Scarlett Johansson - Anywhere I Lay My Head (Album)

		Alternative Nation > Guide > Bands > Scarlett Johansson > Albums
Anywhere I Lay My Head

Featured Review

12th August 2008, 8:49am

Review Courtesy Of:
Mr. B. P. Appleby
For Amazon.co.uk

Guest

Pitiful. Not only is the production/music very poor and dated, she takes some of Waits' most beautiful ballads and turns them into monotonous drivel where the only refreshing parts are when the tracks end. Not only is it an insult to Waits' genius, it is a very pathetic record in terms of originality, musical quality and performance. It seems as if the producer has attempted a cross between Leonard Cohen's 'Ten New Songs' and Radiohead's 'Kid A'. Needless to say it failed miserably. The only saving grace is the fact that the original songs are so well written it is impossible to destroy them completely.

Upcoming Events

No results found, try changing your search terms or date options and try again.

Or click the 'Add New' link to help keep our information up to date.

Comments

7th May 2008 2:32pm

Stew

Quote:

Recorded at Dockside Studio in Louisiana's Cajun country, Scarlett Johansson s debut album ANYWHERE I LAY MY HEAD features her distinctive vocal interpretations of ten songs by legendary singer-songwriter Tom Waits. It also introduces one original track, Song For Jo, which she co-wrote with David Andrew Sitek (TV on the Radio), who produced the album and lent his instrumental skills throughout. The title track comes from Waits 1985 opus Rain Dogs, and Johansson s set also pulls cuts from Alice, Swordfishtrombones, Big Time, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, Real Gone, Small Change and Bone Machine. David Bowie adds backing vocals on two tracks, Falling Down and Fannin Street, and the disc also features the talents of Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and multi-instrumentalist Sean Antanaitis from Celebration, among others.

I've only listened to this one time through so far, but wow, this is better than it has any right to be. Everyone wrote this off immediately, but I assumed it would at least be listenable due to Bowie and Zinner guest spots. Oh yeah, and also Tom Waits material. It's very Niko does Waits, and ScarJo's voice isn't anything to write home about, but let's be honest, Tom Waits is no Tenor. It works extremely well with the music. I'll have to go through it once more before I can get all of my feelings down on it. Her version of "Falling Down" is just beautiful. Would it have been too much to ask for a "Chocolate Jesus" cover though?

7th May 2008 2:39pm

pANDAS Radio

The whole idea sounds like a car crash, Maybe Mr Waits has announced tour dates so he can raise the cash to have her rubbed out.

7th May 2008 2:41pm

kimzor

Quote:

Originally Posted by pANDAS Radio

The whole idea sounds like a car crash, Maybe Mr Waits has announced tour dates so he can raise the cash to have her rubbed out.

My initial thoughts exactly.

I'll listen to it though, see what its all about.

7th May 2008 2:42pm

GreatKingRat

ScarJo... who came up with that one?

7th May 2008 2:45pm

Stew

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatKingRat

ScarJo... who came up with that one?

It's shorter than 'The girls with the magnificent breasts'.

Also, you can give three of the tracks a listen on the myspace page:
--http://www.myspace.com/scarlettalbum

I think my judgement may be clouded by my love for her, but when you bear in mind that Tom Wait's voice itself isn't the best in the world, it's listenable and a lot better than I thought it would be.