The Wavelike Career (And Life) Of Janis Ian, Society’s Child

The Good: Informative, Mostly well-written, Entertaining
The Bad: A few gaps in the narrative
The Basics: Anyone who is a fan of music should pick up and read Society’s Child, the autobiography of Janis Ian which is a whirlwind of namedropping, professional victories and personal tragedies.


Today was a real treat for me; after months of having it on the nightstand, I finally sat down and read the bulk of Society’s Child. My wife gave me Society’s Child in hardcover for our five year wedding anniversary and as part of my goal for the year to read more, I started it several months ago. Until I committed today to being a reading day, I had not had the chance to devote the time and effort to focus my attention on it. I’m glad that I did; Society’s Child deserves the reader’s full attention for several reasons, not the least of which is that the autobiography’s subject, Janis Ian, has had a whirlwind life.

Society’s Child is the 348 page autobiography (plus the index pages) of singer-songwriter Janis Ian. Published in 2008, Society’s Child is a brutally honest personal narrative of a singer-songwriter whose works might no longer be at the forefront of the collective unconscious, but have far more enduring value than the vast majority of the music being produced and released today. Janis Ian is the writer and singer of songs from the late 1960s and 1970s when her career hit its worldwide peaks with the singles “Society’s Child,” “Jesse,” “Stars,” and “At Seventeen.” Society’s Child chronicles her professional resilience – while she has had many other charting songs between and since, she has certainly become more of a niche performer than a popular recording artist of the masses – and the erratic nature of her personal life.

On the personal front, Society’s Child is the story of a young woman whose trust was systematically destroyed almost from her earliest interactions with other people. Janis Ian writes frankly about her sexual abuse at the hands of her family’s dentist, her early attempts at songwriting and the relationships that formed the basis for many of her poems which she set to music. Ian writes about the effect having a hit song as a teenager had on her and her family, how her life at school dramatically changed and how her earnings contributed to her parents’ divorce. Janis Ian writes about the personal trials and tribulations that framed her life with an honesty that is uncommon in any autobiography, which makes for an engaging read and a deeply human narrative. It is virtually impossible to read Society’s Child as a fan of the works of Janis Ian, once pop superstar around the world, and continue to elevate her in the mind to superhuman status. First and foremost, Society’s Child makes a woman with creative gifts and lifetime earnings that vastly outstrip those of almost every reader seem incidental; she is first and foremost a person and her journey through life has not been easy. There is no other celebrity biography I have ever encountered wherein the subject of the narrative celebrates being able to get $20 out of an ATM to buy socks in chapters following being a superstar who ate live lobster sushi in Japan during a tour that made her rich.

Society’s Child casts Janis Ian as a woman who struggles with relationships and deep trust issues. Her trust violated at almost every turn (the FBI kept tabs on her family, leaving her father unable to get tenure during the Civil Rights Movement; late in the volume, she learns that her financial manager had been embezzling for decades, leaving her at the mercy of a zealous IRS agent who left her destitute), she took solace in romantic relationships that did not pan out. From a somewhat mundane first love to her first romantic relationship with a woman, Society’s Child illustrates how Janis Ian struggled to find love and acceptance regardless of her celebrity. Her first marriage is chronicled and is difficult to read (for the content, not the diction). Only a few pages after the relationship is loving and blooming, Ian faces the barrel of a gun and a situation written with such realism and tension that the reader forgets that the narrator must have survived it in order to write the book.

Fortunately, Society’s Child is not just the troubling tale of one woman who gets abused by a dentist, a husband, a therapist and the IRS. Acting in odd foil to her personal travails, both in terms of relationships and health, Janis Ian chronicles the story of her albums and recording career. After the initial stories, Society’s Child tells the story of Janis Ian’s life album by album. Ian writes about being a folk singer who is deemed “too young” by the established folk community in New York City. Not allowed to perform at some critical, early opportunities, Janis Ian is taken under the wing of luminaries in the pop and folk music fields. After befriending Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, Janis Ian’s meteoric career puts her on par with singer-songwriters like Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Billy Joel, and Joan Baez.

Society’s Child illustrates the impossibly fickle music industry and how Janis Ian struggled as an artist against a machine that abhorred the art that made her initially marketable. Ian writes about how the industry cycle of touring, promoting and recording became virtually impossible to balance against the act of creating the music the record label demanded of her. The book describes well and in enough detail how the traditional paradigm for the music industry was oppressive and robbed her of the personal moments that she needed to be an artist.

For those who are not already fans of the works of Janis Ian, Society’s Child is a great primer. Ian’s work is not filled with gratuitous namedropping; just as she describes the difficulty of those who did not live through the Civil Rights Movement understanding the social turmoil of the early years of her life, her description of the process of meeting other artists and being recognized by the music community calls back to a very different time and place. Ian writes about the late 60’s club scene vividly and she writes with reverence about her contemporaries and her inspirations as they come into her life.

While there are a few sloppy moments of prose – on one point, Janis Joplin pops up in a story as “Janis,” making the reader think Ian has slipped into the third person – most of Society’s Child is well-written and engaging. Ian writes with a sense of humor where appropriate (her story about eating sushi in Japan and running into Bruce Springsteen on the street after he was charting are instantly memorable) and with a vivid sense of imagery for the rest. Her internal narrative is tormented and she chronicles it well as she describes her feelings of betrayal, her feelings of being affectless, and of coming back to being emotionally well-rounded exceptionally well. Janis Ian details being dosed with vivid and disturbing imagery. Her descriptions, late in the book, of some of her health problems like CFS get troublingly resolved. For example, at the height of her CFS story where she appears otherwise insensate, she finds herself interrogated by the feds in an incident that she recounts without any of the nebulous of the incidents that immediately precede or follow it.

Despite the very few moments when the writing is not as tight or clear, the bulk of Society’s Child reads as a tight, engaging personal narrative. Anyone who has ever had a sense of celebrity worship should read Society’s Child; it humanizes one extraordinary artist and reminds the reader that while the industry and popularity of musical artists and movements might be fickle, those who create the art we consume face the same struggles we do and more and they are bound to face those challenges with the same basic tools we possess. While there is certainly more of the story of Janis Ian left to tell, Society’s Child gives perspective on the portion of Ian’s life most people will be most interested in.

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Concert - East Lansing, MI - March 8, 2013
Janis Ian
. . . For All The Seasons Of Your Mind
Society's Child: The Verve Recordings
Stars
Remember
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black
The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD Edition

8/10

For other book reviews, please check out my Nonfiction Book Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Janis Ian Helps Us Remember An Engaging Musical Presentation!

The Good: Great voice, Wonderful lyrics
The Bad: Not an incredible mix/no audacious reworks of familiar Janis Ian songs
The Basics: The two-disc album Remember by Janis Ian is a very engaging live concert experience that holds up well over time.


Last month, I had the pleasure of attending a concert and meeting one of my poetic and musical idols, Janis Ian. The concert was absolutely incredible, though Ian performed songs that were “safe” (not requiring any radical reworking in order to be presented as a one-woman, acoustic performance) for her touring style. Ever since the concert, I have been listening to the two discs that comprise Ian’s first live concert album, Remember, in high rotation. In fact, since I began my new job, it is all I have listened to on the hour trips to and from work! The reason for my seeming obsession with this new-to-me album is that in meeting Ms. Ian, she gave me a copy of Remember (which absolutely floored me at the time and, regardless of anything that follows in this review, remains one of my all-time cherished possessions and one of my favorite gifts ever).

That great act of kindness took me back and it took me a while to get to an objective place in listening to Remember to review it with the same standards by which I review every other album. So, up front, it is worth reminding my loyal readers (or informing new readers) that: 1. “Live” albums (like holiday albums) are a tougher sell with me than for most; with a “live” album, I am looking to hear something truly different than I hear on the studio-produced album, and 2. “Average” in my schema is not bad. I have a number of things in my personal collection that are average or even below average (items that I might enjoy more than are objectively good or great). Remember is an average album or two-disc set. It is not extraordinary and it is not bad; I enjoy the album, but it is not an exceptional departure from Janis Ian’s studio albums of the 1970s (Remember was originally release in 1978). Given that Remember follows the release of Ian’s single “Stars” it is somewhat surprising that that single does not appear on the album!

With two discs, 22 tracks (12 on Disc 1, 10 on Disc 2), clocking out at a total of XX:XX (46:51 on disc 1, 50:03 on disc 2), Remember is a reconstructed concert album and the story behind its re-release is fascinating (Ian was sent the original masters out of the blue a few years ago and painstakingly reconstructed the “lost album”) and it represents a very cool concert experience culled from two concerts (Japan and Sydney) in the late 1970s. It also represents a great document that showcases Janis Ian’s musical and writing talents. While the album represents her musical talents, it does not showcase much outside what listeners would get from her studio albums from around the same era. And, having seen her live myself now, it is essential to note that an audio recording like Remember does not capture the raw charisma and performance ability of Janis Ian (though one of the between-song stories captures her sense of humor quite well!).

Remember is a live album that utilizes very few of the familiar “live” conceits. Ian smartly removes most of the applause and crowd noises so that her vocals and the instrumentals can be heard better. The minimal crowd sounds that are included are decent reactions to the few stories or speaking moments on the album, as well as applause after her big numbers.

Instrumentally, Remember is a very typical pop-rock album. The instrumental accompaniment to Janis Ian is largely generated by guitar, bass, and drums, with the occasional piano part thrown in. None of the songs presented on Remember are remarkable or fundamental reworks of the original, studio-produced, versions of the songs. Remember does have a rather energetic feel to the concert; it is not a quiet, melancholy presentation by any standard (to wit, her early hits “Society’s Child” – which is more cerebral and contemplative – and the ballad “Stars” are both absent from this concert). The instrumental accompaniment is produced to accompany, not overwhelm, the vocals.

As one might expect from Janis Ian, the vocals on Remember are stupendous. Janis Ian sings each word clearly and precisely, so she can be perfectly understood on every line. The songs on Remember are more of the up-tempo variety, so there are almost no notes that Ian is required to hold or display exceptional lung capacity for. Even so, she demonstrates wonderful vocal force on songs like “Party Lights” and “In The Winter.” She is fast and articulate on songs like “Miracle Row” and “Will You Dance?” Ian has decent range, though on Remember she stays very comfortably within her alto-soprano register.

While most of Remember is focused on songs about the human condition, there are a few bits that tie the music to the time. On “New York In The Springtime,” there are a few dated political references. When Ian sings “I like the recession / Call girls change their rates / Agnew's pitching hell / Nixon can't get laid” (“New York In The Springtime”) on the album, it lacks the relevancy it had at the time.

When Remember was released, Janis Ian was quite the celebrity. With lines like “Applause, applause / Give the singer a break / How much can you give? / How much can you take? / Give the singer a chance / Give the singer a chance / Anything to buy your soul / and maybe she will dance” (“Applause”), it is clear Ian was wrestling with the different facets of her international popularity. “Applause” actually holds up remarkably well over the years as a result.

This is not to say Remember is a morose or overly serious album. Janis Ian has a wit to many of her lyrics and her sense of humor mixes with pathos on songs like “Boy I Really Tied One On.” Janis Ian tells a poetic story, “Boy, I really lost my head / I woke up in a double bed / Allow me the pleasure of taking your measure / though I'm sure you ain't nobody's treasure / (And I know it isn't ladylike / to do what I've done tonight) / Wake up, I've got news for you / Nobody's knocking at your door / Nobody's gonna pull you through / Nobody needs you any more / Nobody's knocking at your door” (“Boy I Really Tied One On”) that is well-presented on Remember.

Ultimately, Remember is a good historical document, but it is no substitute for seeing Janis Ian live (now! She’s touring right now in the U.S.!) or her more career-inclusive Live Without A Net, which is one of the best live albums I have ever heard. Remember is good for variety, but not the most exceptional musical mix.

The best tracks are "In The Winter" (Disc 1) and "Would You Dance?" (Disc 2), the low points are "From Me To You" (Disc 1) and "Maria" (Disc 2) (both for being less memorable, not - per se - bad).

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Concert - East Lansing, MI - March 8, 2013
Janis Ian
. . . For All The Seasons Of Your Mind
Society's Child: The Verve Recordings
Stars
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black
The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD Edition

5/10

For other music reviews, please visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Enchantment And Moroseness: My First Janis Ian Concert (March 8, 2013 – East Lansing, MI)!

For tickets to Janis Ian Concerts, Click Here!
The Good: Amazing lyrics, Great voice, Hilarious stories, Inexpensive
The Bad: Not long enough! :)
The Basics: At the first of her forty concerts for this year, Janis Ian performed classic hits and obscure works that made for an illuminating evening.


Ever since I got married, one of the ways my wife and I have come to understand one another better has come through our giftgiving. I have found many of my most successful gifts to her have been events that allow us to spend more time together. For her, she has found that gifts that give me time to do things I know she does not enjoy are enjoyable for me. Last night, she sent me off downstate to a concert at the Hannah Community Center in East Lansing, Michigan for a Janis Ian concert. I have been to very few concerts and reviewed very few live performances. To date, I have only reviewed Monty Python’s “Spamalot” (reviewed here!) and The Phantom Of The Opera (reviewed here!) as far as live performance go.

I arrived at the Hannah Community Center earlier than anyone else for the concert, which gave me plenty of time to take pictures of the venue and the stage and scouted out the best seats in the house. The Ten Pound Fiddle was presenting Janis Ian and the Hannah Community Center was an exceptional venue. Outside, it reminded me of my old high school in Rochester, NY and was an old brick building with white columns and a far more modern interior. The theater was a two-tiered seating area with about two thousand unobstructed views of the stage. Given that the stage was only to be occupied by Janis Ian, who is a fairly petite woman, there was a lot of space available for the singer. The stage was set up for Ian with two guitars, a stool that held white flowers and a small coffee mug and a single microphone.

As I waited for will call to open up, I was joined in line by two women who had been to several Janis Ian concerts around Michigan. They were very friendly and as they told me about geocaching and we discussed our musical histories, my enthusiasm for the concert only increased. They also got me excited about the idea that I might be able to actually get the Janis Ian record I bought to try to get autographed signed by Ian after the show by assuring me that she very consistently does meet with fans after her shows! In talking with them, I finally determined what I would say to Ms. Ian if I had the opportunity to actually speak with her (I always try to engage celebrities I meet with questions or lines of conversation that they have not addressed in print or in other interviews). After a few irksome newcomers cut us in the will call line (is there no civilization left?!), we got our tickets and I started the line at the second door into the concert theater. The doors opened at 7:15 and I was able to rush to the front row, center to get seats for myself and my new conversational comrades and we sat talking until the concert began at 8 P.M.

After a brief introduction from the head of the Ten Pound Fiddle concert series, the stage lights came up (including a heart-shaped gel for the back wall) and Janis Ian strode out. She wore loose fitting black pants and shirt covered by a silver vest. She came out smiling and the moment she appeared on stage, an energy came into the room that was palpable: she was clearly a performer excited to be out on stage in front of fans. [Here, it is worth noting that I only took notes at intermission and after the show ended. On my way out the door, my wife asked me if I would be reviewing the concert and I said “Probably” and she frowned in a way that indicated to me that she was disappointed that her gift was going to be used “solely” for the purpose of review. So, when I went to the concert, I decided to take pictures and enjoy the experience. That meant not sitting there with my notebook out evaluating every moment. That said, if anyone reading this was at the show and has Ms. Ian’s set list, I will gladly revise as appropriate to get the details to match my (still very fresh) memories. And for readers who might be concerned that I am disrespecting my wife by writing the review when it initially disappointed her, I cleared it with her before writing this and the way Ms. Ian spoke about her impending series of concerts, I thought “If there is anything I can do to bring more people to her concerts, I should do it!” So, the bottomline of this is: GO SEE JANIS IAN IN CONCERT!!!

Janis Ian opened with “This Train Still Runs” and her voice was strong and sad and every line, every word she sang was clear and distinct. She was emotive and expressive from the first note and following her first song, she gave a formal introduction and welcome to the audience. This show was the first of forty shows, which will put Janis Ian on the road for the next eight weeks, essentially circling the United States (counterclockwise from Michigan). She mentioned that when her first song was released, only New York City and Flint, Michigan played it. She then told a story – which she relayed in her autobiography – about performing in California and getting heckled. She then performed her breakout hit “Society’s Child.” Ian changed the tempo slightly and the notes sounded extraordinary as she sang her socially-conscious song.

Before the intermission, she sang eight or ten songs including “My Autobiography,” a jingle she created for a celebration on the Thames, and other slow, guitar-driven songs. Singing about fame and the power of music, Janis Ian was emotive and vibrant. She made a playful ad lib during “My Autobiography.” Between many of the songs, Janis Ian spoke and she was funny. In fact, Janis Ian has a sense of comic timing and comic subjects that are hilarious. Ian spoke about writing her autobiography, her wedding preparations in Nashville and getting married in Toronto (followed by a hilarious new song that is available on her website), and just how perky her music is.

Following the intermission, Ian returned to stage with a blue metallic vest to replace her silver one. In the second half of her set, she sang a new song about aging gracefully, told a story about working with Joan Baez, and “The Last Train.” Whatever the song she sang after “The Last Train” was, I have no idea; the power and impact of hearing that sad song live put me in such a fog that I seriously could not process the next song. Coming out of my shock, I was able to enjoy the remainder of the set. Ian spoke earnestly about having a hit early on in life and the alchemy of live performing. Ian was profound as she spoke about the power of live performance and the magic of performing in front of an audience thrilled to be there.

Ian closed her second half of the set with “At Seventeen” and the live rendition of it was predictably incredible. She came out for an encore, where she performed “Jesse,” sitting a foot away on stage on her guitar case from where I was seated in the audience! What was particularly extraordinary about her performance of “Jesse” was that as she sang it, it clearly affected her; tears welled up in her eyes even as she performed a song that she has performed live thousands of times in her long career.

The audience treated her to a second standing ovation, but the house lights came up. After the concert, I waited in line half an hour to meet Ms. Ian and she did, in fact, sign my album and I spoke with her on a topic that seemed to surprise her and it was a wonderful moment (at least for me).

Seeing Janis Ian perform live was an extraordinary experience. For $20 (+ venue fees bringing the total to almost $22), the audience was treated to two hours of music and comic entertainment that was thoroughly entertaining. From Ian smirking through her own rendition of “I’ve Got You, Babe” to her performing her classic tracks with all the emotion and clarity that one would hope from the master poet, Janis Ian puts on one hell of a show. Anyone who loves great folk music and genuine comedy that is thoroughly entertaining should spend an evening with Janis Ian. She is worth traveling as far as one has to; but for the next thirty-eight shows, she is bound to be near a venue close enough to make the trip worthwhile.

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
. . . For All The Seasons Of Your Mind
Society's Child: The Verve Recordings
Stars
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black
The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD Edition

8/10

For other reviews of music, please be sure to visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD Is A Decent Retrospective Of The Artists’ Career!

The Good: Amazing lyrics, Great vocals, Generally good instrumental accompaniment
The Bad: Inconsistent instrumental accompaniment, DVD is unimpressive
The Basics: With her impressive, multi-decade spanning career, The Best Of Janis Ian does a pretty good job of encapsulating the artist’s body of work.


When an artist has been in business for decades and decades, consistently producing new works, it is tough for fans to pick up a compilation from them and get excited. It’s not hard to get excited about an album or compilation because one does not love the artist. Still, the usual catch-22 of an artist with a long career is whether to do a “Greatest Hits” or “Best Of” work – the difference being that a “Greatest Hits” album is usually the successful singles that virtually everyone will know vs. what the artist and/or fans believe are the best works the artist produced. Janis Ian makes that pretty simply with The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD. And while there are always going to be songs one misses from such a compilation, the real test for me for The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD came in not finding songs I remembered absolutely loving. The fact that “Hunger,” “Too Old To Go ‘Way Little Girl,” and “Folk Is The New Black” were overlooked on a “Best Of” album was unforgivable to me.

That said, Janis Ian, who produced The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD wrestles just fine with the other essential question artists need to when making a career-spanning compilation; whether or not to use the familiar, radio-played versions of songs or alternate versions. Janis Ian makes a decent mix of standard versions of her hits and alternate, non-album, previously unreleased versions of some of her most familiar (or best) works. The two-disc set features 31 tracks, seven of which are previously unreleased and another of which is the single version of one of her three biggest hits (“At Seventeen,” which appears on all three discs).

With three discs, thirty-one tracks (outside the DVD), clocking out at 61:57 and 56:46, respectively, The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD is very much the work of Janis Ian. Of the thirty-one tracks (29 songs), all but 6 are written by Janis Ian alone and five of those that are not are co-written by the artist. The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD showcases Ian’s talents amazingly well as she wrote the songs, provides all of the lead vocals, and plays instruments on virtually every track. As well, she selected the tracks and produced the album; this is very much her musical vision.

Instrumentally, The Best Of Janis Ian reveals a strong progression from a girl (she was a girl at the outset of her career) on the guitar, to a woman comfortable with more complex musical arrangements on the guitar and piano. The songs range from the musically (on the instrumentation front, at least) simple “Hair Of Spun Gold” and “Stars” to the more robust “God & The FBI.” Janis Ian’s works tend to be slower and more focused on articulating the lyrics, though she strums along faster on songs like “My Autobiography.”

Vocally, Janis Ian’s works are similarly diverse. Her career began with her as a very natural soprano and she has developed, as time has passed, into an amazing alto. While the album begins with her young , slow soprano presentation on songs like “Hair Of Spun Gold,” “At Seventeen,” and her breakout hit “Society’s Child” (where she actually shows some pretty extensive range and awesome lung capacity), she presents in lower registers for “My Autobiography,” “God & The FBI,” and “Through The Years,” which are later works of hers.

Lyrically, Janis Ian is amazing and the comparisons made between her and Bob Dylan are apt. Both are incredible poets and, like Dylan, Janis Ian’s works range from the deeply political (“God & The FBI,” “Society’s Child”) to standard love songs (“Every Love,” “Through The Years”). She has a healthy dose of simply creative works, songs about the basic human experience (“Ginny The Flying Girl”) and tracks about fame and her own celebrity (“Stars,” “My Autobiography”). Janis Ian is an amazing poet and almost all of her lyrics on The Best Of Janis Ian are incredible for the poetics. In fact, the only stand-outs to the contrary are the ones from “Ginny The Flying Girl” where it is clear rhymes were the priority, as opposed to meaning. No matter how many times I hear “She rode through the sky like an elephant's eye” (“Ginny The Flying Girl”), I wince. Elephant eyes do not fly, reach the sky, and cannot be ridden (gross!). It is the lone example on this album of bad poetics.

Far more common on The Best Of Janis Ian are inspired lyrics with both great imagery and a powerful statement. Ian captures love and loneliness with lines like “Jesse come home / There's a hole in the bed / Where we slept / Now it's growing cold / Hey Jesse, your face / In the place where we lay / by the hearth, all apart / It hangs on my heart / And I'm leaving the light on the stairs / No I'm not scared - I wait for you / Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home” (“Jesse”). Ian is a master poet who has the ability to tug the heartstrings expertly.

That is not to say Ian is without wit and humor. Even on The Best Of Janis Ian, she includes that side of herself and she does it with humor and punch on “My Autobiography” like a seasoned professional. When she sings “I know you and I'll agree / What this world needs is a lot more me / Well, I have got the remedy / Gonna write my autobiography / I've led a fascinating life / Had a husband and a wife / But you will truly be amazed / At just how humble I have stayed” (“My Autobiography”), the listener is invited in to a deeply ironic and engaging poem that pays off to the sensibilities, as well as the senses, line after line. Lyrically, The Best Of Janis Ian illustrates the power of the written word when set to music in an excellent and uncompromising way.

The DVD that comes with the exclusive three disc set is, alas, not enough to justify the added effort of hunting it down. The DVD is comprised exclusively of concert footage from a show in the late ‘70s, the opening scrawl of which notes that this was an atypical show performed overseas attempting to meet the more energetic expectations of the audience had for her. The songs are good, but are presented in more of a rock-style performance and Ian herself seems surprisingly stiff. Unlike simply hearing her on her live album Live: Working Without A Net, which captured her charisma and the idea that she was having fun with her performance, the concert footage on the DVD exclusive to this album set makes it look like a whole lot more work and Ian does not seem to be having fun, nor does she interact with the audience. It might be an interesting historical document, but it is not a disc one will get a lot of mileage out of.

In the end, though, The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD is a wonderful way for those who are unfamiliar with the works of Janis Ian to get into her library and for those who are fans to get a pretty incredible mix of the artist’s extensive career in one place. The best tracks are “God & The FBI” (Disc 1) and “Through The Years” (Disc 2) and I could have lived without “Thankyous” (Disc 1) and “Ginny The Flying Girl” (Disc 2). Even so, the detractions are nowhere near enough to negate the selling points of The Best Of Janis Ian - 2 CD + Exclusive DVD!

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
. . . For All The Seasons Of Your Mind
Society's Child: The Verve Recordings
Stars
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black

8/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing of all my music reviews!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Janis Ian Explores Loneliness, Celebrity And Life With Society’s Child: The Verve Recordings.

The Good: Great voice, Many of the lyrics, Themes of loneliness
The Bad: Moments that are musically derivative of itself.
The Basics: It's easy to see how Janis Ian was huge in the late 1960s but Society’s Child: The Verve Recordings makes the argument that she ought to be required listening for any music lover!


Society’s Child: The Verve Recordings is a two-disc compilation set that includes all of the material on Janis Ian's first four recordings from her record company at the time. So, here's what I decided to do: Because disc 1 is Janis Ian and all but one track of ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind, I’ve provided links to those two reviews and new material for the second disc. Unlike one of my usual reviews, this might seem a little stylistically clunky, but I hope those reading this get the concept and can dig it because Janis Ian's work is truly extraordinary and these four albums, er, two discs, make for an incredible listening experience.

So, with that: Disc 1 of Society’s Child: The Verve Recordings includes the albums Janis Ian (reviewed here!) and her sophomore album ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind (reviewed here!).

Disc Two, then, encompasses Janis Ian's albums The Secret Life Of J. Eddy Fink and Who Really Cares (before closing with a stray track from the prior album!). With over seventy-seven minutes, the disc packs in twenty tracks that see a return to form more in line with Janis Ian.

The second disc features all tracks written and performed by Janis Ian. She sings on all the songs and plays guitars, piano and organ as well. She relies on more accompanying musicians on the latter half of the disc and the difference between the two albums encapsulated on the second disc seems to be that Janis Ian co-produced and co-arranged the first eleven tracks, but that the eight tracks that cap off the album were produced by another. But given that she seems so integrally involved in the various aspects of the album, it seems reasonable that this is truly her musical vision.

And it is an impressive vision. Those who think they might be ignorant of Janis Ian's works might well recognize "Love You More Than Yesterday" from television commercials (which is where I believe I've heard the song before). Vocally, Ian challenges herself quite a bit more than she has. With "Everybody Knows," she opens the album with a speed singing that is very different from the stark emotionalism of much of her prior material. She then moves into more vocally pop-driven performances with "Mistaken Identity" and especially the brief track "Friends Again." She has a laid-back funky sound with songs like "Time On My Hands" and "Love You More Than Yesterday" that makes her sound like a more mainstream pop-rock star.

Ian has a beautiful voice that is quite capable of traversing the alto and soprano ranges, though she seems pretty set on the alto range for more of this disc. She still goes higher, as she does on tracks like "When I Was A Child," "What Do You Think Of The Dead?" and "She's Made Of Porcelain." But more of her presentation is the husky vocals that make up "Love You More Than Yesterday."

She even experiments a bit with production elements and they work well on tracks like "Son Of Love." There she poses questions and her production-altered voice answers with a haunting effect that works to allow her to truly tell a musical story.

Lyrically, Janis Ian remains convincingly adult, despite her youth when writing much of the material here. This is actually something that she explores with her lyrics like lines like, "Once I was a child on the outside / Now I am a child on the inside / . . . I used to be a child" ("When I Was A Child"). Whereas the prior works might have been somewhat obsessed with loneliness, here Janis Ian opens herself up to growing thematically. She sings about love, changes in her life, being an artist, and longing ("Time On My Hands").

She also has a bevy of musical stories that tell little vignettes of time and place like the emotive "Galveston" and the moody "Month Of May." She tells wonderful musical story-songs with lines like "Hotel rooms on the road sometimes get lonely / When you turn out the lights / Hotel rooms on the road / You're not the only one sleeping in your bed tonight / Oh I'd like to see you / Knocking at my window . . . " ("Month Of May").

Janis Ian evokes the comparisons with Bob Dylan with her energetic folk-rock songs that border on pop music, like her song "Friends Again," which sounds like one of Dylan's early enthusiastic one man guitar tracks. Ian grows into a generally richer sound over the course of the second disc, affirming that the musical diversity of the Janis Ian portion of the first disc was not just an ambitious debut bit. Instead, it seems she is more comfortable with being accompanied by a richer sound.

So, for example, on "Sweet Misery," she has her vocals out in front of a powerful electric guitar and pounding drums that make her musical point so much stronger than the waifish sound her lone guitar and voice sometimes had. On "Look To The Rain," Ian is belting out plaintive vocals with bongo drums rapping out behind her and it works wonderfully!

The only real drawback here is that the instrumentals and music begin to sound derivative, often of herself. In addition to a few of the tracks sounding remarkably like works by Bob Dylan, some of the tracks sound like one another. So, for example, "When I Was A Child" and "Son Of Love" sound remarkably similar and "Month Of May" and "Time On My Hands" use a number of the same progressions. They sound good, but they sound like one another, making one wonder if forty-one original tracks over the course of only three years might have burned the young woman out some!

At least the weaknesses is in the (occasionally) derivative music as opposed to the lyrics which remain fresh.

On the second disc, the superlative track is the memorable and recognizable for a reason, "Love You More Than Yesterday" and the weak link is the indistinct "Baby's Blue." The overall collection is certainly worthwhile, well above average and a must for anyone who truly loves folk-rock music!

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Stars
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black

8/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page where the reviews are organized Best to Worst!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Janis Ian’s Sophomore Album Remains ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind .

The Good: Great voice, Many of the lyrics, Thematic sophistication
The Bad: Moments that are musically derivative of itself, Short
The Basics: ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind helps illustrate just how Janis Ian became enough of a phenomenon to survive beyond her debut album!


So, here's the thing. I've fallen in love with the early works of Janis Ian. Her later works may be just fine, but I haven't heard them yet. I got my hands on a few old Janis Ian records - yes, actual long out-of-print records! - and was listening to them before I got a stack of her c.d.s in. The result is that I listened to her debut, Janis Ian on record and was blown away by it. I then listened to and reviewed her sophomore album ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind before discovering that it was so long out of print that it is very hard to come by.

Sophomore albums are a challenge for any artist. When one has been successful with a debut, the pressure on a sophomore album to prove that the debut was not a fluke is immense. As someone who just this week discovered the albums of Janis Ian, I was blown away by her debut Janis Ian. I was actually a little afraid to pop on her sophomore effort, ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind, because I was so impressed by her first endeavor. I knew I would want to love the follow-up and I was worried that I would be polarized by it, either hating it or loving it unjustly.

As it is, after seven listens, ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is a slightly better than average album and one that I certainly do not hate. But it does lack some of the magic of Janis Ian. That said, it's still better than 90% of the crap being made in pop-rock and folk-rock music today!

...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is an eleven track album clocking in at forty-six minutes. All of the tracks were written and performed by Janis Ian, though the arrangements are credited to her and "everyone else in the band" according to the liner notes. In addition to singing, Ian plays the guitar, piano and organ on the album. In many ways, this is the artistic vision of Janis Ian, one of the youngest and most talented women to ever grace the folk-rock scene. It is not an inapt analogy to compare her to Bob Dylan and since I've started listening to her, I'm aching to know if Dar Williams was influenced by her works.

...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is a far more intimate album than Janis Ian's first, both in terms of instrumentals and themes. The predominant theme on the album is loneliness and listening to the album, one gets an immediate impression of being separated from what one loves and appreciates. Ian uses less instruments and the production is very straightforward, focusing on Ian's voice.

Janis Ian has an incredible voice that skips along the alto and soprano ranges without ever becoming shrill. She is a musical storyteller, like Dylan, Baez and more recent artists like Dar Williams. Actually, this album resonates more like one of Heather Nova's more intimate albums, like Storm (reviewed here!). While Ian is more clearly established as a folk-rock artist on this album, she caps off the album with the explosively poppy song "Insanity Comes Quietly To The Structured Mind." But for the most part, these songs are a mellow collection of tracks that have a very intimate quality to them.

Part of that intimacy certainly comes from the fact that Ian's natural voice comes through on every track, with a rather un-retouched sound to it. The impression one has when listening to ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is that one is sitting in a coffee house or that Janis Ian is sitting in one's living room performing a (mostly) acoustic set for the listener.

And Ian's voice is perfect for the musical stories she sings; low enough that the words may be perfectly articulated, high enough to allow for a truly melodic presentation. She is not just a gifted lyricist, she is an impressive singer and she is not afraid to challenge her range some, like going a little lower for the opening of "Bahimsa." For the most part, though, she finds herself in the upper ranges singing refrains with a passion and sadness that is breathtaking.

On "There Are Times," Janis Ian belts out her lyrics with a strength and force that contrasts with the intimate bridges she uses in the song. So, she quietly establishes the musical premise with the setting of her musical story, then goes loud and forceful for the emotional resonance, then diminishing for such simple likes like "There are times I wish I could be a little bit stronger" ("There Are Times"). The oscillations between the sweet and the soulful are exceptional for their complexity and expressiveness and when she ends "There Are Times" with a simple "please help me" it is sung so purely that it could evoke tears.

And many of her lyrics maintain the high standards that she set with her first album. Loneliness dominates and generally the lyrics are more intimate and personal than political. In fact, the only truly, overtly political song is "Shady Acres," which is all about the decrepit state of nursing homes in America. She sings ironically about the concept of nursing homes with lines like, "So you've grown tired of your parents always hanging around / Now they spoil your children and hiding grand parents is out / Yes and they raised you well / Jewish to hell / But think of the ways so you wouldn't have to pay for their food / Forget all the years when they paid for you . . ." ("Shady Acres"). Outside a few drastically predictable rhyme schemes like "blame/shame" she continues to have a fresh grasp of lyrics that manages to sound original even forty years later!

While she mentions the Captain America and counterculture movement on songs like "Lonely One," she escapes creating a generic '60's political folk song by instead exploring the problems of being an artist instead of the politics. She sings about trying to find a place in the art community and not quite fitting, with a sense of universality that transcends simply being an exploration of being an artist. In other words, the cultural references in the song establish a setting of being an artist in the late 1960s, but she reflects on that isolation in a way that is universal for anyone feeling like they are an outsider.

And most of the songs are about existing in a state of being alone. She has a strong sense of poetics and her lines are beautiful and haunting containing a level of diction that seems only common within the confines of folk music. Possibly the best track on the album, "Sunflakes Fall, Snowrays Call" Ian writes and sings, "Lonely here, forever dreaming / My life is teeming with a yearning / I'd like to be learning / And it's summer out on the street / Sunflakes fall, snowrays call / Hey mama, it's me saying "hi" / A policeman walks a most solitary beat." And while the unique and clever configurations of sunflakes and snowrays make it wonderful poetics, it is the way the musical accompaniment falls away to let Ian's voice carry the kicker line that truly translates the lyrics into music. She has a strong sense of voice and an amazing sense of personal expression that makes every listener feel like their struggles are not alone.

For the most part, ...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is a very traditional folk-rock album. Janis Ian appears on most of the tracks as a woman with her guitar or piano singing ballads and musical stories that have a simplicity to them that does not challenge the range of folk-rock. Unlike some of the truly funky and mind-bending tracks on her debut like "Younger Generation Blues" which used a siren as an instrument and had a whole backing vocal section and "crowd scene" noises (which I usually loathe, but she completely made work!), this album is far more traditional. The piano muses gently on "Evening Star" and her guitars are much more traditional and quiet on songs like "Queen Merka & Me." And "Shady Acres" sounds like the archetypal folk-rock one-person, one-guitar sound.

One of the few musical exceptions to this general rule is the opening track "A Song For All The Seasons Of Your Mind," which has a more frantic quality to it. Despite not being listed in the instruments used on the album, I would have sworn there was a zither in it. It is a strange song as Ian sings in the upper ranges, sublimated to the instrumentals which include a lot of strumming on guitars and what sounds like a zither. It is a somewhat noisy track and its unfortunate that it opens the album as it sets up a somewhat unrealistic expectation in the listener for what is coming next.

But after the funky blues sound of "Honey D'Ya Think?" the album maintains a much more consistent instrumental and vocal sound with the Ian fronting a quiet guitar. It's adequate, but the instrumentals are not so exceptional that I sat up and was amazed at anything on this album.

...For All The Seasons Of Your Mind is bound to be liked by anyone who likes folk-rock music and anyone who likes a strong feminine voice. On those fronts, Janis Ian delivers. But anyone looking for a diverse pop-rock experience is bound to be underwhelmed and those who do not want to risk being depressed, this album might not be for you. After all, this is Janis Ian as a woman isolated singing about feeling alone.

We can all relate to that, but we might not all want to listen to it.

The best track is "Sunflakes Fall, Snowrays Call" with its beautiful poetics and perfect expression of a solitary existence. The weak link is "Queen Merka & Me," which left no impression even after eight listens to the album.

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
Stars
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black

6.5/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Janis Ian's Stars Is Decent Elevator Music.

The Good: Good lyrics, Great vocals, Decent instrumentals
The Bad: SHORT!
The Basics: Despite being a bit "elevator music-esque," Stars is a solid album that is a bit short for a c.d. but otherwise is a phenomenal Janis Ian outing!


[Note: This review was originally written when I used to write reviews for a different site. There, I tried to make an event for my readers for my last review of one year and the start of the next year. So, for 2009, I opened with this review and the opening reflects that. I have decided to keep that opening simply because I like the sense of renewal to it and it does not detract from the review itself. Thanks for reading! – W.L. Swarts]

As we jump forward into a new year, I find myself thinking of what made 2008 at all memorable for me. Honestly, one of the things that did it for me had to have been my discovering the music of Janis Ian. I had never heard of Janis Ian or any of her songs. Now, I have listened to, reviewed and hunted down almost all of her albums (links at bottom!) and I have been astonished by how I never knew of her or her works before now. One of the last albums in my 2008 cache, which I am proud to make my first review of 2009 is Janis Ian's classic album Stars.

Janis Ian had a career as something of a musical prodigy in the pop-rock/folk-rock world, exploded with hits and potential by the time she was sixteen and then sank into obscurity for years after her teens. Stars was her return to the spotlight as an adult artist and she also returns to her roots as a folk-rock artist with an album that is melancholy, contemplative and utterly adult in its execution. This is also Ian's venture into adult contemporary, emphasizing her voice and lyrics over production elements and other distracting stylistic tells. And it works to establish her as a serious, articulate and well-presented artists.

With only eleven tracks, clocking out at 40:54, Stars is distinctly the work of Janis Ian. Ian wrote all ten songs (the eleventh is a bonus track on the c.d. of the live version of "Jesse" from Working Without A Net, so she wrote that at least as much as she wrote the original studio recorded track that appears three tracks prior). Ian provides the lead vocals on each song and plays guitar on seven tracks and piano on five, so she is constantly playing at least one musical instrument!

On the production end, Ian is not credited with any form of production credit, however, she is credited with being a co-arranger on every track. Given that she wrote the music, lyrics and arranged the songs, it is hard to see how the producer had much creative control that Ian herself did not already have. As a result, it is fairly easy to declare this the musical vision of Janis Ian.

And what a musical vision it is! For those who like light rock or folk rock, this is pretty much everything one could want, save long. Janis Ian has a great voice, which ranges from low and forceful, like on "Dance With Me" and she sings beautiful and haunting soprano on songs like "Thankyous." Vocally, Janis Ian is not to be denied on Stars. She is articulate and expressive and while the album has a somewhat homogenous quality, it is hard to listen to her vocals and deny that they are anything but truly notable. Ian has both range and articulation and the more music I review the less I find that combination to be as prevalent as I once thought it would be.

What originally drove me to the works of Janis Ian, though, were her lyrics and on Stars this is no exception. The title track is one of Ian's most recognizable tracks and "Jesse," which appears twice on this album, is her most-covered song. But what catches me about the album is how melancholy it is while maintaining a strong sense of poetics. Ian muses on stardom (“Stars”), loneliness ("Without You") and desire ("Sweet Sympathy"). No matter the subject, Ian makes the songs both listenable and poetic.

Take, for example, the haunting sounds of "The Man You Are In Me." Ian presents a poetic exploration of sorrow and loss with a sense of rhythm that almost is a chant when she sings "I love the man who waits beside you / I love the man who hides behind you / I love the shadow though it disappears / I love its afterglow reflected through the tears / I love the shadow in my tears / I love the dreams you can't remember / Lost in the early waking hours / I love the season of forever" ("The Man You Are In Me"). Throughout the lines and the song there is a strong sense of lack of fulfillment and she creates a musical protagonist that is instantly easy to empathize with.

Even her more introspective songs on her own experiences still have a strong sense of poetics. It is hard to deny that Stars is a lyrically a great song and despite the singsong nature of it, "Applause" is a great song that accurately captures what it is like - especially the insecurities - being an artist. Ian writes from experience when she sings of her younger days performing: "Applause, applause / Give the singer a chance / Treat her right / Be polite / Maybe she will dance / Applause, applause / Give the singer a break / How much can you give / How much can you take / Give the singer a chance . . . Anything to buy your soul / And maybe she will dance" ("Applause"). She makes the performance as universal as the act of listening to her music! Listening to her lines, we feel like we are being manipulated, just as she feels pressured by her audience.

And it is easy to see why her biographic song "Jesse" is so frequently covered. The sad song of abandonment resonates with its lines like "Jesse, the floors and the boards / Recalling your steps / And I remember, too / All the pictures are fading / And shaded in grey / But I still set a place / On the table at noon / And I'm leaving a light on the stairs / No I'm not scared - I wait for you / Hey Jesse, I'm lonely, come home" ("Jesse"). Truly Janis Ian is a poet and her lyrics resonate for anyone who has lost anyone in their lifetime.

As far as the instrumentals go, Stars is a very quiet, melancholy and difficult album, with the songs quietly resonating. All of the tracks - save "Applause" - are slow, sad, piano or guitar-driven tracks that are defined by a tone of longing and a general lack of percussion. This leaves Ian's voice to carry much of the album and that works out well, as she has an amazing voice.

This album is best for those who appreciate quiet adult contemporary or the quieter aspects of folk-rock. If James Taylor was ever to cover an album of Janis Ian's, one suspects Stars would be the one he would do. It is that smooth sound, gentle instrumentation and attention to lyrics that makes this album an enduring success.

The best track is "Jesse," the low point is the fairly unmemorable "You've Got Me On A String."

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
Between The Lines
Aftertones
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black

7/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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Janis Ian Goes Bland And Mediocre With Aftertones.

The Good: Lyrics, Musical creativity
The Bad: Vocally unexciting, Instrumentally mediocre for the majority. SHORT!
The Basics: Janis Ian presents a remarkably indistinct recording with Aftertones, an album with no strong musical or vocal endeavors.


There is something refreshing about panning an album where there is little stress in doing that because the artist herself has wishy-washy feelings about their work. Indeed, after ten listens to the Janis Ian album Aftertones, which resulted in a complete inability to recall all but a single line from, I opened the c.d. case and discovered a note from Janis Ian on the album. She opens her notes with the lines "I consider Aftertones an interim album, seriously flawed in places, very exciting in others." It's the "seriously flawed" part I hear; I suspect the "very exciting" part for Janis Ian comes from the fact that sales in Japan were so incredible that she was able to afford a house from the sales of this album alone (no kidding).

But as I enter my twelfth listen to Aftertones, I'm a loss of what to write about it. This 1975 album is plagued by instrumentals that blend one into another and vocals that mash up into an indistinct, narcoleptic mix of light rock that is so unenthusiastic that it was only reading the liner notes to remind myself that Janis Ian is an amazing poet (even on this album) that I was able to rate it higher than "avoid it at all costs!"

With eleven songs, clocking out at 37:06, Aftertones is an unfortunate work by gifted singer-songwriter Janis Ian. Ian wrote all of the songs and provides the lead vocals on each and every song. As well, she plays guitar on six of the songs and piano on four of the others. While she arranged many of the songs - like the string section on "Goodbye To Morning" - she is not given any form of production credit on the album. Were I reviewing this back in the day, considering the works of James Taylor and others around this time, I would probably dub this Janis Ian's sellout album. As it is, it's just musically disappointing in the way it mimics the soft, flowery pop-rock of the time.

Gifted with a strong education in folk-rock music, Aftertones reveals a very different sensibility from musical artist Janis Ian. On this album, she presents slow, soft ballads that are so homogenous the album is completely boring to listen to. In fact, musically, this might be the most limited Janis Ian album as she takes no real risks instrumentally and backs her guitar or piano driven songs up with woodwinds and stringed instruments for a more orchestral sound that still bores listeners.

She manages to be somewhat creative on "I Would Like To Dance," which appears early on the album and breaks up the monotony with a Latin rhythm and sound, including the use of congas and a wooden flute.

What saves the album from utter failure is the strength of the lyrics. The songs may sound boring, but they are great to read with their strongly poetic lines. Indeed, after twelve listens, I can't tell you anything about the melody or instrumentals to "Roses," but it has great lyrics with its poetic refrain of "And there'll be roses / In the springtime still / I guess there will / I wish her roses and song / And she'll be older / As the years go by / And how they fly / She will be lonely / Without me along." Despite the simplistic rhyme scheme, Janis Ian writes a haunting song that includes the perspective of one who has died as the voice.

Moreover, it is easy to see why Japan embraced "Love Is Blind." Love is universal and Ian incredibly captures that sentiment on "Love Is Blind" with her lines "Love is blind / Love is only sorrow / Love is no tomorrow / Since you went away / Love is blind / How well I remember / In the heat of summer pleasure / Winter fades / How long will it take / Before I can't remember / Memories I should forget / I've been burning / Since the day we met." There may be many problems with Aftertones, but the writing is not one of them. Janis Ian has a remarkable ability to express the longing and conflict that come from love and breakups.

As far as the presentations go, though, the only lines that stick out on this entire album are from "Boy, I Really Tied One On." While the other tracks blend together with melodic, homogenous vocals, that song actually articulates something. Indeed, the only way I knew sometimes I was in another iteration of listening to Aftertones was when I heard Janis Ian singing "Wake up, I've got news for you / Nobody's knocking at your door / Nobody's gonna pull you through / Nobody needs you anymore . . . Boy I went around the bend / Thought I'd made a life-long friend / Imagine my surprise when I looked into your eyes / And I saw the kind of friends you meant" ("Boy, I Really Tied One On"). The song is horrific in its statement of how relationships change and the expectations some have for the protagonist. It's a thoroughly depressing, but emotionally accurate, piece.

Part of what makes Aftertones so insufferable are the vocals. Janis Ian has a great voice with exceptional range. On this album, she blends her alto and soprano voice with the instrumentals such that they overlap and essentially become auditory sludge. Ian fails to enunciate on any of the tracks, save "Boy, I Really Tied One On," at least in a way that the vocals overcome the instrumentals. The bonus track (exclusive to the c.d. release) with the live version of "Love Is Blind" (lifted directly from her album Live: Working Without A Net) is similarly vocally forthright in places, but also fades such that she cannot easily be heard.

The real vocal exception is on "Hymn." On that song, Ian is accompanied vocally by Clair Bay and Odetta. The three harmonize beautifully. The unfortunate aspect of that is that their vocal harmonizing is done in virtually the same way the string sections play on adjacent tracks, so auditorily it continues the overall sound of the album rather than breaking it up.

Janis Ian has many great albums (see below). This is not one of them. Anyone looking for a sleep aid might get some mileage out of Aftertones, but for the rest of us, there are other, better albums.

The best track is "Boy, I Really Tied One On" and outside "Love Is Blind," all of the rest of the tracks could be reasonably considered weak tracks.

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
Between The Lines
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net
Folk Is The New Black

4/10

Check out how this album stacks up against others I have reviewed by visiting my Music Review Index Page where musical works are organized best to worst!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Janis Ian Is BACK! Folk Is The New Black Is Great!

The Good: Wonderful lyrics, Interesting music, Good vocals
The Bad: Does not strain the expectations of Janis Ian
The Basics: Funny, soulful and deep, Folk Is The New Black reminds listeners that Janis Ian and folk-rock can still have relevancy!


To the casual observer of my reviews, it might seem like I have rather suddenly gone soft. After all, I have suddenly hit a string of reviews where I am rating things rather high. As it turns out, I have just stumbled upon a pretty wonderful bunch of items in the last few days and as a result, it is making me appear as something less than the curmudgeon I usually am at reviewing. Stick around, there will be a lot more I pan in the very near future!

However, after a few weeks of listening to only James Taylor, I decided to put my library's interlibrary loan system to the test and I requested a whole load of Janis Ian's works. Right around the time I got in a new load of James Taylor, a whole lot of Janis Ian came in and despite myself, I couldn't resist forsaking Taylor for the latest full album by Janis Ian, Folk Is The New Black. And on it, Ian reminds the listener she is still here and she still rocks!

With fifteen songs clocking in at a second under fifty-five minutes, Folk Is The New Black ought to give hope to all artists whom the pundits claim "peaked young." Ian wrote all fifteen songs and provides the lead vocals on all of them. She is credited instrumentally with "guitars, etc." and what the "etc." is is a bit of a mystery. Considering that the guitar is the primary instrument on the album, Ian has quite a bit to do. At least as important for anyone looking at the creative control of the artist, Folk Is The New Black was produced by Janis Ian, so it is pretty much indisputable that this is her artistic vision and the album she wanted to release - which also might explain why it is on an independent label.

The thing is, after all of these years, Janis Ian still clearly has something to say and her folk rock sound may be familiar, but she uses the medium well. In fact, while God And The F.B.I., one of her other recent albums, dabbled in production elements to an extent that Ian's listeners might not have been comfortable with, Folk Is The New Black finds a rather impressive balance. On this album, Janis Ian effectively combines the lyrical strength and sensibilities of her young self with the orchestrations that dominated her sound in the 1970s with the production elements that she has now become comfortable with and her own sense of maturity. Yes, Janis Ian has something to say still and in this incarnation, Ian's works take on a status that soars above traditional folk while retaining the heart, message and diction that separates Ian from every other folk-rock artist, past and present.

A lot of what Janis Ian has going for her is in her lyrics. Janis Ian is an excellent lyricist and on Folk Is The New Black, she mixes the political ("Danger Danger," "The Drowning Man") with the deeply personal ("Standing In The Shadows Of Love," "Joy") to the professional and introspective ("Life Is Never Wrong," "My Autobiography"). She balances thematically with the brilliance of her humor on “Folk Is The New Black” (the final track on the album) with the heartwrenching emotion of "All Those Promises." Track to track, Ian reveals herself to be a cunning manipulator of emotions and this album keeps her words vital and compelling.

Take, for example, Ian's ability to tell story-songs. Like any folk artist, Janice Ian is talented at creating musical storysongs as she does on "Jackie Skates," "The Drowning Man," and "The Crocodile Song." On that last storysong, she creates a snooty female character who is the embodiment of the man-eater and she follows her through a song where "She said 'Darling meaning no offense . . .' / 'Good God Almighty, those teeth are huge / No way I'll do the hokey pokey with you' / So they went to the dentist, who pulled all but two / Ain't it amazing what love can do" ("The Crocodile Song"). The jazzy song meanders through victims of the woman who go to obscene lengths to please her, often at their own peril and to their discomfort. It's impressive that she makes it so musical, but she does!

As with all of the past albums by Ian that I have heard, Janis Ian is intensely political and on Folk Is The New Black, she continues that tradition. She opens with a song about suppressing art ("Danger Danger") and continues with the strongly political with "The Great Divide," where she sings "While politicians lie and cheat / To get to higher ground / We follow them like sheep / And salute them as we drown / But no man will be king / When all men wear the crown / And there will be a reckoning / From deep inside the rising tide / As we tear down the walls / Of the Great Divide." Yes, it takes a lot to get a mainstream musical artist to sing a socialist anthem, but in Folk rock this is pretty common and Janis Ian makes a doosey with "The Great Divide."

This is not to say that she is all political. On "All Those Promises," she goes deep and soulful and the track resonates like her mid-70s songs without the schmaltz factor. In other words, she lets the words carry the emotion as opposed to telegraphing the emotion through overbearing instrumentals. Yes, there is a crescendo reminiscent to some of her mid-70s works, but the focus is definitely the lyrics and the sense of loss and betrayal one has from being lied to. Similarly, "Shadows Of The Wind" is agonizing in the lyrical intensity for the universal emotions of loss the song expresses.

Janis Ian also has a pretty wild sense of humor and she allows it to come through and have its day on the final track of the album (as well as tongue-in-cheek humor on a number of her political songs and "My Autobiography"). On the song “Folk Is The New Black,” she makes a blatant advertisement for folk-rock music. Indeed after several exhortations on the greatness and enduring quality of folk-rock music, she gets a whole chorus to accompany her with singing "Folk is the new black / Cheaper than crack and you don't have to cook / Download it and see / First time is free, then you'll be hooked / We'll be singing hootenanny songs / Long after rock and roll is gone / Better than crack - folk is the new black" (“Folk Is The New Black”). It's catchy, it is funny and it is pretty hard to dispute (at least for those of us who like folk and have never tried crack). Janis Ian does a wonderful service to her cause with the tune.

And at the very least, all of the songs on Folk Is The New Black have something to say or an emotion to express. They are sung by Janis Ian who has a sultry voice that has decent range from a husky alto and goes into the soprano range on several of the songs. Ian is not afraid to use her full range, though most of the songs stay in the safe range as embodied by "Shadows On The Wind" where she appears most comfortable.

Despite some of the songs, like "All Those Promises" having production elements or somewhat extensive instrumental backings, most of the songs are Janis Ian, her guitar and minimal percussion. The songs are generally mid-tempo, though there are ballads and more upbeat or rocking songs. There is a good diversity of sound on the album.

Within the larger context of Janis Ian's audio library, though, she is beginning to illustrate the problems with having a career that spans four decades. "Danger Danger" has essentially the same tune as the track "God And The F.B.I." and "The Crocodile Song" appears to be the tune of a classic jazz track. Indeed, the first time I heard it, I thought it was a cover - it sounds like "Fever" or a song that I would swear was "What a little love can do." Regardless, this is not the most musically exciting album in the known universe, but it is hard to imagine there would be many (if any) folk-rock fans who did not enjoy it.

Anyone who likes a strong, progressive, feminist voice and/or folk-rock music will find something to love on Folk Is The New Black.

The best track is "Haven't I Got Eyes," the low point is the strangely unmemorable "Joy."

For other works by Janis Ian, visit my reviews of:
Janis Ian
Between The Lines
Breaking Silence
Revenge
Hunger
God & The F.B.I.
Billie's Bones
Live: Working Without A Net

7.5/10

For other music reviews, be sure to check out my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing of the music reviews!

© 2012, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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