Album Description: Damien Rice's intriguing brand of stylishly, un-styled dirty folk music has made him one of the standout artists of 2003. O was first released in Ireland, where it quickly broke the top ten, and achieved triple-platinum status. Slim hard-back digipak. Vector. 2003.
Amazon.com: Irish troubadour Damien Rice doesn't so much reinvent the folk genre on this lush, impossibly mature debut album as push its boundaries in several compelling musical directions at once--all the more remarkable considering the album was largely self-produced and home-recorded. His songs revolve around familiar, bittersweet concerns of life, love, and their attendant frustrations, but delivered with conspiratorial intimacy on melodic wings (like on the graceful "Cannonball") that Rice seems almost embarrassed to share. If there's anything like a template here, it's "The Blower's Daughter," the song that first attracted the interest/stewardship of film composer David Arnold (whose guest production provides "Amie" with expansive cinematic elegance) and became a massive Irish hit. His plaintive vocal, embroidered by the mournful solo cello of Vyvienne Long, is suddenly brightened by an instrumental flourish and Lisa Hannigan's vocals--before just as quickly wafting on the breeze. With touches that range from "Day in the Life"-styled string collages to the dizzy, exhilarating neo-operatic excesses of the 16-minute "Eskimo," Rice's musical palate here is as adventurous as his songs are grounded in emotional intimacy. --Jerry McCulley
Perfect Beautiful, amazing CD that would bring anyone to their knees. Deep and poetic. My favorite is and always will be "Blower's Daughter". Definitely his best CD of them all so far.
still good I am still discovering songs on here, years after purchase. It is moody and not always right at the right time. But when I can really tune in and appreciate it, the music is on point.
Absolutely Amazing The first song I ever heard by Damien Rice was Volcano and I fell in love. Volcano is an amazingly haunting song and sticks with you. Shortly afterwards I located his MySpace page and listened to songs from there which included songs from both 0 and 9 and fell even more in love.
I must say, Damien Rice has an amazing voice and beautiful lyrics. I would suggest this CD to everyone espcially if you're looking for music to just play in the background while working. The music is soft and even and isn't too distracting, but, as contradicting as this may sound, it's very memorable. There's no way I'll ever regret buying this CD.
Damien Rice is an Innovative Troubadour I just love this album. Damien Rice brings storytelling back to the alternative music scene. His warm and sultry voice is reminiscent of Indian singer Tanita Tikarum, only with a slightly more positive bent to the lyrics. The songs have a degree of continuity which makes whole album listening a pleasure. It is filled with unexpected and delightful interjections from female vocalists. The ample use of strings makes O both easy listening and the triumph of a contempory balladeir.
So-so This is a fairly uneven CD--some songs are very nice, but others make you want to reach for the "skip" button.
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