 |
| |
|
| |
Album Review
by SashaS
16-9-2001
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Hugely entertaining |
|
Macy Gray: 'The Id'
(Epic/Sony)
Macy Gray’s new album confirms her oddity and unpredictability, just the way we want her
The iconic Macy Gray’s album ‘The Id’, a supplant to her official debut (but her second one by the virtue that the original LP is still in a vault) album ‘Macy Gray On How Life Is’, proves she is whatever her reputation has her as, plus much more.
‘The Id’ is a result of her touring the world and getting influenced by different sounds she encountered for another collection of cross-pollination of genres. Helping her realise her vision she’s enlisted a lot of guests, ranging from Angie Stone, Erykah Badu, Mos Def, Roots’ ?estlove, Raphael Saadiq (of Lucy Pearl), Billy Preston, Joe Frusciante (the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist) and Sunshine Anderson. The last one is also managed by Gray and benefited from Macy’s helping vocal on her ‘Your Woman’ debut album on Soulife/Atlantic.
Macy co-produced ‘The Id’ with Rick Ruben (rap and rock producer behind Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine, Slayer and Johnny Cash) whom she asked to get in touch with Frusciante because he had a great guitar sound. He’s not on the three most striking tracks, the Prince/Sly and The Family Stone-esque ‘Talking To A Psychopath’, more experimental ‘Sexual Revolution’ or the mesmerisingly strange ‘My Nutmeg Phantasy’. In-betweenies are poppier cuts, more soulful tracks, ballads, the whole array of everything and then some. All delivered in her inimitable singing style.
No end to the talents of this striking 6-foot woman with a hairdo making her look a foot taller and there is a role in a film ‘Training Day,’ a song in ‘Rush Hour’ (‘The World Is Yours’, featuring Slick Rick), as well as a cartoon series.
It could have been a problem getting here if she followed her instinct just before ‘On How Life Is’ came out. She was seriously considering giving it all up, or doing something more drastic, but just a year later she was a Grammy winner, as it should have been.
A talent as hugely paranoid as Colossus of Rhodes was tall.
8/10
SashaS
16-9-2001
Macy Gray’s ‘The Id’ is released 17 September 2001 on Epic/Sony
Wordage: 347; Fri., Sept. 14, 2001; 11:56:33am
|
|
|
