Search - Michelle Lewis :: Little Leviathan

Michelle Lewis
Little Leviathan
Genres: Folk, Pop, Rock

Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
1. Nowhere and Everywhere - Michelle Lewis, Cohen, Wayne
2. Homesick
3. Loaded
4. Outside - Michelle Lewis, Lewis, Michelle
5. January's Child
6. Liquid Heat
7. Mr. Marigold - Michelle Lewis, Lewis, Michelle
8. Ground Zero - Michelle Lewis, Cologne, Renee
9. Everyday Alien
10. Storytellers
11. Dig Me Out
12. Poor Dead William - Michelle Lewis, Lewis, Michelle

CD Details

All Artists: Michelle Lewis
Title: Little Leviathan
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Original Release Date: 8/11/1998
Release Date: 8/11/1998
Genres: Folk, Pop, Rock
Style: Singer-Songwriters
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 075992470421, 075992470445

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Here we go again. Add Michelle Lewis to the long, tired list of female singer/songwriters with acceptable vocal skills and passively interesting lyrical content. Her voice is similar to Juliana Hatfield's, with a little Meredith Brooks swimming around in the lower register. The most this album can offer is Friday-night background music for college freshman girls casually perfecting their pop vibrato in the forgiving acoustics of a dormitory bathroom. Little Leviathan is a girl-power brown-out at best. But this isn't a reason to condemn the album. The reason this album is condemnable is that Lewis is no street-urchin musical newbie. She's the daughter of saxophonist Morty Lewis. She has reasonably impressive songwriting credentials and associations with well-known musicians. She was smart enough to enlist Steve Fisk as producer for this record. And although the album is indeed perfectly produced, entirely inoffensive, and even pleasing, at this stage of the game, there is just no reason in the world to make another album of this type after Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Paula Cole, Sarah McLachlan, Joan Osborne, Tracy Bonham, Melissa Etheridge, and all the others have been there and done that to death. --Beth Bessmer

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CD Reviews

Good at first, and it grows on you

Anonymous Coward | New York, NY | 06/30/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The "professional" reviews of this CD I've read are just plain wrong. I don't care about Miss Lewis' credentials or lineage, I care about whether I enjoy a CD or not. I've gotten much more than my money's worth listening to these tunes, and I believe most people would. There are some songs you like immediately (January's Child), and some which get better as you listen to them (Loaded), but as you listen your enjoyment will evolve into an appreciation for this budding artist's writing and voice that transcends the poppy hooks and clean production values. I hope her next album is low budget and a bit harder edged, but I plan to buy it nonetheless."

Amazing songs of Michelle Lewis

Allen Bruce | Brodhead, Wisconsin USA | 09/29/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Little Leviathan" is one of the few cd's in my collection that I consciously replay time after time. The lush sound of her music is captivating and compels you to sit and listen. Her musical understanding and mastery of lyrical composition is astounding.In all of her songs, Michelle has woven a rich tapestry of lyrics and music which I find quite uncommon. Michelle's songs showcase her talent from somber tunes such as "Outside" to more coloured tunes like "Loaded".In short, Michelle Lewis has a talent for constructing songs that have perfect balance between music and lyrics. I've lent "Little Leviathan" to several friends and I have yet to find anyone that disagrees. This is an excellent recording to add to anyone's collection."

The Perfect CD

Allen Bruce | 11/10/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, so Michelle Lewis isn't a household name - yet. But if you listen to her music you can't deny that she should be soon! I heard Nowhere and Everywhere in the fall of 1998, and it soon became my anthem. I got the CD in the spring and I still love it! She isn't writing about the same pathetic lost love stories, she's writing about feeling alienated, and not by smashing into walls in overdone music videos. I don't think any other artist really captures lonliness in such a subtle, creative way. She's a storyteller, and she's telling some terrific stories."

Strong but not unique.

Allen Bruce | 03/24/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Lewis' record "Little Leviathan" is a fair effort, but it seems a tad pedestrian considering some of the other singer/ songwriters out there. There is very little to recommend it over, say, the last Shawn Colvin record. (Coincidentally, Colvin compatriot John Leventhal produces "Homesick" on the disc). I don't understand the Alanis Morrisette comparisons. (Not being an admirer of Ms. Morisette in the least, I think it's an insult to Lewis' vision as an artist).Still "Nowhere and Everywhere" should have been a top ten single and "Homesick" has teeth enough to be convincing. The touching "Poor Dead William" and narrative "Outside" (is that in 6/8 time?-nice!) are standouts along with the two previously mentioned tracks. If Lewis steps out of the shadow of her influences and producers I could see her creating a serious album of beauty and depth. (I mean for this to be a three 1/2 stars record, but Amazon doesn't allow for finer distinctions than one star)."

A new face in familiar territory

Allen Bruce | 09/10/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"True, as the Amazon critic says, there is little new here, but I can't trash this outing on those grounds. True, her father is a legendary musician, but that doesn't mean her blood automatically makes her a great artist. She's a good songwriter with a good enough voice who has written some consistantly good tunes and performs them well. True, she did go into the studio with a top-shelf producer, but even Daniel Lanois has an off day and can't always push product over the top with his magic touch. I enjoy this CD. The tunes are good. The lyrics are good and quirky enough, often enough to keep the listener interested. I hear so many CDs with so little going for them, CDs where 2 good songs is all your money's worth, that it's a pleasure listening to something like this, where every song is at least decent and some are really quite good. Michelle won't save or transform the world with this project, but she can sit next to me and play in my ear anytime. I walk my dog down the same route every night in my neighborhood. One night I saw a great tree. It was huge and lush. I'm not certain how I'd missed it on the thousand plus walks I'd been on. It's a tree, nothing new, but there it was and I was glad it was there in familiar territory. Likewise, I'm glad Michelle Lewis is the new tree in my familiar neighborhood."