Not A Pretty Girl

Not A Pretty Girl is the sixth studio album released by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco on her own record label, Righteous Babe Records. Cited by many fans as her finest work, the 1995 album extended the punk-edged folksinger's early formula of acoustic guitar and drums to a passionate crescendo. On subsequent records, DiFranco would add electric guitar, horns, band members and guest musicians, but on Not A Pretty Girl she belts out her guitar licks and her political-yet-personal lyrics accompanied most often by Andy Stochansky's fitful and emotional percussion alone.

There are many signature DiFranco moments on this album: the title track's solemn chords and feminist message; the unapologetic physical cravings of "Shy" and "Light of Some Kind"; the lambasting of the music industry on "The Million You Never Made"; the brief yet powerful spoken-word track "Tiptoe"; the joyous tranquility of "32 Flavors"; and the political activism of "Crime for Crime" and "Coming Up."

Not A Pretty Girl stands as a watershed album for DiFranco. It also intensified the word-of-mouth buzz and the occasional nod from alternative media, which are the predominant modes of publicity for DiFranco, who shuns the corporate music industry and as a result gets little airplay on commercial radio.

As a small rebellion in CD design, the case of Not A Pretty Girl is designed to be looked at 'the wrong way round', with the spine on the right hand side rather than the left.

Copyright © 2007 agrl.com                    Powered by Engineer Partner The One Stop Outsource