Indigo Girls


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Strange Fire, 6.5/10
self-titled, 7/10
Nomads-Indians-Saints , 5/10
Rites Of Passage , 5/10
Swamp Ophelia , 6/10
1200 Curfews , 5/10
Shaming Of The Sun , 5/10
Come On Now Social (1999) , 6/10
Amy Ray: Stag , 4/10
Become You (2002) , 5/10
All That We Let In (2004), 5/10
Amy Ray: Prom , 6.5/10
Despite Our Differences (2006), 6/10
Poseidon And The Bitter Bug (2009), 6/10
Beauty Queen Sister (2011), 4/10
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Le Indigo Girls, ovvero Amy Ray e Emily Saliers, cantano parabole di perdizione e redenzione in un linguaggio intensamente metaforico. Tanto le loro armonie vocali quanto il tema delle loro canzoni ha qualcosa di religioso. Le due sono comunque cantautrici distinte, ciascuna responsabile del proprio materiale, anche se poi lo eseguono quasi sempre in coppia.

Si rivelarono nei circoli folk di Atlanta nel 1986 (appena ventenni) con un EP auto-prodotto, che conteneva Lifeblood, e l'anno dopo con l'album Strange Fire (Indigo), con Land Of Canaan (il primo capolavoro di Ray), la title-track, Crazy Game e Make It Easier. Quell'album e` un piccolo poema della vulnerabilita`, che tocco` piu` di un cuore femminile post-femminista.

Entrate nelle grazie degli REM, divennero famose presso il pubblico rock con l'album omonimo del 1989 (per la Epic), che annoverava un altro numero pop di Saliers, Closer To Fine (oltre a History of Us), un altro capolavoro vivace e vibrante di Ray, Tried To Be True, e l'epica e dolente Kid Fears (ancora Ray in excelsis). Ray, che in Land Of Canaan confessa le sue voglie amorose come una stellina del country e in Center Stage ruggisce la sua disperazione quasi nel silenzio assoluto, si conferma la personalita` di spicco.

Il successivo Nomads-Indians-Saints (Epic, 1990) non cambio` nulla, riproponendo Saliers nei panni della tenera sognatrice (Hammer And Nail) e Ray in quella della rocker (Pushing The Needle Too Far e 1,2,3). L'unica novita` e` la world music di Hand Me Downs.

Poi anche loro, con il tramonto della moda folk, decidono di introdurre arrangiamenti piu` complessi, e nasce cosi` Rites Of Passage (Epic, 1992), la cui Three Hits (di Ray) sembra uscita da un disco di Neil Young, mentre le composizioni fiabesche di Saliers (Galileo, Virginia Woolf e soprattutto Airplane) beneficiano maggiormente del nuovo corso. Non stupisce cosi` l'omaggio al country & western di Nashville.

Swamp Ophelia (Epic, 1994) completa la transizione (Touch Me Fall e` la loro prima canzone guidata dalla chitarra elettrica) e finalmente le consacra nelle classifiche di vendita. E` un disco maturo, concettuale, sofisticato. Jerry Marotta alla batteria e Lisa Germano al violino contribuiscono al successo dell'operazione.

1200 Curfews (Epic, 1995) e` un album dal vivo che fornisce un compendio della loro carriera. Il singolo Power of Two diventa anche un hit.

Ray ha composto le canzoni maggiori del loro repertorio e il suo stile di canto si e` venuto incattivendo negli anni, fino a lambire la memoria di Chrissie Hynde e Patti Smith.

(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)

Shaming Of The Sun (Epic, 1997) is their "rock" album and certainly their most commercial to date. The line-up keeps bassist Sara Lee, drummer Jerry Marotta and violinist Lisa Germano, three key players. The loud, electric sound is a mixed blessing. Ray sounds like Bruce Springsteen in Shame on You, roars in Don't Give that Girl a Gun and Cut it Out, borrows the horn section from a marching band for Hey Kind Friend, and even experiments with hip hop in Shed You Skin.
Saliers' banjo-driven dirge Get Out the Map, piano-driven fairy tale Leeds and melancholy pop-soul ballad Everything In Its Own Time (that borders on Everything But The Girl) have a more intimate appeal.

Another commercial success was Come On Now Social (Epic, 1999), enhanced with guest appareances by Luscious Jackson's Kate Schellenbach, Me'Shell Ndegeocello, Sheryl Crow and the Band's Garth Hudson and Rick Danko. The girls increase the dose of rock and roll on the anthemic Go, Trouble and Compromise, and again broaden their palette to incorporate the dance-pop of Peace Tonight, the soulful Peace Tonight and We Are Together, the haunted ballad Sister, while Gone Again, Faye Tucker and Ozilline hark back to the country-pop of their beginnings.

It does not come as a surprise that Amy Ray, Indigo Girls' main composer, launched her solo career with Stag (Daemon, 2001). It comes as a surprise that she has changed into a formidable rocker in the tradition of Joan Jett (who guests here). Lucystoners and Laramie are the manifestos of the new course. The acoustic Johnny Rottentail recalls an angry Bruce Springsteen. Measure Of Me is a Lou Reed-ian decadent elegy.

Continuing their descent into mainstream pop, Become You (Epic, 2002) features eclectic arrangements and tempos, catchy refrains and slick production, and All That We Let In (Epic, 2004) rehashes their philosophy with the quiet anthem Perfect World that sounds like a marketing motto, while Saliers' Fill It Up Again and Ray's vibrant Tether and Heartache for Everyone try to keep the audience awake.

Amy Ray's second solo, Prom (Daemon, 2005), is a surprisingly sprightly work that boasts virulent refrains and riffs such as Put It Out For Good. The Indigo Girls (or at least half of them) have finally made the transition from Joan Baez to Tom Petty.

The poppy Despite Our Differences (Hollywood, 2006) marked a return to form, although in a slightly different (more lightweight) vein, thanks to Pendulum Swinger and Rock and Roll Heaven's Gate, while Emily Saliers' I Believe In Love and Amy Ray's Dirt and Dead Ends maintained their trademark domestic tone.

Poseidon And The Bitter Bug (Vanguard, 2009), available both as a full-band album and as an acoustic stripped-down set, was a dignified return to their roots (Love of Our Lives, Digging for Your Dream, Fleet of Hope).

On the other hand, the material on Beauty Queen Sister (2011) sounded like second-rate.

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