Customer Rating: 
Summary: As good as I remember
Comment: I recently purchased the original SNL years and Janis Ian performed her signature song, "Seventeen". I remembered that I had, for many years, owned the album and had listened to it endlessly, not just for that song, but for all of them. It is deeply moving, now, as it was when I was much younger. It has a timeless quality that I look for in music I collect.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Comment: This album transcends age, sex or sexual preference, it's inspired and brilliant and thank God she made it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: so sad and so beautiful
Comment: This is much more than her signature song At Seventeen. This CD is full of beautiful sad songs, deeply touching. Janis has this uniquely melancholic, yet seemingly insouciant, tender voice. I played them over and over again, and never got tired of it. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a little light dispels a lot of darkness
Comment: This is what art feels like.
"I learned the truth at 17" about 5 or 6 years ago when I first became a Janis Ian fan. An old friend first introduced me to this very talented creature who is actually a relative of Janis', too. At the time, I'm now embarrassed to admit that I had no idea who she was and had no idea what her music sounded like.
The first time I listened to "Between The Lines" I immediately fell in love with both the performer and the record, respectively. Janis Ian has to be one of the most underrated (and underplayed) American Folk singers of our time. Her best song is "At Seventeen." It has such a rich sound and such a great message. Janis' voice will get inside you because she has a special gift that allows her to speak to everyone. I love this CD and recommend it to anyone that appreciates American Folk or just anything that's slightly off the beaten path (we don't all have to listen to that idol top 50 nonsense, do we?) BTW, Janis Ian performed on the very first SNL in 1975, "At Seventeen."
These are the tracks with the times for each song:
1) When The Party's Over 2.57 *
2) At Seventeen 4.41 *
3) From Me To You 3.17 *
4) Bright Lights And Promises 4.16
5) In The Winter 2.29
6) Water Colors 5.02
7) Between The Lines 4.02 *
8) The Come On 3.57
9) Light A Light 2.45
10) Tea & Sympathy 4.29
11) Lover's Lullaby 5.26
* these are my favorites.
Why do I adore this CD?
"Between The Lines" is Janis' very best CD. It's a total juxtaposition of somber, sweet and sorrowful. I really love the first track "When The Party's Over." It has such a familiar sound that's almost refreshing. I'm sorry that's the best way I can describe it, I know that may sound hokey to you.
Did you also notice how the first part of the CD is rather mournful and the second half has a fast, frenzy sound? This makes such a unique and clever record. I can't remember listening to one like this in such a long time (if ever.) And even though these songs all sound very diverse there's also a centricity that ties them all together. From the moody trumpet-horns that play in the early tracks, to the fast jazz beats on songs like "Between The Lines" and "Light A Light," Janis is able to bring them all together in unison, while holding hands with each other.
This record also reminds me that there's still some light left in this world or some goodness in humanity. It reminds me that there is still decent music. And most of all I love this CD because it reminds me that no matter what, everyone is still special in their own way.
...Janis Ian is one of our greatest entertainers and perhaps the very best folk singer, ever. Maybe overshadowed by mainstream Top 50 (otherwise known as "pop") and perhaps because she was never "folk enough" Janis never really appreciated the type of acclaim that she very rightfully was otherwise entitled to. I suppose in the end that's really what happens to some of our best artists, right?
This is one of the only CD's that I can think of that so many generations equally listen to. As I've touched on, I think it's because Janis is such a universal person that speaks what most people feel; but rarely, if ever voice. Incidentally (and not coincidently,) Janis Ian is also the only singer who my mother listened to as a teenager that I also enjoy.
IMHO Janis Ian is way more of a g-a-y icon than someone like Cher or Barbra Streisand or Madonna. Because those others are way too perfect and they didn't know what it's like to suffer through heartache. Janis does. She's a modern-day Judy Garland. On the outside, looking in, hoping to be recognized, but otherwise forgotten and thrown away. ...That's why I love her...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Janis.....
Comment: Whatever Janis Ian sings, whether her own or someone else's, it comes across as entirely autobiographical. When she sings "Seventeen" you can almost imagine that she actually was an "ugly girl" though not for a moment do I believe it. Her phrasing and musical sensibilities meet every expectation. I am a fan.
It's interesting, but when I listen to her, I am reminded of Jim Croce. I wonder if they were ever friends or even if she was of his era. Croce has a wider range to his music. When he has fun with a song, there is never a doubt that he is clowning around. Ian can not escape her seriousness even when being light. As I said, it's all autobiographical and whatever it is she is singing, I can't help but believe, that somewhere, somehow, she lived it.
That said, there is perhaps no one who handles rhythm better. Her mastery of composition and arrangement gives each piece a personality - though her style is recognizable after a while. I think she is under-rated as an artist. Too many are topping the charts with fluff. Ian holds her own with people who appreciate music.
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