Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
12 years after Blake Babies. . ., 1 Jun 2004
As a fan of Juliana Hatfield, I was eager to see what her first solo album in four years, after projects with the Blake Baies and Some Girls,would be like.Juliana sounds a lot more confidant with herself and her music than she did on earlier albums, like "Hey Babe" and her voice has significently matured compared to her high, girlish alto in Blake Babies. As usual, her song writing is excellent and she is using more piano than before, sounding a bit less rock and a bit more adult, but her lyric subject is pretty standard compared to the diverse,witty and imaginitive lyrics and song tittles on other records like "Become what you are". Stand out tracks are the rousing opening "Get in Line", "Dirty Dog" (on which Juliana hilariously barks like a dog"), "It should have been you" with the brilliant lyrics 'he's got no soul, but he's a rock star' and the perfect faraway sounding ending "My Enemy".Fans of Hatfield will doubtlessly enjoy this album, if only just to see her musical progession, but to get a sense of Hatfield people who don't know her music would be advised to look into a classic Juliana record, like "Become what you are" or "Only Everything" first. This album sounds more produced and a the sound is a bit more commercialized than her earlier work and would probabbbly appeal to a wider market, but Juliana has done some spectacular things over her sixteen year career in music and this album shows growth and developement, and Juliana is definitely better than other artists of her genre who are enjoying current commercial success.My only critism is than some parts seem slightly over produced, and the violins are more irrating than musical. It is nice to hear Juliana as more confidant and in controle, and less lonley and vulnerable sounding than on other albums, and she is definitely successful in making good music which will doubtlessly please her fans. She said that this was the first album where she felt she was equal to her music- and if this was her last she'd definitely be going out on a high note.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Get In Line!, 28 May 2005
Last year, Juliana recorded the album Feel It with Freda Love (Blake Babies) and Heidi Gluck (The Pieces) under the moniker, Some Girls. Expectations would have us believe that her first solo album in several years would probably sound along the same sort of lines as Some Girls; pop-meets-country, with wry nods towards traditional American rock. In actual fact, it's yet another dynamic turn for the girl of a thousand faces. Still reminding us she can rock, and still making us feel privy to her most personal demons, In Exile Deo is exactly the sound of Juliana at 36, as each album before was the sound of her age at the time. This can bring forward debates of maturity, immaturity, experience and longevity until the cows come home, put their feet up and read the paper. But for Juliana fans of old (and hopefully new) this is an album of satisfyingly good music for not only the listener, but also for the artist. Cleverly disguising a shade of new-found commercialism for just sounding a bit less angst-ridden, Juliana has made not just another album of great (if often mismatched songs) but also an album that could sit quite comfortably next to other respectable female solo artists of the last 10 years or so. Certain songs here could appeal to different fans of people such as Lisa Loeb, Kristen Hersh, and the infinitely awesome Aimee Mann; Artists like this prove that they have strength of character and silent confidence in their work that is astonishing and respectable in the highest degree. As for the feel of the music on In Exile Deo, it's definitely a cut and dry mixture of decent rock and fragile acoustic ballads, so as an actual formula it's not particularly original. What is original (or should I say intrinsic) is Juliana's ability to write every single lyric as if it was with her from the very beginning. Articulate, demur and exceptionally expressive songs are a rare article of trade in so much indie music these days. Juliana Hatfield has it in her blood.
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