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Tracklist (CD)
| 1 | | When Your Heart Is Weak | | 4:04 | | 2 | | Burning My Rowboat | | 3:10 | | 3 | | A Family Tie | | 3:14 | | 4 | | Ireland | | 4:32 | | 5 | | Unwinding | | 3:54 | | 6 | | Guns Of Love | | 3:49 | | 7 | | I Don't Know Why | | 3:54 |
See more tracks| 8 | | For No One | | 3:12 | | 9 | | When We Ran | | 4:01 | | 10 | | Broken Bicycles | | 3:13 |
* Items below may differ depending on the release.
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Review
During the Eighties, female pop performers generally fell into two categories: soul-baring singer-songwriters like Tracy Chapman or glossy dance divas like Paula Abdul. Lost in the shuffle, somehow, were the great interpreters; except for K.D. Lang on Shadowland, no one came close to the classic work of Bonnie Raitt or Linda Ronstadt.But after paying dues as a singer with De Danann, the Irish traditionalist band, and in Nashville, Maura O'Connell has emerged as a worthy contender on A Real Life Story. O'Connell's crystalline… Read More voice – her most direct antecedent is probably Fairport Convention's Sandy Denny – fuels an impeccable collection of well-chosen songs about love and loss, from Shawn Colvin's "I Don't Know Why" to Lennon and McCartney's "For No One." O'Connell glides easily from acoustic ballads like "Family Tie" (adding depth to the woeful lyrics by having her three sisters sing backup) to the more Pogueslike martial stomps "Ireland" and "Guns of Love." The production by Greg Penny, who produced Lang's Absolute Torch and Twang and who engineered Rickie Lee Jones's Flying Cowboys, is spare and to the point; the expert musicians, led by drummer Jim Keltner and guitarist Dean Parks, put a further shine on O'Connell's pearly timbre. Many stylist-songwriters have had difficulty sustaining quality over time, but O'Connell's beautiful readings and wide-ranging sources promise a bountiful future. (RS 611) DAVID HANDELMAN |
