What people search:
 | Title : Become You
Author : Indigo Girls
Release Date : 20020312
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $18.98
Amazon.com Price : $12.97
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Editorial Reviews :
Three years after the experimental and not-always-successful Come on Now Social, the Indigo Girls return to a more traditional framework with the acoustic-based Become You. A deft melding of folk, rock, and pop--and laced with Latin and soul around the edges--Become You gets to the heart of what Amy Ray (the rocking half) and Emily Saliers (the gentler half) do best: chronicle the complexities of love and socio-sexual politics from a feminist viewpoint. While the seductive and full-bodied melodies leave plenty of expanse for the duo's gauzy, hand-in-glove harmonies, the majority of the repertoire here carries an undercurrent of dissatisfaction and anxiety, whether about the outcome of a rocky love affair ('Moment of Forgiveness'), the still-extant racism in the South ('Become You'), or the ultimate fate of the Mexican women who fight for change with the Zapatistas ('Nuevas Senoritas'). Poignant, thought provoking, and beautifully crafted, with rapt attention to the interplay of instruments as well as voices, Become You finds Ray and Saliers back in top form and as relevant in 2002 as at the start of their 15-year career.
Buyer Reviews :
Let me start with this: the Indigo Girls have been a huge part of my growth as a young adult into an adult. 'Swamp Ophelia' was one of my first CDs, and I loved it. I have all of their studio and live albums, several promo singles, and a few bootlegs. I've seen them in concert 10 times in the past few years.
I think this is one of their least satisfying efforts.
To be fair: there are some excellent songs here. Amy continues to impress me with her artistic growth and range of emotion. And Emily can still write ballads that tear at my heartstrings. My review here will focus on criticism.
But the truth is, this album is more of a rehashing of past successes than a true coming-home album.
I really liked Come On Now Social. Not at first, of course, but after a while, the complexity of the songs and their messages grew on me and rewarded me after repeat listening. And it's good to see excellent artists pushing themselves in new directions, even if they aren't always as successful as their original efforts. If it wasn't for experimental, risk-taking music, I don't know *what* we'd be listening to these days.
Despite her growth, Amy can't write new chord progressions. My favorite song on the album, 'Become You,' has a verse that sounds nearly identical to 'Jonas & Ezekiel' from Rites. 'Yield' recalls 'Devotion' from the Retrospective. And there are more offenders. I guess that it's not really that important; after so many albums in the folk-rock genre, I-IV-V progressions are tempting. The chord progressions aren't the center of the music.
But my real qualm here is with how meek the material is. Emily's new tunes (especially Hope Alone and Collecting You) sound like 80's adult-contemporary hits. There's a thin line between touching emotion and mainstream, easy-listening cheese, and Emily crosses that line more than once on this album.
Moreover, Emily's metaphors are stretching a little thin these days. Take 'Deconstruction' for example. When I heard it live last summer, I loved it. But after a listen or two, the imagery seems lackluster and contrived. 'the trash truck making its way through the neighborhood ... we get to decide what we think is no good?' Please. It saddens me to hear lyrics such as these coming from the woman who wrote Ghost, Love Will Come to You, and Love's Recovery.
That's my two cents. Take it or leave it. Maybe it's because my musical tastes have changed that I don't like this album as much as I want to, but I'd prefer Swamp Ophelia with all its flaws to Become You any day.
(by nomadindiansaint)
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