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Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine is an oddball revue and this is to be expected coming from post-anxiety blues and the high drama surrounding the album, years before its final release. Phew, what a relief for all of Fiona's fans that firstly, good musicians' album releases see the light of day and secondly, that she has not lost that richness of melodramatic voice and creativity that accompanied her previous albums. We are ushered into this oddball revue with sneakily gentle pizzicato strings and the striking of a single bell. Soon Fiona comes on like a new Marilyn Monroe, her voice full of Hollywood pout and petulance. The orchestration never "explodes," as it were, into histrionic strings and bombastic horns - it remains a cool, subtle instrumental bed for Apple's lovely vocals. The chorus, with its insanely memorable "Be kind to me, or treat me mean/I'll make the most if it/I'm an extraordinary machine," is off-setting in its innocence. On the phrase "Extraordinary machine!," Apple sounds like a beaming schoolgirl, aged seven or eight, having just learned what a miraculous, beguiling thing the human body is. There is the charmingly childish pride of new knowledge in her voice on this phrase, that feeling of absolute joy in the ability to overcome, with one's knowledge of one's self, even the most insurmountable of emotional molehills. (Little Billy figured out how to tie his shoes, look at 'im beaming!) I've never heard a singer capture this rare feeling so perfectly or concisely. It's really quite remarkable, and portends great things for the album. The rest of the album has understated gems such as Red Red Red, Oh Sailor and Oh Well. Her ferocious honesty reaches dramatic melancholic levels in the lines "I was looking with calm affection, you were searching out my imperfections, what wasted unconditional love, on somebody who doesn't believe in that stuff"- she lays her heart and utter disappointment out to rest and it resonates with us all. This is a contrasting throwback to 1995's Criminal when she laments oh how she's been a criminal for breaking a man's heart. She's all grown up ladies and germs, and we've gotta salute her for her emotional equanimity.The vaudeville-esque tunes are a delightful listen such as Please Please Please and Tymps (Sick In The Head. There is amazing drumwork and harmonic instrumentation and we can't help but look for the lyrics to the songs and sing to them cos it's just so infectiously good. Fiona's a force to be reckoned with! Sweet!Read full review
Fiona Apple's LONG anticipated 3rd disk is finally here...and not too soon after Sony's beligerent attempt to keep it shelved due to "lack of a true single" on her CD. Well, that's simply ludicrous. With the multitude of complete garbage that actually makes the store shelves these days, you have to wonder what really drove them to withhold the release of Extraordinary Machine...which is, by the way..."extraordinary!" Fiona's driving, introspective music coupled with her beautiful and sometimes haunting vocals once again dominates the theme in her new release. If you enjoyed her 2nd CD, "When the Pawn...", you will be amazed with her continued creative writing and diverse swings in music style. O' Sailor, Parting Gift, Extraordinary Machine, & Red Red Red are phenomenal pieces of music...but nothing is disappointing overall. Parting Gift in particular is as powerful as "I Know" from "When the Pawn...". If you enjoy Fiona, this is a must buy!!Read full review
I definitely remember the day I got this in the mail!!! Unaware of this album even coming out at all, and greatly looking forward to it after playing “When The Pawn…” endlessly at the record store I managed, I was soooo looking forward to a Multichannel Surround mix from Fiona…which of course there is none 😖. It took the subtle push of my ex wife to get me into this one, and I refused to get over the lack of 5.1 as I tried to enjoy it😈. What you do get on the DVD side is one of the greatest albums OF ALL TIME in Enhanced Stereo (which increases the sampling rate from 44.1 kHz like a standard CD, to 48 kHz and yes, the sound quality is definitely noticeable), and a total of 3 videos, 2 of which are live and the other the official release…I will be updating this review when I have a chance to compare the sound quality of this disc to the Lossless version now available on Apple Music. So yeah, I was bummed about the Multichannel mix, but honestly, over the years this album is right up there with Physical Graffiti, making it extremely hard to choose which would be my desert island album. That’s saying a LOT!!! Fiona Apple 🍏 Rocks!!! Buy em all!!!Read full review
Verified purchase: No
Absolutely love this item. For the CD part you won't be disappointed. There is only 1 song I didn't like (Red, Red, Red) but all the others are good. Like all her CDs for me it took 1 listen through before I finally realized how much I liked it. For a bonus on the dual disc you get a DVD on the reverse side. This is perfect because Fiona isn't the most public artist so this is a nice chance to see her perform. This CD is worth it for the DVD part only!
Product arrived in perfect shape and functions very well.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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