Staring down her Fear
Gerald D. McGee | Henderson, NV United States | 09/02/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Getting ready for the release of the new album by Amy Rigby. Heard she moved to Nashville. I used to live in her neighborhood in Brooklyn, so I'm curious to hear what effect the move will have had on her music. I was familiar with the first rate material on Diary of a Mod Housewife, and I find this album to be even better. Give it a second chance. Amy spends a great deal of time reflecting on the past. When she does look forward, it seems like there is a lot of dread on her horizon. I think the songs serve as a snapshot of a life awaiting transcendence. I hope she's found it, but even if she hasn't, I bet the new album is going to be way more interesting than 99% of the crap that is currently out there."
Intimate observations of mid-life single parenthood
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 01/24/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Rigby's debut, "Diary of a Mod Housewife," fueled by her divorce from dB's drummer Will Rigby, It effectively wedded the visceral anger of Alanis Morisette with the pop instincts of Big Star. Her follow-up traces the next step, turning from the remains of her crumbled marriage to the single-parenthood at midlife. She struggles with an empty canvas that has boundries proscribed by work and children.Rigby captures both the lingering bitterness ("All I Want") and wistful memories ("The Summer of My Wasted Youth") of the-life-left-behind. Her present tense is a jumble of pressures, from keeping oneself emotionally intact, to juggling children, finances, and a love-life. She struggles with dating, singing to her children, "What I need / For you to disappear / But still be here / When he goes home." She ponders her 30-something invisibilty and dreams of escaping from the soap opera of her life to a fairytale world of happy endings.Rigby doesn't so much wear her heart on her sleeve as strap it down for a dissection and probe. The results are quite illuminating, if not always comfortable."
GREAT ALBUM!!!
E. C Goodstein | Northern CA United States | 04/01/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I don't disagree with the other reviews of "Middlescence," but I think it's even better than "Diary of a Mod Housewife." This
is country rock that REALLY rocks when she wants to, but also
gets the country themes too. And there are even some jazz
(or New Orleans Dr. Longhair anyway) touches & a couple folkier moments. I think it's one of the best rock AND/OR country albums of the '90s. "The Sugar Tree" is great too-- but it's a bit
more country. This one's a touch more varied IMO."