Marianne Faithfull - Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology

After a decade and a half of recording everything from '60s pop covers culled from the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, country music, and pensive singer-songwriters, Marianne Faithfull signed with Island Records as a reinvented new-wave punk queen. With sharpened edge at the ready, she cut 1978's Broken English, a harrowing purge of sexual jealousy and guilt, six cuts from which are featured here. Her voice, ravaged from years of excess, cracks with wasted beauty and lent tarnished experience to her tales of struggle and hopeless nostalgia. After several albums of modern pop (a healthy selection from all are included in this essential anthology), Faithfull hooked up with producer Hal Willner to record 1987's Strange Weather, adopting a new role as an ageless, bluesy chanteuse. A Perfect Stranger follows through her latest collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti (1995's A Secret Life) and features six previously unreleased tracks, including a cover of John Lennon's "Isolation" and "A Waste of Time," a song she cowrote with Steve Winwood. --Rob O'Connor Amazon.com

Lots of ground is covered in this anthology

I was going to get a CD of just "Broken English" but decided to get the 2-CD Island anthology instead because of all the great stuff on it. Marianne Faithfull is such an evocative singer - I have to say don't listen to this if you're depressed. There's so much hard-living and lessons learned in her voice.

Overall, this is a great set of music, although I wasn't too crazy about the electronica stuff - simpler is definitely better for her voice. July 14, 2008

A great great great anthology

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2XS4JR9UE765B My name is Jeremy Gloff. I am a musician (check me out on Amazon!) and retro music enthusiast. If you enjoyed this review make sure to check out my Amazon user profile to check out my other reviews. I am always up for making new friends and discussing the music I love!!! July 8, 2008

You gotta have Faithfull.

A while back I got a collection of hers that was good, but only 11 tracks and obviously too short. Well no problem here, as this is three times the collection in every way. I've liked Marianne Faithfull since I first heard her, and similar to Leonard Cohen, there's no mistaking who you're listening to. This 2-disc set actually has more than I need, but no complaints. Disc one starts with the majority of her huge "Broken English" album, rightly so. Then we get gems like "Intrigue", "For Beauty's Sake", "Truth Bitter Truth", and her take on "Sister Morphine". I'll admit more of my favorites are on the first disc, but disc two is solid also. "Strange Weather", "As Tears Go By", "Isolation", and many more make disc two a must, though things get more mellow toward the end. This of course is just songs from her Island years, but what great years. Essential no matter if you know her music well, or if you're a "perfect stranger" to it. Nice booklet too. August 23, 2006

I Alway Take It With Me

This is a perfect introduction to Marianne Faithfull if you've been too timid to invest in all of her CDs. For me, it's the portable Faithfull. I always take it with me. Marianne makes rainy day music - sometimes bleak, sometimes furious, sometimes bitter, sometimes wistful. Always haunting. I never really liked her early crystal soprano, but when she can roaring back with "Broken English" (one of the most perfect collection of songs on record) I was hooked for the duration. Standouts here are many, but I love "Trouble In Mind," "Times Square," "Ghost Dance" the most. A worthy investment. June 10, 2006

she was a stone a rollin'

i was first introduce too marianne faithfull by the dvd of the rollin' stones rock and roll circus i fell in love with her model beauty and unique voice that sent me into a coma or maybe i just fancied her..well anyway i watched her performance
now after a year i've finally decided to venture into the world
of the fuelled rock beauty queen of marianne faithfull that's to say i'm not a huge femal vocalist in the rock music[i'm not sexost] i just think most women's voice come off weak when they're back by guitars bass and drums pelting away
but here's it's different
she's has all the accomdations to fit perfectly up with
mercury marriott and other rock men gods
another female vocalist i love is joni mitchell the beautiful
angelic voice..that's on the same level with faithfull for beauty
on this album i've noticed a few john lennon covers
"workin' class hero" on par with the orginal
and a previously un-released on cd "isolation"
a different slant to the lennon classics EXCELLENT
on this double disc anthology
you get most of the tracks from "broken english" which i was gonna buy but decided to but this instead as it had more tracks and was only a few pounds dearer
the songs from "broken english" are superb espically "guilt"
what a powerful voice

marianne faithfull perfect stranger the island anthology February 10, 2006

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