Ani DiFranco Albums (20)
What The Critics Say
Ani DiFranco has proven prolific and eclectic within a genre that might be called punk-folk. Reprieve, for instance, is her second album of 2006, and the style is much closer to singer/songwriter folk than rocking early-'90s albums like Not a Pretty Girl. One might be tempted to say the "angry girl" has become a mellow woman, more personal than political. But making a blanket statement about DiFranco and her music usually proves careless. Politics, for instance, rears its head on "Millennium Theater," an ode to orange alerts, Halliburton, and the slow response in New Orleans. She also relates to politics in a broader sense on "Shroud," rejecting Middle America's values and aligning herself with bohemian culture. Lyrically, songs like "Hypnotized" and "Nicotine" relay DiFranco's individual sensibility; her point of view never reminds the listener of other songwriters. The downside of Reprieve is that it isn't as musically arresting as earlier albums like Out of Range, and DiFranco, on a song like "Millennium Theater," can be rather obvious. The mellow pacing combined with non-distinct melodies also causes many of these songs to run together. Fans, however, will embrace Reprieve as a fully realized project, glad that DiFranco has continued to keep in touch. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Listening to Ani DiFranco live has always been an intimate experience, a chance for her to mingle and share with the faithful, and when she's solo, as she is on Carnegie Hall, this is even more the case. Just a righteous babe, her guitar, and a handful of songs in a sea of DiFranco fanatics. This makes Carnegie Hall a noted and welcome departure from other live efforts (there's no driving rhythm section or rock intensity), and if the overall results are less intense, the intimacy more than makes up for it. There's also time for in-between song chatter and poems ("Not So Soft"), and a chance to revisit, and offer a new sheen to, old work. Certain songs, like the mellow "Angry Any," actually work better in this format, while the acoustic guitar work on "Out of Range" reminds one of the original's concentrated passion. It probably means a lot to fans that as DiFranco's music continues to evolve, she can still happily immerse herself in older songs like the powerful "2 Lil Girls." For non-fans, the DiFranco experience, whether her recordings are live or from the studio, can be insular and off-putting at times. The intimacy of the connection between DiFranco and her fans, along with the singularity of her vision precludes a certain exclusiveness. Carnegie Hall is nonetheless a very accessible album that presents the DiFranco experience in a softer light without sacrificing any of the fundamentals. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Fans that were lukewarm to Ani DiFranco 's bare-bones, self-produced Educated Guess will be pleased to learn that the notoriously independent artist has delegated half of her 13th studio recording's production duties to fellow singer/songwriter Joe Henry. Knuckle Down combines all of the spite, spark, compassion and wordy observation of the DiFranco of old with the kind of constructive hindsight that can only come from years spent blazing your own trail -- the knotty title cut ends with DiFranco musing "I think I'm done gunnin to get closer to some imagined bliss/I gotta knuckle down/just be ok with this" then wistfully replies "'course that star struck girl is already someone I miss." It's a brave opening statement, and one that permeates Knuckle Down throughout. Henry, along with guest musicians Todd Sickafoose, Julie Wolf and fellow Righteous Babe recording artist Andrew Bird never intrude on DiFranco's signature percussive guitar work and Joni Mitchell motor-mouth, rather they paint lovingly the complex world around them, reigning in the artist's penchant for long-winded intros and meandering mid-sections with a subtlety that does wonders for standout tracks like "Sunday Morning" and "Studying Stones" -- the latter features some of Bird's divine whistling. Knuckle Down may not have the machine-gun edge and maverick intensity that fueled her early-'90s heydays, but it spares nobody -- including DiFranco herself -- from interrogation, and with its creative arrangements, smart pacing and refined production, it ranks as the artist's most concise and accessible release to date. ~ James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Few indie artists (or "mainstream" artists, for that matter) can rival the body of work of radical folkster Ani DiFranco. Without the backing of a major label (or seeking it), DiFranco has gone her own way at every fork in the road and proven herself to be an inspiring creative force. With her provocative views, sardonic wit, and poetic acumen, she's an anti-establishment jugular biter with a sweet smile. About as solo as an album can be -- DiFranco wrote, played, sang, and produced everything -- Educated Guess is a tribute to her talent and industry. But DiFranco is a rare -- and authentic -- stylist who has set the bar very high for herself. The canny wordsmithing and busy guitar work are here; she is as proficient at execution as ever. DiFranco is the consummate musical experimentalist, and while that can be a hit-and-miss game, it's also the key to greener pastures, new ideas, and fresh musical territory. And that's the primary virtue of Educated Guess: a different kind of DiFranco album that, not for the first time, finds the artist on her way to somewhere else. ~ Adrian Zupp, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Ani DiFranco has earned her rep as the most independent of artists. She records for her own label, and as a result says and does pretty much as she pleases. DiFranco has also shown a willingness to experiment, mixing genres and styles, and Evolve is clearly an important link in her continued evolution. Piano, horns, and guitar mix and merge on "Promised Land," offering a bluesy blend of progressive folk, while a heavy backbeat informs the funky "In My Way." The arrangements are much busier than the "girl with an acoustic guitar" sound of her earliest efforts, but they're never crowded. In fact, DiFranco's such a dynamic singer, at turns soulful and, when angry, in the listener's face, that the heavier arrangements serve her well. The arrangements and solid production, however, aren't enough to save the material. As with 2001's Revelling: Reckoning, Evolve lacks consistency and finally seems meandering. "Icarus"' foreboding melody line drags at a dawdling pace, stopping and starting again, and finally, going nowhere. The worst excess is "Serpentine." It takes three minutes for the vocal to start, and seven more for DiFranco to catalog everything that isn't right in the Promised Land. It's as though she were trying to write her version of Dylan's "Desolation Row," but failed to match her lyrical vision with a compelling musical one. DiFranco's fans will forgive her these excesses because they've grown used to them; everyone else will probably want to reach back to earlier albums like Not a Pretty Girl to hear the DiFranco at her best. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
'So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter'
Release Date 1/1/2002
Tracks 24
Label Universal Jazz
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Upon opening the CD case of So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter, one is greeted with a picture of an automobile shop with a sign reading, "We Believe in God -- America -- Trucks." One imagines that Ani DiFranco and her fellow New Yorkers find a number of similar sentiments as their progressive folk show travels across small-town America. Despite such nativist impulses, DiFranco also finds a warm, responsive audience wherever she travels. Her first live album in five years, So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter documents the Righteous Babe in a number of settings, captured between September 2000 and April 2002. Like 1997's Living in Clip, one can't really hope to reproduce a DiFranco concert on a single disc. The performances are seamlessly sequenced, meaning one can put both discs in the CD changer, crank up the volume, and settle into the easy chair for a private show. Also like Living in Clip, DiFranco revels in boisterous crowds as she delivers fresh interpretations of familiar favorites (there's a minimal overlap of material between the two discs). The material on each disc falls under a different umbrella. The first, "Stray Cats," gathers a handful of set list standards, including "To the Teeth," "Napoleon," and "Swan Dive." The second disc, "Girls Singing Night," concentrates heavily on DiFranco's feminist leanings, with pieces like "Ain't That the Way," "Reckoning," and "Dilate." What pulls everything together, regardless of theme or which disc is in the player, is DiFranco's usual all-or-nothing vocals bolstered by her fabulous band. Even with familiar fare like "Letter to a John" and "Not a Pretty Girl," keyboardist Julie Wolf, bassist Jason Mercer, and drummer Daren Hahn kick the intensity level up another notch. One more layer of icing is added to this multi-tiered sound when the horn section cuts loose on pieces like "32 Flavors." The package is sweetened by the inclusion of a few rare pieces along with a new poem/song, "Self Evident," written in response to the attack on the World Trade Center. So Much Shouting, So Much Laughter captures DiFranco and friends in vibrant form and shouldn't be missed. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford Jr., All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It's clear Ani DiFranco never hesitates to swim in a gulf of her own lyrical prowess. A storyteller herself, she takes pride in her tales of heartbreak, society's woes, and life's journey. Phrases like "but the bacteria are coming to take us down, that's my prediction...it's the answer to this culture of the quick fix prescription" hands you a vision through her periscope of the world. DiFranco's status as a sublime symbol of artistic elegance is well proven through words on this revelling album. ~ Darren Ratner, All Music Guide
'To the Teeth'
Release Date 11/16/1999
Tracks 13
Label Righteous Babe
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
With the release of To the Teeth, it has been ten studio albums of original material in ten years for Ani DiFranco, and she sounds tired. The singer/songwriter has always had ample reserves of anger and criticism, some of which she has directed at herself, but here her self-questioning is unusually intense. As usual, a couple of songs deal with political topics, but much of the album is given over to songs in which the singer looks at her life and career unhappily. "Going Once" and "Swing" are in the third person, though the characters seem self-identified, with the "she" in the former wondering "how did I get here/Without even knowing where I was going?," while in the latter "she" speaks of weariness, dread, and nagging voices inside her head that say "You suck." "Freakshow," a metaphor for the performer's life, is almost unrelentingly critical, its only relief coming from the comfort that the life of a traveling entertainer is better than being stuck in a hometown. The culmination of all this comes with "Wish I May," which she closes by singing, "I don't think I am strong enough/To do this much longer." She also says she wishes the song were longer, and that wish may have been expressed in the album's musical arrangements. Employing horns (including Maceo Parker's saxophone) and other embellishments, DiFranco has written a series of downbeat riff tunes and stretched them out, in some cases to six or seven minutes, often with extended instrumental codas after the lyrics have been sung. As usual, she gives her audience a warts-and-all portrait of her current view of herself and the world. Longtime fans will find the result compelling (while perhaps fearing for their favorite's future), but this is probably not the place to start your Ani DiFranco collection. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
'Fellow Workers'
Release Date 5/18/1999
Tracks 18
Label Righteous Babe
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Singers/songwriters Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco follow the success of their previous collaboration, The Past Didn't Go Anywhere, with 1999's Fellow Workers. As the title suggests, this album focuses on America's labor movement, telling its triumphs and troubles through stories, songs and poetry. Phillips, DiFranco and her touring band played for 40 guests in the living room of an old New Orleans mansion. This homey, intimate vibe comes across in the recording, adding a freshness to their versions of "Bread & Roses" and "The Internationale," as well as their tributes to Mother Jones and Joe Hill. Fellow Workers celebrates the traditions of American folk and American workers. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
'Up Up Up Up Up Up'
Release Date 1/19/1999
Tracks 11
Label Righteous Babe
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The self-appointed CEO of intrepid indie grrrl rock sparks one more with Up Up Up Up Up Up, an ebullient addition to an already prolific and deeply admirable career. The playful synthetics and occasional stabs at atypical Ani DiFranco stylings belie the general humorlessness of her lyrics: "'Tis of Thee" is as annoyed with American TV-news culture as one can get (as might be expected of street-cynical Ani). "Come Away" is just plain corny, wistfully scrapbooking a lover away with tinkly punches on an electric piano. "Virtue" is wackier, with shades of old songs by young Edie Brickell, and "Jukebox" sounds relentlessly synthesized, funky with baffling lyrics and weird abrupt high notes like the ones you either adore or abhor from contempo sister Alanis Morissette. Some fans may continue to dream of an album wherein Ani shows off some real chops, as she'll do for lucky people in concert: she's actually a wonderful 12-string guitarist, but you can't really get a feel for that here. ~ Becky Byrkit, All Music Guide
