FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tracy-Bonham/256580408000
wiki:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Bonham
Tracy Bonham – The Burdens Of Being Upright
1996
I doubt I’ll ever get sick of this album. The songs are in yer face, short and pack a punch. Rob New can vouch for me loving the album, and why. One thing I love is the format. 12 songs, 35 minutes, average of 2.5 minutes per song. That’s 12 x 2.5 minutes of “Fuck You. Please.”
Whilst some songs, like Mother Mother go from pretty to nasty quite brashly, others have the same “format” but transition from pretty to grungy seamlessly. I like that.
Tracy’s biggest song has been Mother Mother. That’s the opening song and how very apt, too. As the chorus says, “EVERYTHING’S FINE!” [says/yells]. The album keeps going with that same vigor and intensity. Like Mother Mother, the album (in fact the songs individually) have a very sweet tone to them. That is until the attitude flips. Then it’s like seeing the nasty side of a lovely girl.
If you like Nirvana, Alice In Chains or Hole, I reckon you’d love Tracy Bonham. However, I would take Tracy over Courtney Love any day of the week. She has attitude and talent. A nice voice with a great edge and some great song writing skills.
Stand out songs are Mother Mother, Navy Bean, Tell It To The Sky, Brain Crack and Sharks Can’t Sleep. That said, every song rocks yer socks off.
9.5/10
Tracy Bonham – Down Here
2000
Honestly, I probably haven’t given Down Here a fair go. I blame that on Burdens being such a brilliant record.
It is by all means a good solid album. In fact a few of the songs would be right at home on Burdens. Others seem to have taken a dark turn; I would almost say with undertones of Tool and the like (the sound is NOT like Tool, but there are sounds that remind me of them… if you get my drift). There’s also a bit more electronic/pop and even a Jane’s Addiction hue in one of the tracks.
She still has the same awesome voice, but it’s not so raw this time ’round. She’s still got her punk chik thang goin’ on and still got a few suprises.
I’ll be honest, it’s not as good as Burdens [to me], but if this was the first time I heard Tracy I wouldn’t change the station. The album doesn’t quite have the flow either. A lot of the tracks are great in their own right and are very different to eachother. Perhaps this is what actually lets the album down, if anything.
Standout tracks are Behind Every Great Woman, You Don’t Know Me, Cold Day In Hell, Second Wind and You Can’t Always Not Get What You Don’t Want.
7/10
