 "I give 'Not a Pretty Girl' 6 *s!!! I have almost all of her CDs, & this one is..." | 2009-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A5N69PV43R2WO |
| I have been an Ani di Franco fan since I was 15-yrs-old, 11 yrs. ago. This is like her 6th or 7th CD I think, & it's one of her best. B/c she is on the verge of possibly becoming obsolete & not making it financially if she doesn't sell out. You can hear it in her songs, like, "The Million You Never Made". However, she stuck to her morals as a musician & held her ground. This CD marks her success finally. After she came out w/this CD she became much MUCH more well-known, & pretty much started 'making' it, in the business-sense of the word. It's a great CD,,,every single song is exquisite. Right after this, she came out with "Dilate" which is good, but this one is way more raw (like her 1st CDs-less produced by her), & the emotion is sooo powerful & outspoken against politics & social wrongdoings. Dilate is more into the wrongdoings of love unrequited, which is just as valid to an individual, however, I like this one more!!!:) She is one of my favorite idols b/c she is such a courageous individual who was & still is willing to risk not fitting in with society or any of its counterparts or institutions-a.k.a.:schools, the music industry, an average "job" for the rest of her life, etc. just wasn't enough to make Ani feel content or complete in any sense. Espec. since most of societies' systems upset Ani b/c they go against every moral standard that she holds for herself. So, she was a NYC server @ a diner, as well as a songwriter & a performer 4 her 2nd job (act.she'd prob.say that being a waitress came 2nd to being a songwriter/singer--& eventually solely a singer/songwriter/CEO/producer/anthropologist/etc). Talent scouts waited for her shows to end in order to try & convince Ani that she'd be better off selling her record label(Righteous Babe Records,Inc.) & sign on to a bigger production company for the simple fact that they promised to make her wealthy overnight. However, she'd have to sell her own company that she'd begun at just 18 yrs. old, and give up all the reasons that she'd started her own independent label to begin with. She was already ahead of the 'talent scouts' & 'music producers' trying to profit off of her magnificent gift to be able to passionately move her audience with her songs' lyrical content, which often carried controversial political & social undertones. There was something about her vigor, intellect, & positive spirit to make a universal change for the betterment of all humankind that people seemed to connect with through her songs immediately. Of course, Ani new that to keep her little company & her huge dreams in tact she'd have to follow a strategy she'd been using since the beginning, she'd have to start with herself & then with her local community. She shows this by using the "Think globally, act locally" mind-set. For instance, the way she launched her record label with just a few hundred dollars of loan money from friends that she'd met along the way as an aspiring & inspirational folk singer. She'd travel in her white bug from coffee shops to small venues all up & down the east coast, selling tapes out of her trunk, & most importantly getting her music heard & spread around the country. It is well-known that part of the way she became successful was by people (particularly college students)dubbing her music & giving it to their friends, so from word of mouth, the name Ani D. became synonymous with energetic, original, and hand-written lyrics that were always so full of Truth they'd shock & get the attention of anyone who gave her music a chance. Not to mention her finger-picking style on the guitar that has a quirky, upbeat thythym, & a completely unique style that was unheard of at the time that she came out with her debut album in 1990. She was/is a revolutionary, a diva, & a prodigy. She picks tunings out that even the most well-educated & experienced guitar song writers would not have any clue of how she came up with & chose the tunings that she did with her guitar. She turned down the offers to take the easy way out & sign on to a label that would "do" all of her music for her, she would never have been able to live up to her ideals, that one's experiences should be of their own creation & manifestations. Ani truly makes her beliefs & philosophies on life "self evident" in her tireless work over the past 2 decades. |
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| "One of my favorites...." | 2009-01-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1HB65JGFRX4SX |
| This cd is like one of my first loves...simply because w/ this cd i was introduced to the wonderful voice,music and soulful oh so true lyrics of Ani Difranco. I would recomend it to anyone....and with a smile say ENJOY! |
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| "I ain't no damsel in distress." | 2008-10-01 |
| - Reviewed By User: AK9X4NFTO14D6 |
This album, so far, to me, has been her best. It is raw and emotional, and I feel that she spends a lot of time apologizing and, at the same time, refusing to apologizing for what she's done and who she is.
This album is an anthem for feminists everywhere. One song that always grounds me is "Cradle and All." I love her adaptation of "Rock-a-bye baby" and how her words make me feel calm throughout the stress that blinds me throughout the day.
"I'm not a pretty girl" reminds me to be an individual regardless of the chauvinistic society we live in. To be the woman that I am and to ignore the beliefs that crowd my femininity.
Whenever I'm feeling pissed off or bitter, I listen to this album to remind me that I'm not the only one who's angry, and that sometimes, I have a right to be. It also reminds me not to accept oppression as a part of life. |
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| "My Favorite Ani Album" | 2008-01-21 |
| - Reviewed By prinzessbye |
| As a person that owns every CD that Ms. DiFranco has made must say that Not A Pretty Girl is my absolute favorite. The songs are edgy and completely rocking. Its political and emotional and just AMAZING!! I think this album is grossly underrated by her fans. The title track has quite possibly the best lyrics that she has written ever. It speaks to me as a woman and an individual. The songs on here changed my life. |
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| "Ani rarely dissapoints" | 2007-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By spitfire1300cc |
| Yeah, sure, Ani is a pinko commy, and I vehemently disagree with almost all of her politics(which she discusses very bluntly in her music). However, she does make some very good music, and this album is no exception. |
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 "two and a half" | 2006-07-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2YVA0VGD51W3J |
We are all pretty familiar with the concept of over-acting. You know, like Al Pacino in Scarface. But is it possible to "over-sing." I think it is, and I'd argue Ani does it in every single song she's ever written. "eaaarggAh! OhheeeeOO!, UyayayayayEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Probably it does the trick if you're PMSing real bad, but as a dude I have a little trouble relating. For a while I thought she had bad lyrics. But then I tried just reading them straight up and realized hey they are totally decent, it's just the vocals that make them tough to stomach. Shakespeare would probably be bad if you said, "the-e-e-ea-a-a- quAAliteee-e-e-e-eEEEEEE of mer cy is not STRAYEEEYYAAAYYEEEAYYEEEAAAAAAnedahugooooh!...." That said, even though they aren't bad perse, they are sort of annoying. I don't like coffee houses, or people who frequent them. Which seems to be sort of the Ani universe. On the other hand, if you like to get an expresso before catching the subway downtown to catch the Innercity Radical Anarchocommunist Existential Collective's screening of their latest short film about transgender intellectual insurgents in the world of independent media publishing in Seattle, where you'll meet a group of girls wearing different colored socks and quirky glasses, and at least one radical photographer named Jeremy, with whom you plan to go backpacking this weekend on a scenic trail where you'll write obsessively about yourself in a journal, all the while missing the amazing plants and animals because you don't know anything about nature except that you hate corporations who want to destroy it, and you're too busy journalling about the flaky dudes you sleep with, plus your parents were hippies and you're exactly like them and not original at all, you'll probably totally dig the vibe here.
On to the positives, Ani is a great guitarist. I dig her style, and wish she was a little more guitar-based and less vocal based, because this is really where she stands out in the singer-songwriter genre. She doesn't just lay down some simple chords, she works the strings, and she has skills. Actually, if she stopped singing, and got someone else to sing while she wrote the music, I think she'd probably be great.
Also, she should get someone else to produce these albums. You have to turn all her albums way up to hear anything but her voice.
If you like her voice though, this would probably be a 5 star album. |
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