Real Life (2CD Special Edition)

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-04-13 rating:
An Arresting Performance
My first encounter with the wonderful Ms Wasser
came in 2005 when I saw her open for Rufus Wainwright
at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London.

On that occasion I felt embarrased and ashamed that the
audience movement to and from the bar resulted in so much
extraneous noise that it was almost impossible to hear her.

Her frustration was palpable, as was mine.

Through the din however it was just about possible to discern
the emergence of a powerful new talent.

A year on and the release of 'Real Life' confirms my suspicion.

Ms Wasser is indeed a songwriter and performer of the finest pedigree.

She possesses a distinctive voice of considerable range and tonal colour.

Quirky, slinky, warm and commanding.

Her notable skills as a multi-instrumentalist are also evident
throughout this collection of ten extraordinarily varied songs.

The harmonic vocal arrangements on tracks such as 'Eternal Flame';
'The Ride' and 'I Defy' ( a duet with the splendid Mr Hegarty)
manage to be both complex and soulful.

The bluesy intimacy of 'Anyone' and 'We Don't Own it' are heartwarming.

A commendable debut demonstrating that Ms Wasser is firmly
on top of her game and not about to play second fiddle to
any of her illustrious friends.

The bigtime beckons methinks.

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review by: Jules date: 2007-11-04 rating:
grown up fun
Having come across JOPW's music through a friend, I was expecting something fairly decent. I was thrilled by what I found. It's grown up music with a definite edge which leaves you wanting more. The lyrics are emotive and the music that accompanies them burrows into you and leads you in a direction you weren't expecting. She is also a charismatic woman who performs well live. Don't pass her by!

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review by: gv_cherian date: 2007-03-08 rating:
An absolute delght!
Its not often I listen to BBC 6 Music, or keep up with all the hype that passes for music reviews these days, but one day, on the dial, there came on a song by Joan as Policewoman. Nice I thought but did not want to rush out and get the album. So often in these cases you do that and there's about a couple of decent songs and the rest is filler, and you regret parting with your money! Anyway a few months from then, last week in fact, I wander in to a store, and on an impulse get it finally.
And you know what- not a single duff track on it! No sooner are its 38 minutes up, and I press repeat again. So addictive, and lovely and beguiling an album! When this sort of thing happens, (and lets face it, it happens RARELY), you know you've stumbled into something special. A beautiul moment- that gets better with every listen!

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review by: date: 2007-01-13 rating:
Very talented singer-songwriter, but a little too slow paced for me
Another CD I bought after being having it continuously recommended to me by Amazon. Looking at the other reviews suggested that this was something not to be missed.

So what of it? Well I'm not sure it deserves to be up there as one of the best albums of 2006 but it is good. As a debut this shows considerable accomplishment. Joan Wasser certainly has an excellent voice and the production quality on this album is sublime. Musically it's good throughout. But what about the songs? Whilst they are well written they do lack a little ... "oomph".

The opener "Real Life" is excellent but the following tracks do seem to become a little indistinguishable after a bit. Most of the songs are slow crooning affairs that owe more than a little to 80's chanteuse Sade. "Christobel" and "Save Me" are a little more upbeat and save the album from dropping into little more than something put together by a night club singer (admittedly a very good one).

Okay so I know this review won't please everyone but even though this work is very accomplished it lacks a little originality for me and suffers from being a little slow-paced. If you like good well-written albums by talented female singer-songwriters then this will suit you down to the ground. She is very talented no doubt but I hope as she progresses she tries to get a little "edgier". A good buy but not album of the year!






review by: date: 2006-08-09 rating:
A well-taken risk!
Having read favourable newspaper and Amazon reviews of Joan As Police Woman, I decided to take a risk and check this album out, despite not having heard any tracks from it-I'm really glad I did. Although Rufus Wainwright and Antony and The Johnsons can sometimes seem a little 'off the wall' in their musical styles,I nevertheless enjoyed the latter's album last year-for all those who find Anthony Hegarty's work a bit strange and thus are worried that JAPW's album is going to be of a similar strain, do not fear-'Real Life' is a very good album with great melodies sung by an incredible voice (Joan's vocals reminds me of Regina Spektor,)without being too 'arthouse'.

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