Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Covers Record for a Change. , 7 Jan 2009
It wasn't that long ago that the prospect of an album offering an eclectic selection of cover versions would have sounded quite enticing to me, particularly if some of the participants were known to me. However there has been such a deluge of such things in recent years(Joy Division in bossa nova style anyone? Anybody in hillbilly style, bluegrass, reggae etc) that I now approach such concepts with caution. However, when I heard that Alela Diane was the singer on this album I couldn't resist as I'm a keen admirer of her "Pirate's Gospel" record.
Alela Diane(last name Menig), is usually described as a folk musician(although she has, prior to this, only recorded her own songs) and is supported by instrumentalists Josh Klinghoffer, Woody Jackson, Joey Waronker, Leo Abrahams and Gus Seyffert who have, apparently, worked with everyone from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beck to Smashing Pumpkins and REM. Headless Heroes, is the name that she, dance auteur David Holmes, New York A&R "guru" Eddie Bezalel (who worked on Mark Ronson's Versions) and Primal Scream producer Hugo Nicholson have chosen for the venture.
The Silence of Love doesn't sound particularly folky to me and(thank goodness)doesn't try force any particular style on the songs chosen. The song selection is certainly interesting and I found it a plus point that I knew only one of the songs(`Just Like Honey')in its original form.
The album kicks of strongly, if quirkily, with Daniel Johnston's `True Love Will Find You in the End' but doesn't truly hit it's stride until the arrival of Jackson C. Frank's magnificent `Blues Run The Game'(so instantly lovable that you'll feel you know it even if you don't) with other standouts being Nick Cave's `Nobody's Baby Now'(unmistakably his) and Pamela Polland's `See My Love' (recorded by the impossibly obscure Gentle Soul)which provides a fittingly climactic finish to the album(like Dusty Springfield belting out a Martha Reeves song, if that makes any sense).
If I had to criticise the album it's that, at times it is a little too restrained and tasteful, lacking the spark and bite that a `proper' band might have brought to the proceedings('Just Like Honey', for example, didn't quite live up to my expectations).
So, perhaps, not quite a perfect record but the excellent tracks more than make up for the merely good, with plenty to enjoy for both fans of the artist and soon-to-be-converts alike: recommended.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly Great!, 5 Oct 2008
never been a fan of 'covers' records.. but i really rate this one.
firstly the choice of songs.. apart from a few i have never heard of the artists let alone the actual songs... some really great songs from the 60's (Vashti Bunyan,Linda Perhacs),70's (Gentle Soul, Philamore Lincoln?) and more recent (Jesus & Mary Chain,I am Kloot) plus Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Daniel Johnston..
the album as a whole feels like a real album by a real band.. the musicianship is solid and beautifully played.. the singer is Alela Diane.. what a voice -i know her Pirates Gospel album.. but she uses her voice so differently here..especially on the closing 'See my Love' where she hits falsetto after falsetto.. breathtaking!
the production is faultless.
it's a real find and i'm sure people will love this..if you want to impress someone ..or buy someone special a present.. this is perfect
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3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Vague Cover Version Rendered Bare, 16 Dec 2008
One thing is certain - You can never have enough Francoise Hardy. You just can't. The whole Nouvelle Vague movement is well aware that even the most jagged and simple of songs can benefit from having a Gallic sheen smeared upon it, and that's what Headless Heroes do... "smear" songs with atmospherics that send them into the Stratosphere.
It wasn't so long ago that the Cover Version was a much derided artform, subjected to albums of comedy "Punk" versions of classics and photo-duplicate moneymaking schemes - That was until Mark Ronson and his "Version" arrived on the radiowaves and reminded people that just what a song needs is sophistication. Eddie Bezalel (who was an A&R man for the original Ronson project) takes matters into his own hands here and with producers David Holmes / Hugo Nicholson and vocalist Alela Diane creates something of beauty here. Derivative beauty perhaps, but beauty all the same.
The main con amongst all these superlative pros is the fact that the album feels sometimes like a hastily-recorded hodgepodge, almost as if all the individuals involved had to get somewhere, like, you know, REALLY fast. The fact that Alela Diane was discovered on MySpace may deliver a few guffaws amongst those who abhor the modern artistic musical vision, but you know, you can only go so far. It's worth more than a listen, it's actually worth your money. And can you say that about most of Mark Ronson's follow-ups? I say no.
On a rainy Winter's day with chunky sweater ensemble, nothing else quite cuts it.
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