Ani DiFranco - Ani DiFranco

Ani DiFranco was a star from the get-go. It just took the world a little while to catch on to that fact. In 1990, folksingers didn't shave their heads, wear nose rings, or sing about the feelings in their jeans, but DiFranco did. Her bracing, punky stance hit just as hard on her debut as it does now--perhaps even more so, due to its freshness and DiFranco's uncompromising solo acoustic attack. These songs, all delivered with an absorbing passion and a palpable conviction, are the bedrock of her soaring career. Some, like the fantastic and challenging "Both Hands," still pop up in concert. --Michael Ruby Amazon.com

Inconsistency with some brilliance at her beginning

(Actually **1/2 but Amazon doesn't allow half stars.)

This is a promising debut that includes the beautiful "Work Your Way Out," a song that makes me wonder wistfully why Ani doesn't spend more songs singing over a low rumbling piano. If you like Ani, I think the album is worth tracking down for that song alone because the version on Like I Said is done with a guitar and loses something thereby. But this here self-titled debut also has several songs on it that are just downright bad, which is a bit unusual for Ani DiFranco but hey, it's her first record ever. On "Talk to Me Now," Ani sings one of the clumsiest and most amateurish lines I've heard from her: "In this cii-ii-ty, self-preservation is a full-time occupation." Gods that annoys me. "The Story" is one of those light-on-melody, should-be-an-essay Ani songs where I think well, I agree with that, but I don't think I'll ever want to listen to it again, and I'm not entirely sure I'd even classify it as a song. But on the bright side this is the one that has "Fire Door" and "Out of Habit" on it, which are both excellent indications of just how talented Ani DiFranco would turn out to be. Plus there's the original recording of "Both Hands." That solo acoustic original now stands with head humbly bowed in the long, long shadow of the lush, lovely orchestral version on Living in Clip, but if you're curious about how Ani started then it's worth a listen nonetheless. Actually come to think of it that's not a bad metaphor for how this whole debut album stands in relation to the rest of her catalog.

Song by song:

1 Both Hands ***
2 Talk to Me Now *
3 The Slant **
4 Work Your Way Out ****
5 Dog Coffee ***
6 Lost Woman Song ***
7 Pale Purple *
8 Rush Hour ***
9 Fire Door ***
10 The Story *
11 Every Angle ***
12 Out of Habit *** June 1, 2008

Ani's First...and it's just as amazing as all the others

Bare bones Ani and her guitar with songs you'll recognize from live albums or some of the bootlegs. This is a great album which really showcases Ani at her no-frills best. A must-have for any Ani fan. August 7, 2006

Great Ani album for beginners and classic for the rest

The raw emotion, great lyrics, and intuitive gutiar play makes the feeling of being a new adult in a crap NYC apartment just as close as your speakers. This may sound bad, but it doesnt hurt for music making, and you dont have to put up with the shooting sounds at night. :) Ani kindly leads us through a young woman's life on her own: relationships, jobs, politics. At the end, leaving a great album. Personally, this will never leave my collection. July 22, 2005

You all probably think I'm an idiot, but ...........

I'm 11 years old and I love Ani Difranco music. I have all of her albums. Yes, some to of the songs are inapropriate. I don't care! I love everything about Ani Difranco music. I love her voice; I love the melodies; most of all, I love the lyrics. Ani Difranco is so honest that you CAN ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND THE LYRICS. She is amazing!

Song Ratings

Both Hands: 10/10- This is the best song on the album. This song is beautiful. Her best version is on this album. Ani Difranco has a lot of versions of Both Hands.

Talk to Me Now: 8/10-This song is really pretty good. It has a catchy tune, and a nice rythm. Her voice is kind of weird in some parts though. This version is pretty much exactly the same as the version on the album Like I Said.

The Slant:7/10-This is all spoken word with no backround music at all. It is pretty, but kind of obscure.

Work Your Way Out:9/10-I like this song a lot. It sounds kind of mysterious somehow. It gets repetitive at the end when Ani Difranco keeps on saying," Oh yes, I am caught like bottled water. The light daughter."

Dog Coffee: 9/10- This song is more interesting than some of the other songs. I like it. (Wow, what a suprise.) I like how this song does not involve any romance for a change.

Lost Woman Song: 10/10-This is my second favorite song on this album. I think it is beautiful, and the topic of abortions is interesting. I especially like her voice in this song.

Pale Purple:9/10- This song has a catch tune. The guitar playing is kind of simple. Overall this is just a nice, normal Ani song.

Rush Hour: 10/10- This might have been the first ani difranco song I ever listened to, and I still love everything about it. There is another similar version on Like I Said. I love Ani's voice in this song. The guitar playing is also great.This is a tie with The Story for my third favorite song on this album.

Fire Door:8/10-This song is, like Pale Purple, just your average nice Ani Difranco song. The guitar playing in this song is really good.

The Story:10/10-This song is good if you're looking for something quiet and sad-sounding. This song also has really great guitar playing. Tied with Rush Hour for my third favorite song on this album.

Every Angle:5/10-Skip it. It's all right, but not worth listening to. The tune is not very interesting. It doesn't go with the lyrics really. And the lyrics are kind of repetitive.

Out of Habit:9/10-This song has a REALLY catchy tune. Some parts of this song are sort of inapropriate. But who the heck cares?

Letting the Telephone Ring:8/10-I like this song. It seems like a normal really good Ani Difranco song. There's nothing really unusal about it.

Thus ends my looooooooooooooong review. May 8, 2005

The journey of a thousand steps, and albums, at her pace

This is the step that started her journey, at least on record. This is one of those types of debut albums where, had Ani been run over by a bus a week after this album was released, just this one audio snapshot of her songs should have been enough to cement her place as one of the greatest minds of her (and my) generation. A young woman and an acoustic guitar = Magic, when that young woman is Ani.

Both Hands: A miracle? This song will never get old. It's pretty incredible to think that this song, these lyrics and this performance, are the first song on the first album by someone who was only 19-years-old at the time.

Over the years, one of the many things that anti-Ani people have given as reasons for not liking her is the affected vocals with which she sometimes sings. She seems to go through stages where it is more and less apparent. If the affected vocals are not for you, then this album is for you. If some of the ways she sings things on Puddle Dive (for instance) drive you nuts, then you should check this album out. I love Puddle Dive, but I realize that is a vocal phase that some people do not like. Here, on the self-title debut, you get what could probably be considered Ani's best album of just purely singing. I mean, if you can't be moved by The Story then you're probably just not an Ani person. =)

Lost Woman Song, Rush Hour, Work Your Way Out, etc... I didn't know of her when this album first came out, but had I been a New Yorker walking out of the late-night Club Fleabag smoke and greeting the chilly nighttime air after just catching this Ani Difranco girl for the first time, I'd have had her name written down on my arm so I could remember it by the time I got home, knowing full well I need to keep my ears and eyes out for more from her. Then again, I was only 14 when she was 19 and she was way beyond me, in every way. Maybe it's better that it happened as it did. =)

November 23, 2004

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