Search - Mary Lou Lord :: Baby Blue

Great Album, Wish I Didn't Have To Wait Six Years

Pop Kulcher | San Carlos, CA USA | 03/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Pop Kulcher Review: A much-appreciated return, with six years passing since her last (and only) full-length studio release. Worth the wait? Pretty much, yeah. As on '98's Got No Shadow, Mary Lou is backed by a full band, alternating between folky, acoustic numbers and upbeat pop-rockers. As always, her frail, child-like vocals and decent fretwork set her apart from most of her peers. Nick Saloman (best known for his trippy psychedelic indie rock albums under the Bevis Frond Moniker) continues his working relationship with Lord, this time around writing or co-writing nearly every song. That's a mixed blessing; he writes to her strengths, so it's a solid fit, but she's a decent songwriter in her own right, and it would be nice to hear more of her own voice -- of course, as the numerous covers on past EP's (not to mention 2002's solo acoustic Live City Sounds album) confirm, she is a less than prolific songwriter, and does just fine as an interpreter of others' work, so I'm not complaining. On the whole, I'd say there are fewer out-of-the-ballpark winners here than on Got No Shadow (which benefitted from a few outstanding songs that had been in her repertoire for some time). However, the album sounds better; its predecessor had a dull, overpolished sheen to it, while Baby Blue positively jumps out of the speakers, with guitars ringing and chiming. Even when the tracks tend to blend together, Lord's shimmering, wispy vocals keep your attention. In addition to the Lord/Saloman tracks, there are two covers this time around. The title track is pretty loyal to the immortal Badfinger classic (and it's always nice to see some royalties go to the estate of the late great Pete Ham) -- but it's an uninspired pick (like-minded Barbara Manning did a fine job with it a decade ago, and Superchunk side-project Portastatic offered it up on an EP just a few weeks ago). More interesting is her take on Pink Floyd's "Fearless" (one of the finest moments from Floyd's pre-Dark Side folkie era), though I would've preferred a bit more prominence to Lord's vocals and less emphasis on Saloman's psychedelic guitar workout at the end. In any event, it's an excellent album, a nice addition to the sadly slight Mary Lou Lord canon."

Excellent album; she sounds great with a full band!

cplewis | Merrifield, Virginia United States | 03/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Folksinger Mary Lou Lord has always sung other people's songs, and she continues that tradition here, working with Bevis Frond mastermind Nick Saloman, playing both Frond songs and newly-penned Saloman tunes. She usually performs solo, but here she's got a full band to back up her breathy voice.Overall, this is a solid effort from Lord, her first studio album in quite some time. Much of the album is peppy and upbeat, but she reworks the Frond's melancholy "Why Stars Burn Out" almost certainly as a memorial to her longtime friend Elliott Smith. With that song and with all the other covers on this album, she takes other people's songs and makes them clearly her own."

The return of Mary Lou Lord

Mr. Gary L. Shapiro | Aptos, ca USA | 03/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mary Lou Lord is back with a very beautiful new cd recorded in England with her friend Nick Saloman of Bevis Frond. The songs are lovely and beautifully sung in Mary Lou Lord's tiny voice. She has been suffering from dysphonia, a disease which makes it difficult for her to speak or sing, and yet she has created her best work yet."