Search - Marianne Faithfull :: Broken English / Strange Weather [MFSL Audiophile Original Master Recording]

Strange Combination

Pieter | Johannesburg | 12/13/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

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Tracks 1 to 8 on this double CD come from Faithfull's 1979 album Broken English. Although the boundaries have shifted in the decades since its release, the once controversial Broken English has lost none of its trenchant appeal. And despite Courtney Love and many angry grrrl groups using explicit lyrics, Why D'Ya Do It? still sounds shocking, perhaps because it was written as a poem by Heathcote Williams. Faithfull's version of Lennon's Working Class Hero is as sharp as ever, while the brooding title track is still relevant today.



The dramatic and tuneful Ballad Of Lucy Jordan has become quite a standard and could easily be considered a country weepie, while Witches Song remains eerie and anthemic. The sound is typical 80's rock with tight musicianship supporting this classic monument to decadence and despair. This is probably Faithfull's best selling album of all time for all the wrong reasons! The other two albums from the same period, A Child's Adventure and Dangerous Acquaintances, are worth investigating too. Nevertheless, Broken English stands tall as a masterpiece of broken taboos, subversive poetics and timeless songs.



Tracks 9 to 20 come from the Strange Weather album, an exploration of the blues and the art song that represents a detour from her pop-rock direction. Faithfull proves that she can do the torch song and the blues very well. But this is just a matter of personal taste and I find the album rather gloomy and of passing interest, except for the blissful Sign Of Judgement, a very true and moving gospel song, and this version of As Tears Go By. For the rest, it is a morose and subdued exercise but will definitely appeal to a part of her fan base. The album is certainly worth having just for the two aforementioned gems.



This combination of Broken English and Strange Weather is strange in a way but makes sense too. Musically and chronologically Broken English, A Child's Adventure and Dangerous Acquaintances fit together very well. By combining Broken English with Strange Weather from 1987, two very different expressions of Faithfull's talent are showcased. The packaging and sound quality of this CD are superb. I give it five stars for tracks 1 to 8 and three stars for tracks 9 to 20.

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