Hi,

If you haven't looked at the homepage yet, there is a link to Flare.com that has the entire album streaming.

http://www.flare.com/celebrity/article.jsp?content=20080226_155305_7096

Feast and review.
MTV might be 'dropping' it tomorrow too.

Cameron

I jotted my thoughts on first listen.

1. Hopeful Hearts - First time hearing this song. At times her voice reminds me of how she sang Your Wish... with less lullaby and more folk.
2. Get Home - I didn't like this song when I heard first live. I was impressed with the demo version and I like this album version too. Makes a good first single and Sarah looks amazing in the video.
3. Euphoria - This song has cleaned up nicely from when I last heard it. A little sexy number.
4. Good Night Trouble - A real pretty tune. Not sure if it would be a single but it sounds so precious and fragile. I don't think its a song I would ever skip over. I don't think she has played this one live.
5. Notes from the Underground - Reminds me of Out in the Park.
6. Sounds of Water - I can imagine Sarah pounding her foot down playing this one. Seems to have that momentum of So Many Miles. I could be fooled to believe it was directed by a member of The New Deal like Somebodies Arms / Lucky Me. This one will be fun to see live with a band. It could have potential as a single too. I enjoy it.
7. No Place At All - I had heard this song before and speculated the title was Rescue Me or Remember Me. It's a haunting tune and I like how the studio version turned out. It seems to have some real build ups towards the end.
8. Please be Good To Me - Sounds soothing and a bit poetic
9. Willow - What a throw back to the past.
10. So Many Miles - I had put a lot of stock in this song. I loved the live version and have had it saved in my head for years. I haven't adjusted to the studio take on it. Still think it's a great tune but far different from the string version.
11. Shadowland - I got lost in this track. I wonder if it will be one of those tunes that is absolutely captivating live, like I Know or Blue Parade.
12. Looking for Someone - Love this song from the first time I heard her play it. They really didn't change it other then what sounds like a male voice providing supporting vocals on the chorus. At harbourfront this year she invited the crowd to sing in on that part and I can see that tradition living on. Interesting that she didn't go with the string arrangements that they had played live. Either way, this song is fantastic.

The album feels over to soon. I like the variety of the songs and I'm really excited and surprised by a number of them.

Cameron

loving the album. dont' have a track-by-track breakdown but absolutely cherish Shadowland right now. I have tried desperately to discern where the text the male voice is speaking is from, but cannot. How confessional. well done Sarah. these epic second-last tracks are really my faves on each album, I think. (Me and a Thief and When Another Midnight and Blue Parade are similar, in my mind).

I wish those of us who pre-ordered the physical disc would get the free bonuses like those on Itunes, however... I mean, the record company is going to score a lot more cash for the physical disc (we paid, what, $6 shipping!?) and we get less tracks than those who download... sheesh...

am i the only lucky one, who received the pre-ordered cd on the 6th of march??
loving the album, too! Somehow, every song reminds me of another song of her previous albums, as cameron already has said! they`ve got older sisters and brothers... but still they are new spawns with new gateways to imaginary journeys.
the digipack is nicely put togehter. a lot of pictures of sarah next to ornamentally framed lyrics. you`ll be happy to find a prologue and epilogue in the booklet which leaves you motivated...
claudia

^

Willow is the only track that really doesn't sound like anything I recall Sarah playing before. I really like that track.

I adeded a poll to the littlelsean news page sidebar to vote for your favourite tune. (See my signature for a link)

Cameron

Odd... I find most of the tracks on the album quite different from anything she's done in the past. I found most of "Day One" to be the same as well, and I don't necessarily consider it a bad thing, either (as much as I cherish her "early sound").

Most of the tracks are certainly "typical Slean", whatever that means, but I sense a lot more simplicity in the melodies (both vocally and instrumentally) than I'm used to from her music. Again, I think it's GREAT that each album sounds like something brand new. It's the kind of thing that builds an amazing career repertoire rather than just album after album of the same ol' stuff.

Still can't believe that at 30 (or so -- can't remember exactly how old she is :P) she's already put out 5 studio albums and a live CD. Just amazing.

I havent finished listening to the whole thing, but wow i really like it so far
I was afraid i wasnt gonna like it at all because I wasnt too crazy about Get Home to begin with and it seemed like she was going in a new direction. But this is good!

also, did you guys see the song-by-song descriptions sarah put up on the webpage? =)

Yeah i saw the descriptions, love the one for "Please Be Good to Me"!! So no one on here is posting their Send me to Paris thingees to win a trip to Paris! But I am going to! Help me win?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: effen,

AH! FINALLY LISTENED TO THE WHOLE ALBUM! i think it's amazing. still trying to let the first round of listening to it sink in. there's a couple that are really sticking to me right now and blew me away like Sound of Water/Change Your Mind just to name one. when listening to Euphoria, all i could picture was her performance in December and her dancing around the stage. not in a creepy kind of way haha... reminiscent kind of way. AND the song So Many Miles IS JUST WOW! i liked the song when she performed it live with just the piano but the "finished" version is amazing. usually i tend to like the live performance arrangements better but really this CD version is amazing! =)

anyways, too many good things about this album. it makes me happy.

I love the prologue and epilogue ... and it's nice to hear the male speaking the epilogue in Shadowland ... kind of reminiscent of Twin Moon.

The booklet is just so beautiful, especially the photo of Sarah on the back. And I love the design on the CD itself. Very nice.

I agree that it ends too soon, but I feel like that with every Sarah CD. I just want more!

The added male vocals on Looking for Someone is a nice touch, too.

K

oh hey! i just got something in the mail last night! and it was the autographed liner notes for Sarah Slean's The Baroness! =)

quote:

Originally posted by vintage.:
oh hey! i just got something in the mail last night! and it was the autographed liner notes for Sarah Slean's The Baroness! =)

That's cool! Was that the prize via the presale?

I know the contest had a prize for signed Baroness posters.

Cameron

huh...funny, i didnt even know there was a contest

yeah it was the prize from the pre-sale. it was a happy surprise to have won it. =)