Indigo Girls Album: “Indigo Girls [Remaster]”

Description :

Indigo Girls: Emily Sailers, Amy Ray (vocals, guitar). Additional personnel includes: John Jennings (electric guitar); Scarlet Rivera (violin); Lisa Germano (fiddle); Martin McCarrick (cello, accordion); Jane Scarpantoni (cello); Jai Winding, Maggie Roche (piano); Benmont Tench (organ); John Van Tongeren, Dede Vogt, Kasim Sultan, Sara Lee, Edgar Meyer (bass); Jerry Marotta, Kenny Aronoff, Budgie (drums, percussion); Talvin Singh (percussion); Jackson Browne, David Crosby (background vocals). Producers: Scott Litt, Peter Collins. Reissue producer: Bruce Dickinson. Principally recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York. Digitally remastered by Scott Hull (Classic Sound, New York, New York). This impressive major label debut (an earlier album was released independently) contains some of the Indigo Girls' finest compositions. INDIGO GIRLS swings between songs of love and philosophical questioning and has become the soundtrack of choice for many a college student. This album is the genuine article-made for staying up late and listening to over and over. INDIGO GIRLS cuts closer to the emotional bone than most pop/rock records, exploring the pain of becoming an adult with grace and depth that never lapse into pap or sentimentality. The wistful "Kid Fears" benefits from the vocal contributions of Michael Stipe. Standout songs include the students' anthem "Closer to Fine" and "Prince of Darkness," but there are many other fine tracks on this collection. The level of musicianship is unquestionably high. Vocalists Amy Ray and Emily Saliers achieve what one reviewer called "the most richly harmonious vocal pairing in pop music since Simon and Garfunkel."

As someone raised on bands like The Who, The Beatles and KISS, my exposure to the music of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers was extremely limited to what I heard on FM radio. A few years ago, I took a risk on the Indigo Girls' mainstream debut. What a reward!

Half of "INDIGO GIRLS" is generously loaded with songs familiar to casual fans such as "Kid Fears," "Tried To Be True," "Love's Recovery," "Land of Canaan" and the anthemic "Closer To Fine." But, the deeper cuts are just as impressive. One facet of the Indigo Girls' charm is the contrast between Ray and Saliers' voices. This is magically captured in "Secure Yourself" and "Prince of Darkness." In "Blood and Fire," Ray reminds us that you don't need a loud electric guitar to produce tone and intensity.

Bottom line: "INDIGO GIRLS" is a treasure chest and each song is a jewel.

In this era where attaining fame is more important than creating art, the Indigo Girls keep it real. They seldom appear on television. They've never appeared on the cover of "Rolling Stone". In short, they refuse to bow to a shallow music establishment. It's the music that matters. I hope they never change. Check out the album!

I already had a number of IG CDs when I found this Gold Disc in the music store. I bought it on the spot and ran home to play it on my CD player. I played it over and over and swapped the original silver CD with the Gold CD to see if I could tell a difference, and I couldn't.

The CD comes in a cool cardboard/paper sleeve that the jewel box fits in, but other than that, and the gold color (and 24kt gold content) of the disc, there is absolutely no difference... especially in the sound.

When you turn the volume up all the way on both the original, you hear the pops and squeaks as the guitarists hands and fingers move along the strings. The gold edition of this disc still includes these pops and squeaks. They weren't removed, and if this gold version is supposedly "re-mastered" from the original, it must have been re-mastered for the hearing range of bats, because I can not tell the difference.

If you're into collecting everything they've ever done, or you don't already own the original version of this CD, this is a good buy... the gold version will supposedly last longer, but it's not like you're going to be saving the silver version for your great-great grandchildren. Unless you leave your CDs on the dashboard of your car in the hot sun, the silver version should last past your life time anyway.

This album is a testamet to what one can do with 6 strings, a few chords, a big imagination- and a capo. Along with REM, who was also on the album, IG reminded music listeners that it was okay to go unplugged and it sounded more than alright. Until then, acoustic tunes were a 70's thing and nobody was listening.

Every song on this is good- my favorites are "Kid Fears", "The History of US", "Secure Yourself", "Blood and Fire" and of course, "Closer to Fine" and there is no better road trip disc.

Way back when, I was struggling to survive my first winter in Boston wondering what the hell I was doing in grad school.

While dialing for a reasonable radio station, the first line to "Closer to Fine" sounded like a clarion call. Shivers went up my spine, I caught my breath, and my knees went shakey. The clarity and intensity of the emotion was extraordinary. Who were these people??

I was mesmerized, as was the DJ that played tracks from the album again and again (and again) for the next week. Took almost as long for me to track down a local record store that had this album.

A truely inspirational album that I still play when I need a reminder that heart-felt emotion and commitment can change the world. Everything music should be...

I was first introduced to the Indigo Girls at a time in my life when all was not well with the world, and they struck a resonant chord in me. The Indigo Girls' early work spoke to me in a way I have only experienced with one other group, Simon and Garfunkel. While I find their newest work (since Swamp Ophelia) enjoyable, I can't say that it evokes as much feeling in me. If soulful folk rock is your thing, then their self-titled debut and their second album Strange Fire would be worth giving a listen.