you, but in my generalising opinion the best albums are a balance of the up and the down. And this is too down. A matter of taste, of course, but something to bear in mind if you're buying this because you're a fan of Blur, Pulp, etc., whose albums are much more balanced in that way than this one is.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Interesting but not particularly memorable
Marianne Faithfull has always been expert at staying ahead of the times, as with the seminal Broken English in 1979. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Pieter
where is the missing track?
I bought this CD a while back, It is well worth the purchase just for "Sliding Through Life On Charm" alone! Read more
Published on 4 Dec 2008 by J. Goodman
Varietyand humour
Marianne Faithfull has always been an expert at bouncing back from obscurity, as with the seminal Broken English in the early 1980s. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2006 by Pieter
Cutting edge
Marianne Faithfull has always been expert at staying ahead of the times, as with the seminal Broken English in 1979. Read more
Published on 9 April 2005 by Pieter
It grew on me
When I first heard this album I thought it sounded very alien and I wasn't sure I liked it, but on the second or third listen I was won over by the quality of the writing and... Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2003
At the cutting edge of the time
Marianne has always been an expert at bouncing back from obscurity, as with the legendary Broken English in the early 1980s. Read more
Published on 19 July 2002 by Pieter
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
