Like I Said: Songs 1990-91 (CD - 1994)

Personnel: Ani DiFranco (vocals, acoustic & steel guitar, hammered dulcimer, percussion); Andy Stochansky (vocals, drums, percussion); Ahmed Hassan (vocals, didjeridoo, percussion); Michael Miskuly (violin); Brian Eckenrode (cello, bagpipes); Scot Fisher (accordion, piano).

LIKE I SAID (SONGS 1990-91) includes songs taken from the albums ANI DIFRANCO and NOT SO SOFT.

Personnel: Ani DiFranco (guitar).

Photographers: Scot Fisher; Karen Robinson.

Like I Said: Songs 1990-91 contains reworked and re-recorded versions of 15 songs from Ani DiFranco's first two albums. These new arrangements are fleshed out with a variety of folk instruments, ranging from violin to dulcimer. By and large, these arrangements are more impressive than the originals, adding depth to songs that sounded spare in their original incarnations. Certainly, these distinctions will only be of note to hardcore fans who own the original albums, but for latter-day fans curious about her earlier work, this is a good way to sample the songs, if not the actual recordings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The subtitle of 1993's LIKE I SAID is telling. These 15 songs all appeared on Ani DiFranco's first two albums, ANI DIFRANCO and NOT SO SOFT, but LIKE I SAID is not a compilation. It's an audacious re-recording, showcasing the astonishing musical and vocal growth DiFranco had undergone in the intervening two or three years.

DiFranco adds slide guitar and hammered dulcimer to her battery of instruments and is aided by stalwart drummer Andy Stochansky, didjeridoo player Ahmed Hassan, violinist Michael Miskuly, cellist/bagpiper Brian Eckenrode, and accordionist/pianist Scot Fisher. As a result, the songs on LIKE I SAID are less mere reworks than entirely new interpretations. The arrangements add increased depth to what had been voice-and-guitar solo pieces- without obscuring DiFranco's remarkable lyrical grace and gravity. Though the two original albums are magnificent, LIKE I SAID is simply essential. minimize