Maybe the best folk pop album ever made this 1988 debut comes in at number 90 on the Best of the 80's list. Lyrically it's solid from start to finish with solid melodies, but the key to this album is Chapman's singing. At 24 she already had a smooth, strong, and expressive voice. Something you wouldn't expect from someone so young.
The sad thing for Chapman was that she produced such a brilliant debut. Though she still continues to put out solid albums she has never been able to match this one.
In these reviews I don't usually talk in detail about individual songs, but I would like to say something about "Fast Car." 23 years after it's release I have come to appreciate this song as maybe the best folk pop single of all time. The lyrics are simple and effective, the sound is both hopeful and haunting, and her performance is full of emotion and life. It is one of those rare songs that I cannot turn away from when I hear it.
This is a great album for long drives full of conversation.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 4 out of 5 stars for Really Good.
I prefer Suzanne Vega's first album.
ReplyDelete"Fast Car" is a perfect song. When that thing came on the radio, it just sliced through all of the standard fare. There was other music that sounded like it being made (Suzanne Vega's records, for example), but that stuff never got on the radio. While I agree with GoHeath that very often more is more, Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" was very definitely a case of less is more because Radio 1988, otherwise, was all more, pretty much all of the time.
ReplyDeleteRadio 1988 in Bowling Green, Ky., I should say.
ReplyDeleteOK, I just listened to Yahoo! Music's "Class Reunion 1988" station to see if I was remembering correctly. Yes, I was. Made it through 2.25 or so hits from that year.
ReplyDelete