Ani DiFranco - Revelling/Reckoning

As she has become both indie icon and industry force, Ani DiFranco has grown more unpredictable, savvy, and restless with every release. On this sumptuously packaged double set, DiFranco often pours her brutally personal and political images into summery, horn-based jazz arrangements--Maceo Parker even takes one gorgeously funky sax solo--and yet somehow still keeps the focus on her own minimalist guitar and vulnerable, emotionally strung-out voice. Her jittery, jazzy phrasing deconstructs the pleasure and poison of her lyrics, so that even vicious lines like "our culture is just a roughneck / teenage jerk / with a bottle of pills / and a bottle of booze" resonate beyond easy condemnation. This is a dark, brooding, but ultimately cathartic work of confessional art. On nearly every track, DiFranco pursues the kind of defenseless honesty and personal vision that few other performers today would dare. --Roy Kasten Amazon.com

give it a few listens

i love this album. at first, it sounded quite a bit like elevator music. it takes a few extra listens, i think, to really unfold it. but once you do, it's a feast for the ears and soul. April 9, 2006

The album that made me an Ani fan

I enjoyed Ani's sound before Revelling/Reckoning was released, but I was not a serious fan. After several albums, her folky sound was starting to bore me... even the live releases were becoming mundane. After several jam sessions, spoken word rants, and live guitar strum tantrums, I started to wonder, "Is this the only thing that such an innovative musician is willing to experiment with? When is Ani going to put a spin on her sound?"

Then I heard Revelling/Reckoning, and got what I wanted with songs like "O.K." and "Heartbreak Even." The horns and flute create a fabulous blend with Ani's style of guitar playing. I was pleasantly surprised with the sophistication of the music. It sounded like a sweet fusion of jazz and folk, not an experiment gone wrong.

I find it appalling that so many Ani fans have looked down upon this album with contempt. It is fresh, funky, and still full of the things that Ani fans love about her...

Fierce Flawless brings you back to the "righteous babe" feeling that Ani's music tends to induce. Marrow is there for those of us who appreciate Ani's ability to twist and mold the English language like play-dough.

Obviously, Revelling is my favorite CD out of the pair, but both pieces of the album compliment each other. Ani DiFranco is a very talented musician. Revelling/Reckoning was a bold step away from her "norm", but it was a step in the right direction. July 10, 2005

politically apathetic fans' rantings

what is it with these people reviewing ani's albums and bitching about ani's left-wing politics and how that makes the albums go from great to just good?!?!

other than her great song-writing ability and ultra-personal lyrics that strike a chord with listeners, what makes ani ani is her unapologetic criticisms of mainstream and conservative politics...... i dont think she'd appreciate knowing that some of her "fans" are apparently politically apathetic and complacent.... It's one thing if you don't agree with her politics, but the impression i get from these reviewers is that they'd rather live in a self-imposed bubble where they can view life through rose-colored glasses. if you want that go listen to avril lavigne or someone equally as vapid.

other than that though i am one of those people that prefers her earlier stuff. I dont think she pulls of this jazz/fusion direction she's taking, there aren't hooks to the songs and her lyrics just don't carry the same punch that they used to. July 9, 2004

A very mixed bag...

This album contains everything that I love about Ani diFranco. And everything that infuriates me about her.

Let's start with the bad news: the unadulteralted rinky-dink left-wing whining is in full force here. "Your Next Bold Move" is SO full of potential, but it alternates thoughtful writing with drivel about the plague of Reagan and Bush or the left wing being broken or... god, I don't know, just a lot of political ranting that diFranco doesn't even try to dress up as art. And much later comes "Subdivision," which starts out "White people are so afraid of Black people that..." Gee, thanks. Tell me something I don't know...

But then -- bam! Interspersed with this self-indulgent political nonsense are some of the greatest lyrics my ears have ever had the pleasure of hearing. "Garden of Simple" and "School Night" just blow me away; she must have sold her soul to come up with those metaphors. The "back" button on my car's CD player is now worn out because I repeat these two songs so frequently. And then there are so many other great images scattered throughout the rest of the album ("her Picasso face twisted..." is a favorite).

Ani, how could you sing a line like "you are a party and I am a school night," such a sweet, simple and PERFECT metaphor, and then give me drivel like white people are so cared of black people that white people have to live in subdivisions? AAARGH.

But still: you have to respect this woman. If I had nuts, I'd give my left one to be half the writer she is.

SO: GET THIS CD. Then master your own version, and treasure it forever. The really good stuff here should fit easily on one CD. And, oh, that one CD should have "School Night" and "Garden of Simple" twice each. May 9, 2004

Give the jazz shtick a rest Ani

I am a huge fan of mid-career Ani. Out of Range through To the Teeth were brillant albums. I think that the success that she enjoyed cultivating the funky side of To the Teeth (probably with the help of others) gave her an inflated impression of the scope of her abilities. She is not a jazz musician and the music that she creates when she is trying to be jazzy/funky just plain sucks.

None of the songs are catchy. The feeble moaning of horns at strange and inopportune times are irritating. The lyrics are occassionally interesting but not what they used to be. The arrangement of the music is amateurish. She could handle a couple of guitars, bass, drums and vocals but she is in way over her head with the jazz ensemble.

In short I think that this album has few, if any, redeeming features. I will proceed with caution with Ani in the future. If she pulls another one of these she will be off of my instant-buy list. April 12, 2004

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