Kind Hearted Woman

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Kind Hearted Woman
Studio album by
Michelle Shocked
Released1996
LabelPrivate Music
ProducerBones Howe
Michelle Shocked chronology
Kind Hearted Woman
(1994) 		Kind Hearted Woman
(1996) 		Mercury Poise
(1996)

Kind Hearted Woman is an album by the American musician Michelle Shocked, released in 1996.[1][2] It is a rerecording of her 1994 album, which was sold at her concerts.[3] The album was released by Private Music, after Mercury Records declined to release any further Shocked albums.[4][5] Shocked eventually disentangled herself from Mercury, and was able to take all of her masters with her.[6][7] Shocked supported the album by touring with her band, the Casualties of Wah.[8]

Production[edit]

The album was produced by Bones Howe.[9] Members of Hothouse Flowers backed Shocked on the rerecording.[10] Kind Hearted Woman was inspired by the death of Shocked's grandmother, most specifically on "Fever Breaks".[11][12] Three of its songs were originally written for a dance performance.[13]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Robert Christgau(dud)[15]
Los Angeles Daily News[16]
Los Angeles Times[17]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[11]
Spin7/10[18]

Spin wrote that Shocked is "curious about all the musics of America, wants to feel each texture by hand, without sounding blithely postmodern."[18] The Los Angeles Times stated that "the songs range from angular acoustic rock to barroom swing to country pop, occasionally recalling alterna-divas Kristin Hersh and Johnette Napolitano."[17] The Sun-Sentinel concluded that "stripped-down arrangements and a clear haunting vocal style, ripe with folkish mannerisms and strange countrified rhythms, keep Shocked visions crystalline as icicles."[19]

The Los Angeles Daily News noted that, "while her hauntingly beautiful delivery is sometimes reserved, it is mostly marked by the ebullience of a woman on the edge."[16] The Santa Fe New Mexican deemed the album "a darkly sensuous work of thrilling depth and compassion."[20] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch determined that "these thoroughly grim folk songs set in rural mid-America are remarkable for their clarity and intelligence."[21]

AllMusic wrote that, "like Bruce Springsteen on his Nebraska album, Shocked was concerned with what sounded like Depression-era issues of poverty and hard times in the heartland."[14]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Stillborn" 
2."Homestead" 
3."Winter Wheat" 
4."Cold Comfort" 
5."Eddie" 
6."A Child Like Grace" 
7."Fever Breaks" 
8."Silver Spoon" 
9."The Hard Way" 
10."No Sign of Rain" 

References[edit]

  1. ^ Powell, Alison (Dec 1996). "Kind Hearted Woman". Interview. Vol. 26, no. 12. p. 46.
  2. ^ "Media Picks". Mother Jones. Vol. 22, no. 1. Feb 1997. p. 72.
  3. ^ "Michelle Shocked Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  4. ^ Cohen, Jason (November 1, 1996). "Shocking". Texas Monthly.
  5. ^ "Still Shocked". The New Yorker. June 6, 1994.
  6. ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (July 6, 2005). "Michelle Shocked". Paste.
  7. ^ Strauss, Neil (September 26, 1996). "Paul McCartney, Beatle and Deadhead Director". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Corcoran, Michael (10 Oct 1996). "Quick Picks". Austin American-Statesman. p. 4.
  9. ^ Reece, Doug (Sep 28, 1996). "Shocked back in public eye via Private". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 39. p. 9.
  10. ^ "Michelle Shocked Reaches Accord with Record Label". MTV News.
  11. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1010.
  12. ^ DeMarco, Jerry (8 Nov 1996). "Three Chords and Something to Say". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 3.
  13. ^ Harrison, Tom (24 Oct 1996). "Michelle shocked: She has clawed her way back to the sunshine". The Province. p. B4.
  14. ^ a b "Kind Hearted Woman". AllMusic.
  15. ^ "Michelle Shocked". Robert Christgau.
  16. ^ a b Cosin, Elizabeth M. (11 Oct 1996). "Sound Check Pop". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L29.
  17. ^ a b Nichols, Natalie (6 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked, 'Kind Hearted Woman'". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 90.
  18. ^ a b Miles, Milo (Jan 1997). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 10. p. 86.
  19. ^ Schulman, Sandra (27 Oct 1996). "Shocked cool and clear". Sun-Sentinel. p. 3F.
  20. ^ Prince, David (11 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked Breaks the Established". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 33.
  21. ^ Hampel, Paul (31 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 9.
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