Not a Pretty Girl (CD - 1995)

Recorded at The Recording Complex, Buffalo, New York and 1:2:1, Toronto, Canada.

1995's NOT A PRETTY GIRL synthesizes elements of Ani DiFranco's six prior albums and is widely considered one of this wildly prolific Buffalo, New York-based singer/songwriter's finest efforts. Here, the folky acoustic starkness of ANI DIFRANCO and NOT SO SOFT meshes with songs that recall the detailed full-band arrangements of LIKE I SAID and OUT OF RANGE. DiFranco even remakes an earlier song, IMPERFECTLY's "Coming Up."

Lyrically, the album also refines topics previously covered. There's the abortion drama "Tiptoe," the sneering record-business diatribe "The Million You Never Made," and a passel of songs that touch on DiFranco's outspoken bisexuality (notably "Light of Some Kind"). The difference is that the pieces fit together more smoothly than before. The relative lack of jagged edges makes the powerful emotions of the songs that much more intense. NOT A PRETTY GIRL is a masterpiece of '90s folk-rock. minimize