Laura Nyro - Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro

Nostalgic Listening from Year's Past

Hearing Laura Nyro sing her own songs is something special. You could feel the emotion unlike when you listen to the other artists who have performed her songs.

My only regret is that my favorite, "Sweet Blindness", is a live recording from 1976. I would rather have the studio version, which is how most of the recordings on both discs are presented. It's still a winner in my book. January 12, 2007

marred recording of mostly good music

Unfortunately, none of the previous reviewers thought to mention that however good the music may be, a significant portion of this collection is hard to listen to because of poor engineering. Old recordings are simply thrown onto CD without any modifications/improvements. Hence, you get lots of splatter on higher notes (think tinny record player from the 60's). Classics like Stoney End, Billy's Song and Blowin' Away are the worst of the lot. If you don't mind skipping over the bad cuts, there will be something here for you. Consider buying this one second hand at a deep discount. October 12, 2006

Great Overview Of A Terrific Talent

I've been a fan of Laura Nyro since the late 60's and was fortunate enough to have seen her perform in person from that time until the early 90's.
Ms. Nyro's talent as a songwriter is well documented, as are the depth and sensitivity of her lyrics.
Her talent as a singer is less celebrated depite her tremendous ability to put a song "over" and make the listeners think she is singing just to them.
This is a great CD to introduce newcomers to a fabulous talent cut down far too soon in life.
God bless Laura Nyro. October 12, 2006

Wonderful Songwriter, Terrible Singer

The only cut on this CD that works as a vocal is the haunting "Billy's Blues." Otherwise Ms. Nyro's singing voice is this incredibly unattractive soprano wailing all over the place; just like Sandra Bernhard when she tries to sing 'seriously'. July 3, 2006

Overrated?

Before buying this anthology, I was aware of Laura Nyro's reputation, but my only exposure to her music was through cover versions by the Fifth Dimension and others. But hearing some of her original songs used to great effect in the soundtrack of "A Home At The End Of The World" made me want to explore her work further. I'm not sure this uneven collection was the right introduction. Since I think that you should judge a artist by his/her best work, maybe one or two of Nyro's classic early albums would have been a better starting point. Some of these songs are indeed phenomenal, but by the end of the collection some aspects of Nyro's distinctive style begin to grate. Like a lot of great songwriters, she was not a first-rate singer. Too often when she strains at high notes, her soprano voice turns into a poorly-controlled, artless squeal. Many, if not most, of her lyrics are cyptically and neurotically personal. The impression of an unbalanced, self-involved persona is reinforced by the strange image on the CD cover, a photo of Nyro staring into the camera while pulling out a handful of her long hair. She could be a mental patient. I'll keep working on this one. August 27, 2005

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