Kind Hearted Woman | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1996 | |||
Label | Private Music | |||
Producer | Bones Howe | |||
Michelle Shocked chronology | ||||
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Kind Hearted Woman is an album by the American musician Michelle Shocked, released in 1996. [1] [2] It is a rerecording of her 1994 album, which was sold at her concerts. [3] The album was released by Private Music, after Mercury Records declined to release any further Shocked albums. [4] [5] Shocked eventually disentangled herself from Mercury, and was able to take all of her masters with her. [6] [7] Shocked supported the album by touring with her band, the Casualties of Wah. [8]
The album was produced by Bones Howe. [9] Members of Hothouse Flowers backed Shocked on the rerecording. [10] Kind Hearted Woman was inspired by the death of Shocked's grandmother, most specifically on "Fever Breaks". [11] [12] Three of its songs were originally written for a dance performance. [13]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau |
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Los Angeles Daily News | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | 7/10 [18] |
Spin wrote that Shocked is "curious about all the musics of America, wants to feel each texture by hand, without sounding blithely postmodern." [18] The Los Angeles Times stated that "the songs range from angular acoustic rock to barroom swing to country pop, occasionally recalling alterna-divas Kristin Hersh and Johnette Napolitano." [17] The Sun-Sentinel concluded that "stripped-down arrangements and a clear haunting vocal style, ripe with folkish mannerisms and strange countrified rhythms, keep Shocked visions crystalline as icicles." [19]
The Los Angeles Daily News noted that, "while her hauntingly beautiful delivery is sometimes reserved, it is mostly marked by the ebullience of a woman on the edge." [16] The Santa Fe New Mexican deemed the album "a darkly sensuous work of thrilling depth and compassion." [20] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch determined that "these thoroughly grim folk songs set in rural mid-America are remarkable for their clarity and intelligence." [21]
AllMusic wrote that, "like Bruce Springsteen on his Nebraska album, Shocked was concerned with what sounded like Depression-era issues of poverty and hard times in the heartland." [14]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Stillborn" | |
2. | "Homestead" | |
3. | "Winter Wheat" | |
4. | "Cold Comfort" | |
5. | "Eddie" | |
6. | "A Child Like Grace" | |
7. | "Fever Breaks" | |
8. | "Silver Spoon" | |
9. | "The Hard Way" | |
10. | "No Sign of Rain" |
Kind Hearted Woman | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1996 | |||
Label | Private Music | |||
Producer | Bones Howe | |||
Michelle Shocked chronology | ||||
|
Kind Hearted Woman is an album by the American musician Michelle Shocked, released in 1996. [1] [2] It is a rerecording of her 1994 album, which was sold at her concerts. [3] The album was released by Private Music, after Mercury Records declined to release any further Shocked albums. [4] [5] Shocked eventually disentangled herself from Mercury, and was able to take all of her masters with her. [6] [7] Shocked supported the album by touring with her band, the Casualties of Wah. [8]
The album was produced by Bones Howe. [9] Members of Hothouse Flowers backed Shocked on the rerecording. [10] Kind Hearted Woman was inspired by the death of Shocked's grandmother, most specifically on "Fever Breaks". [11] [12] Three of its songs were originally written for a dance performance. [13]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Robert Christgau |
![]() |
Los Angeles Daily News | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Los Angeles Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | 7/10 [18] |
Spin wrote that Shocked is "curious about all the musics of America, wants to feel each texture by hand, without sounding blithely postmodern." [18] The Los Angeles Times stated that "the songs range from angular acoustic rock to barroom swing to country pop, occasionally recalling alterna-divas Kristin Hersh and Johnette Napolitano." [17] The Sun-Sentinel concluded that "stripped-down arrangements and a clear haunting vocal style, ripe with folkish mannerisms and strange countrified rhythms, keep Shocked visions crystalline as icicles." [19]
The Los Angeles Daily News noted that, "while her hauntingly beautiful delivery is sometimes reserved, it is mostly marked by the ebullience of a woman on the edge." [16] The Santa Fe New Mexican deemed the album "a darkly sensuous work of thrilling depth and compassion." [20] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch determined that "these thoroughly grim folk songs set in rural mid-America are remarkable for their clarity and intelligence." [21]
AllMusic wrote that, "like Bruce Springsteen on his Nebraska album, Shocked was concerned with what sounded like Depression-era issues of poverty and hard times in the heartland." [14]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Stillborn" | |
2. | "Homestead" | |
3. | "Winter Wheat" | |
4. | "Cold Comfort" | |
5. | "Eddie" | |
6. | "A Child Like Grace" | |
7. | "Fever Breaks" | |
8. | "Silver Spoon" | |
9. | "The Hard Way" | |
10. | "No Sign of Rain" |