8.1 out of 10
There are some bands that have such an emotional effect on many of their fans that it becomes a disadvantage for a reviewer to be a fan of the group. The rabid reviewer not only cannot describe why he/she likes the new album, but can also even be at a lack of words as to what the new album sounds like. Cat Power is one of these dangerously powerful artists. Björk is another. So are the Fiery Furnaces, if you’re Rob Mitchum.
To my advantage or disadvantage, I am not one of those madly in love with Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power. I have grown up around friends who adore her, but her songs always seemed too slow and lacking melody, marking the music for me what Barry from High Fidelity would call “sad bastard music.” I did like, though not love, Moon Pix, What Would the Community Think was pretty good, and I really like her cover of “I’ve found a Reason” on The Covers Record. After familiarity with 4 or 5 records over several years, though, as of a month ago I still had Chan on my “I like them but I still think they’re overrated” list.
Cat Power, overrated no more. Her new album, The Greatest (no, not a hits collection), grounds whatever aloofness may have been present in earlier releases, gives weight to the airiness of previous records. Beginning with the first single and opening track “The Greatest,” you can tell that something is different. The lyrics are still great and bittersweet, but the instrumentation is all different, taking on the Memphis sound that sounds more like a 60s Dusty Springfield or 90s Bob Dylan backing band. Chan’s vocals are still dark and sweet, but on “The Greatest,” they take on a more rugged, almost husky quality (is husky the right word for a singer so delicate?).
As the album keeps going, though, the songs get even deeper, more melodic, and generally more appealing. “Living Proof” would make a great follow-up single to “The Greatest,” and the love ballad “Could We” is marvelous in its delicacy. Amy Phillips from pitchfork was just wrong about “Where is My Love,” which sounds more like a beautiful modern standard than the bore she made it out to be. That song is followed by what may be the best song on the album, the lilting “The Moon,” which wafts lyrically through love and heartbreak in such subtle, uncommon ways.
This album of pop gems isn’t completely removed from earlier suicide-whisperings though; songs like “After it All” and “Hate” sound like earlier Cat Power songs with different instrumentation. Taken on this album of southern country-pop (not pop-country), though, the songs seem to fit more rather than sound more out of place. If anything, The Greatest has shown me the value of earlier Cat Power through the contrast of this new, Michael-friendly stuff.
Overall, maybe Heather Phares from allmusic is right; this is a Cat Power album for music fans who aren’t particularly Cat Power fans. I love it, and I’m not one. I think, though, that after repeat listens the fan club can learn to appreciate this album for its new take on Chan’s already established singer-songwriter sound. Meanwhile, The Greatest can serve as an excellent introduction to Cat Power’s catalogue, and can also stand as a welcome respite for those of us depressed by the fizzling of alt-country, those who want a little more classicism in the indie-rock scene.
