I all but gave up on Aimee Mann after her undeniable masterpiece "Bachelor No. 2." Each record since has had a moment or two of brilliance because Aimee Mann is a special singer and songwriter. But mostly, all of those albums starting with 2002's "Lost In Space" right through 2017's "Mental Illness" left me cold with nothing to hold on to. I remember nothing other than a slow to mid tempo sameness. That might not be a popular opinion, but as a fan since Til Tuesday's debut, I knew what I wanted and needed to hear, and I wasn't hearing it.
That said, I wasn't going to bother with the recently released "Queens Of The Summer Hotel." But I did bother and I am sure glad I did. This is Aimee Mann's return to form; a masterpiece in its own right.
"Queens Of The Summer Hotel" is an absolutely gorgeous collection of songs and melodies, understated and beautifully delivered, as if Miss Mann was fronting The Left Banke. My initial reaction after the first run through was to just begin again, but I chose to wait. I wanted this feeling to last. So I cleansed the palatte with a few other records and went back a second time, and that go around was even better.
Most of the songs are just piano and strings, but even if the subject matter gets a bit dark, the melodies are euphoric. What makes this different than the "slow to mid tempo sameness" of the previous four records I mentioned above? I can't give a definitive answer to that other than, these songs instantly connected, while records like "Mental Illness" and "@#%&*! Smilers" felt like a lot of work for no pay.
I've been wanting this from Aimee Mann since "Bachelor No. 2" and I lost hope that I'd ever get it. "Queens Of The Summer Hotel" could end up being my favorite record of 2021.
11 comments:
This is a really good album from a really talented artist!
It is a great album. Bachelor #2 is such a classic, it's difficult to compare anything else in her catalog to it, but this one is right up there.
I don't know if it'll make my "best of", but it would be in the list of albums that almost made the cut if it doesn't.
Boy, these sound really, really good. Too bad no vinyl release...
Anyone heard the vinyl edition(s) of Bachelor #2? Very pricey, one of 'ems a MOFI.
Randy
She has made a couple of my favorite albums but has fallen out of favor with me over the years as nothing has come close to her earlier output. She recently opened up for Rufus Wainwright, and I was so excited to see her as it had been decades since I saw her last. It was so awful that I wasn't even going to sample the new one. Now that I've listened to these 3 cuts I have to listen to the rest. "Home By Now" is simply stunning and the other 2 cuts show a return to form. Thanks for opening my ears.
Randy,
Vinyl release is 12/17 on Aimee's website and the end of January on Amazon.
There is a RSD release of Bachelor No. 2 that is a little less expensive than the MoFi and it's fantastic.
Thanks for the heads up on the LP being available sooner on Aimee's site.
I think the hero of this album is Paul Bryan. His production has breathed much needed life into a lot of the songs that were D.O.A. in concert.
I had not listened to Bachelor #2 in quite awhile and had forgotten what a stunner it is. Many songs start out in sort of Aimee's mid tempo style but explode by the end. Really a great album. Whatever and Charmer are a couple of other good ones.
Personally, I dug her Christmas album Drifter In The Snow and her most recent Mental Illness too. But I wholeheartedly agree this new album (containing songs she wrote for a stage musical version of the memoir Girl, Interrupted) is excellent.
Hmmm...., maybe its time I give Ms. Manne another chance, too. Only thing I liked after Bachelor #2 was the soundtrack to Magnolia. Maybe that's the commonality?!? Thanks, Sal.
ETA - I just finished listening to it and I'm trying to peel my face off the floor. Its that damn good. Ms. Manne is def back.
I agree that there can be a certain "sameness" to her records. But "Goose Snow Cone," from Mental Illness is a stunner, maybe my favorite song of hers.
And, maybe it's better not to delve into its meaning/inspiration, but, if you do,it might end up in 2nd place on one's "Best Songs About Cats" list, second to John K. Samson's, of course.
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