一听音乐网

I have never actually suffered waiting for an album to come out, so this was a brand-new experience for me. At the moment, I'm feeling not so much happy or sad as just plain relieved! The waiting was becoming insufferable! I am a huge fan of Patti Scialfa's solo work. Rumble Doll is my all-time favorite album by ANY artist (which to this day remains a mystery, even to myself, since most people have never even heard of it.) Each of Patti's albums is completely different, and this one follows that trend. It is much more R&B/blues-oriented than her first two. Personally, I am more into pop/rock, so I will have to wait and see whether this album grows on me to the point of obsession as her first two albums have done. The recording itself is first-rate. Her singing has never been stronger or more soulful, and the musicians backing her are obviously the best in the business. Time alone will tell whether I will still be reaching for this CD years from now when I go outside for my daily walk (as I routinely do with her other two albums). For the moment, I am giving it FIVE STARS for a single track, the title track, "Play It As It Lays." The reason being that when I listened to this song for the very first time I cried like a baby. I don't think I've ever done that before, listened to a brand-new song for the first time and cried. It is quite beautiful, perhaps even surpassing "Spanish Dancer" (from Rumble Doll) to become what may henceforth be known as her signature song. Imagine if Patti's husband came back 20 years later and wrote another "Thunder Road," only even better, deeper, more profound. That is the effect that "Play It As It Lays" is likely to have on Rumble Doll fans. So get out the Kleenex!