Personnel: Janis Ian (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, keyboards, acoustic bass, background vocals); Marc Moreau (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, electric bass, drums, programming); Willie Nelson, John Cowan (vocals); Philip Clark (acoustic & electric guitars, drums, background vocals); Jim Cregan (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Chet Atkins (guitar); Matt Rollings (piano); Willie Weeks (bass); Steve Gadd (drums); Davis Liker (loops).
Producers: Jim Cregan, Janie Ian, Marc Moreau.
Japanese edition includes three extra songs ("Roses for the Damned," "Tune That In," and "Mary's Eyes").
CD contains 3 bonus tracks.
It's been many years since she learned the truth "At Seventeen," but the singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist -- who tackles guitars, keyboards, upright bass, and even banjo here -- is still a sharp lyricist who makes her points amid a stylistically diverse playground. Thank God her lyrics don't run as ridiculously stream of consciousness as her liner notes, because part of the fun here is imagining her tongue firmly planted in her cheek as she expounds on various themes. She tackles social paranoia on the bluesy title track; gentle spirituality on "On the Other Side," a tribute to Memphis featuring Mark Twain imagery and Willie Nelson's harmony voca; the powerful pain of love on "When You Love Someone"; and even women's lib on "Plays Like a Girl." That last tune sounds like something you'd hear at the Lilith Fair, a proclamation that girls may be denied membership in certain boys' activities, but the musical boundaries are breaking down. There is a wistful sense of hope on many of the tunes ("The Last Comeback" brims with optimism), but she chooses to close the set with the throbbing, percussive "Murdering Stravinsky," which laments the way people disregard the importance of traditions as they forge ahead. A solid commentary on modern times with a lot of musical joys to be found. ~ Jonathan Widran
Ian's albums of the '90s got less and less spare as the decade progressed, and this one--her first of the new millennium--continues the trend; it actually sounds like somebody produced it with an ear to radio play. In any case, it's also one of her best efforts, full of lyrically sharp songs and interesting arrangments. Highlights include the title song, a wry modern talking blues about McCarthy-era political paranoia; "Play Like a Girl," that rarest of rarities on an Ian album, i.e. an out-and-out rocker; "Memphis," a genuinely poetic tribute to that city done as a duet with Willie Nelson; and "Boots Like Emmylou," a funny pseudo-country song in which Ian dreams of singing like Patsy Cline. minimize