Indigo Girls

Come On Now Social

A great act has grown tired.

Review Score:

(4/10)
First off, this CD loses a star for the "hidden" track. I hate hidden tracks. A song is either worthy of the CD or not. This one, for the record, is not. Perhaps that's why it's hidden. In it, Emily laments her feelings of exclusion from the church. The high school poetry falls far short of her talent and her cause.

As a huge fan of their earlier work, it is clear they are growing more distant as artistic partners. Their beautiful harmonies are all but gone, making this album feel like a series of solo projects tossed together with little thaught given to the music's flow. There are still some Indigo gems, but most songs feel forced and phoney. It's as if they suddenly want to be trendy, but the trends are several years out of date. In songs like Trouble, for instance, Emily's beautiful voice is needlessly buried in unfortunate studio echo effects and tired guitar licks, and her lyrics can't seem to find their point. In Sister, Amy seems to have lifted the sound track from SimCity 3000 ( I wish I were kidding. If you have the game, try it for yourself.) and added words. Fay Tucker is a well meaning anthem against capital punishment, but Amy's attempt at Steve Earle style vocal grit comes across like bad Karaoke.

If, like me, you are exciting by the line up of guest artists, don't be. Their vocals, like the Indigo Girls' harmonies, are buried so deep in the mix they are insignificant. For all the excitement Joan Osborne and friends might have brought to this project, they might as well have hired Rosanne. Who would know the difference?

It's clear the Indigo Girls want to show they can go new places, but this is clearly not it.

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