Kind Hearted Woman is an album by the American musician Michelle Shocked, released in 1996.[1][2] It is a rerecording of her 1994 album, which was sold at her concerts.[3] The album was released by Private Music, after Mercury Records declined to release any further Shocked albums.[4][5] Shocked eventually disentangled herself from Mercury, and was able to take all of her masters with her.[6][7] Shocked supported the album by touring with her band, the Casualties of Wah.[8]
| Kind Hearted Woman | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1996 | |||
| Label | Private Music | |||
| Producer | Bones Howe | |||
| Michelle Shocked chronology | ||||
| ||||
Production
editThe album was produced by Bones Howe.[9] Members of Hothouse Flowers backed Shocked on the rerecording.[10] Kind Hearted Woman was inspired by the death of Shocked's grandmother, most specifically on "Fever Breaks".[11][12] Three of its songs were originally written for a dance performance.[13]
Critical reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [14] |
| Robert Christgau |  [15] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [16] |
| Los Angeles Times | [17] |
| MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [11] |
| Spin | 7/10[18] |
Spin wrote that Shocked is "curious about all the musics of America, wants to feel each texture by hand, without sounding blithely postmodern."[18] The Los Angeles Times stated that "the songs range from angular acoustic rock to barroom swing to country pop, occasionally recalling alterna-divas Kristin Hersh and Johnette Napolitano."[17] The Sun-Sentinel concluded that "stripped-down arrangements and a clear haunting vocal style, ripe with folkish mannerisms and strange countrified rhythms, keep Shocked visions crystalline as icicles."[19]
The Los Angeles Daily News noted that, "while her hauntingly beautiful delivery is sometimes reserved, it is mostly marked by the ebullience of a woman on the edge."[16] The Santa Fe New Mexican deemed the album "a darkly sensuous work of thrilling depth and compassion."[20] The St. Louis Post-Dispatch determined that "these thoroughly grim folk songs set in rural mid-America are remarkable for their clarity and intelligence."[21]
AllMusic wrote that, "like Bruce Springsteen on his Nebraska album, Shocked was concerned with what sounded like Depression-era issues of poverty and hard times in the heartland."[14]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stillborn" | |
| 2. | "Homestead" | |
| 3. | "Winter Wheat" | |
| 4. | "Cold Comfort" | |
| 5. | "Eddie" | |
| 6. | "A Child Like Grace" | |
| 7. | "Fever Breaks" | |
| 8. | "Silver Spoon" | |
| 9. | "The Hard Way" | |
| 10. | "No Sign of Rain" |
References
edit- ^ Powell, Alison (Dec 1996). "Kind Hearted Woman". Interview. Vol. 26, no. 12. p. 46.
- ^ "Media Picks". Mother Jones. Vol. 22, no. 1. Feb 1997. p. 72.
- ^ "Michelle Shocked Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
- ^ Cohen, Jason (November 1, 1996). "Shocking". Texas Monthly.
- ^ "Still Shocked". The New Yorker. June 6, 1994.
- ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (July 6, 2005). "Michelle Shocked". Paste.
- ^ Strauss, Neil (September 26, 1996). "Paul McCartney, Beatle and Deadhead Director". The New York Times.
- ^ Corcoran, Michael (10 Oct 1996). "Quick Picks". Austin American-Statesman. p. 4.
- ^ Reece, Doug (Sep 28, 1996). "Shocked back in public eye via Private". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 39. p. 9.
- ^ "Michelle Shocked Reaches Accord with Record Label". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 20, 2022.
- ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 1010.
- ^ DeMarco, Jerry (8 Nov 1996). "Three Chords and Something to Say". Lifestyle/Previews. The Record. p. 3.
- ^ Harrison, Tom (24 Oct 1996). "Michelle shocked: She has clawed her way back to the sunshine". The Province. p. B4.
- ^ a b "Kind Hearted Woman". AllMusic.
- ^ "Michelle Shocked". Robert Christgau.
- ^ a b Cosin, Elizabeth M. (11 Oct 1996). "Sound Check Pop". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L29.
- ^ a b Nichols, Natalie (6 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked, 'Kind Hearted Woman'". Calendar. Los Angeles Times. p. 90.
- ^ a b Miles, Milo (Jan 1997). "Spins". Spin. Vol. 12, no. 10. p. 86.
- ^ Schulman, Sandra (27 Oct 1996). "Shocked cool and clear". Sun-Sentinel. p. 3F.
- ^ Prince, David (11 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked Breaks the Established". Pasatiempo. The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 33.
- ^ Hampel, Paul (31 Oct 1996). "Michelle Shocked". Get Out. St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 9.