Music CD - Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine

	Music CD: Extraordinary Machine Artist: Fiona Apple List Price: $18.97 Our Price: $6.55 Your Save: $ 12.42 ( 65% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Sony
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Tracks: 1. Extraordinary Machine 2. Get Him Back 3. O' Sailor 4. Better Version Of Me 5. Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song) 6. Parting Gift 7. Window 8. Oh Well 9. Please Please Please 10. Red Red Red 11. Not About Love 12. Waltz (Better Than Fine)
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0696998668324 Label: Sony Manufacturer: Sony Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Sony Release Date: 2005-10-04 Studio: Sony
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A Little Stick of Dynamite Comment: Such a small woman with such a big voice. She is amazing. I listened to this CD today,2008. Customer Rating: Summary: Flawed Masterpiece Comment: Like all Fionas albums, Extraordinary Machine has fantastic, creative lyrics backed up with a wonderful voice and perfect instrumentation. So where does it fall short? - the mastering, sadly someone made the decision to have the album mastered by "Big Bass" Brian Gardner who is famous in the industry for making 'hot' or overly loud recordings. Perhaps having the volume turned up to 11 works for hip hop albums, but it does Fiona no favours here. Having the volume level almost constant all the way through just makes it tiring to listen to. There are leaked MP3's floating around the net which contain early studio recordings of Extraordinary Machine, although clearly unfinished the leaked tracks sound better simply because you can hear the full dynamic range of the music. While it's far from being the worst victim of the 'loudness war' it could have been so much more. Customer Rating: Summary: Cheesy noodling in the studio. Comment: I can't call this music but I guess it is. F. Apple shows ANYBODY with a computer these days can pump out some basic songs, getting them out there is the hard part. F. Apple's fame is the mystery. There are no songs on this album. Just noodlings. Not even clever or original noodlings. This album was released in the 21st century but sounds like half the bad pop you can find in any used CD bin at the local record store. The nineties never died, it appears. An embarrassing reminder of how low music has fallen over the years... Customer Rating: Summary: If you don't like this album, you're beyond help! Comment: All other reviewers have sung the worthy praises of "Extraordinary Machine," so I have little else to add other than they're right! The title song is an absolute BLAST to listen to; don't try to over analyze this song at first, just listen to the masterful lyrics (painful and humorous), the unconventional-to-say-the-least sounds of the instrumental arrangement, and bathe in the wonder that is great music, radio be damned!! Also, the last half of "Not about love" is not to be missed: a virtuoso performance lyrically, vocally, and at the keys as the tempo picks up full-throttle, using the same theme from the opening of the song, but at about 5 times the speed. One of the best musicians currently producing music. Just one problem....we need more!!! Customer Rating: Summary: Not Extraordinary, But Very Good Comment: This album was my first exposure to Fiona Apple, so I don't have her earlier albums to compare to. That's good, as each album and each review should stand on it's own. Fiona has an incredible voice, powerful, but not overpowering. Some describe it as "smoky". Instead, I would say rich and unique. Perhaps a little dreamy at times too. I can't say I am thrilled with any of the songs here, but I did like the title song, which is a little different than anything I've heard before and quite different than the other songs on the album too. The music doesn't drown out Fiona's voice, so you can tell what she is singing; it's very well-produced. One fault I find with many modern albums is that the music just overwhelms the artist. That's not the case here. After listening, I can't say that I hunger for more of Apple's songs, but it will be interesting to see what she comes up with next. This album certainly showcases her incredible talent. Not quite a 5-star album, but a solid 4. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: Fiona Apple, brooding, brainy belter and capital-A artist of near forbidding depth, begins her much gossiped-over third CD on a lark. The title track, one of two songs produced by Jon Brion before the label dispute that prompted hip-hop producer Mike Elizondo (50 Cent, Eminem) to step in, sounds like a Judy Garland number slathered with irony or something Rufus Wainwright might have had a hand in--strings soar, beats bump around skittishly, and notes require a ladder. But playful as it is, by the time the chorus kicks in it's clear why the world has missed Fiona Apple so much. Young female artists who have stepped into the spotlight since she fled it six years ago-- Nellie McKay and Joss Stone spring to mind for their cleverness and heat, respectively--seem slight in comparison. With every track ticked off, in fact, Extraordinary Machine moves listeners a little closer to what might be a correct assumption: that everything they've dipped into since 1999's When the Pawn ... was filler. Fans will feel it especially on "O'Sailor," a gimlet-eyed lament, and "Tymps," a tight piano track with a tip of the hat to hip-hop. It's "Window," though, with its lyric about "a filthy pane of glass" fogging up a clear view, that sums up the experience of this CD best. "I had to break the window," Apple sings, smoky-voiced as ever. "It just had to be." With Extraordinary Machine, she shatters already sky-high expectations. -Tammy La Gorce