Music > Styles > Alternative Rock > General

	buying more than one thing? add to bookbag(uses Multi-Item Price Optimization™) ...or intereact!

Dilate
Ani DiFranco
Retail Price (not our price): $16.98
Release Date: 1996-05-21
Manufacturer: Righteous Babe
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential recording
Following up two of her strongest records, Not a Pretty Girl and Out of Range, Dilate takes a different tack. It's quieter and more lush than previous efforts but just as intensely personal, with songs like "Untouchable Face" that are easier to identify with than many other DiFranco tunes. At the same time, DiFranco's old fans might not recognize the sound here, especially on tracks like the trip-hop-influenced "Amazing Grace," the shuffling "Napoleon," or the indescribable "Shameless"--this isn't the same thrash-folkie of old. There's a lot to like on Dilate, especially if you're a fan of Portishead or Lisa Germano, but it takes some getting used to. After spending time with the album, you may find it as comfortable as your favorite pair of jeans, but you also might find out that the jeans never really fit quite right. --Randy Silver

2) Album Details
Asian Version featuring Two Bonus Tracks: "Shameless (Bathtub Mix)", and "Joyful Girl (Peace and Love Mix)".

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5

1) Yet another textbook praiseworthy release of solid material   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
A strong release from the aggressive indie songstress offers another captivating glimpse into the impressive songwriting and stylistic range dripping from DiFranco's acoustic command. Her skilled use of arpeggios continues to be amongst modern singer-songwriting's most compelling. But with all that talent comes the burden of matching vocals to the rhythmic intuition behind her brilliant strumming. It is often here that Ani falters, offering vocals stuffed with self-conscious delivery and over-enunciated bellowing that rings less true each time replayed. It is a shame really, since the times we do get to glimpse her voice completely at it's purest she sounds as close to honest as a million of her signature lyrics could suggest. Thankfully, this is pretty much one of those albums that just grows stronger as the songs go by; even tracks that don't quite feel uniformly solid benefit from an intelligent melodic sense and of course, DiFranco's unabashed personality.

2) This is Ani at her best.   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
If you don't like this album, you don't like Ani DiFranco, and you may well be dead.The lyrics ("life used to be life-like, now it's more like showbiz") are razor-sharp, the music is stellar (standouts are the title track and Shameless), and the song selection holds together very well.

3) Dilated Angst   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I don't know anyone who doesn't relate to the angst and anger demonstrated on Ani's Dilate album. This album helped me channel many demons over the years. Most notably, "Untouchable Face" which somehow tapped into almost everyone's conciousness. The whole album is fulled of punch and pissiness from "Superhero" (I used to be a Superhero, I would swoop down and save me from myself/ and you were like a phone booth that I somehow stumbled into/ and now I am just like everyone else), all cleverly written, all acoustically and powerfully performed. I've tried other Ani CD's but Dilate is to me her crowned achievement. Even covering "Amazing Grace" with a very pissy mood to it, the "Napoleon" bitch fest about the record business, and a lot of moody broken heart love songs. Dilate is genius and even all these years later I can't stop playing it.

4) Folk/Trip-Hop/Ambient crossover aspect works so well...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Ani, you outdid yourself on this one. Your heart beats in the languid grooves and has me on the verge of tears everytime this disc spins, down through the years. And that stands for something!FOCUS - MELODICISM - PASSION - SINEWY SONGWRITINGWhat a Woman ! !-ted.o

5) The irony of why I love this CD just makes it that much better...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I never heard any Ani DiFranco music before I met my ex-boyfriend, so I didn't really know much about her. He was really into folk music, so he gave me this disc to listen to. Well I fell in love with her music right away. It was bouncy and fun, and lyrically it was like nothing else I had ever heard before. I love her style and how she paints a perfect picture with her words, so I was hooked. Well the ironic part is I swear either all guys are the same, or she was singing about my ex 99% of the time. I have never related more to a song before I heard the title track 'Dilate'. It became an anthem for a while, and when I hear it now 3 years later I start laughing to myself because it still feels so amazingly spot on.... "you are so lame, you always disappoint me, it's kind of like our running joke, except it's really not funny, and I just want you to live up to the image of you I've created, I see you and I'm so unsatisfied, I see you and I dilate"... "When I say you sucked my brain out, the English translation is I am in love with you and it is no fun".... I don't know, it's like she was in my head, and just had a better way of expressing exactly how I felt. Most of the songs had something about them that rang true to me, not just on this album though, the live disc 'Living in Clip' had many of the same songs and then some others that also seemed to be narrating my life at the time.Anyway her music is great, even if you aren't in a crazy relationship. However if you are, this is music that might just help you get your strength back, I know at times I would listen to it religiously because there was something so comforting about it, maybe it was just because she does a better job of expressing her anger and frustration. It felt like I could just put a song on for him and make him understand how I felt, but of course it never worked out that way.Anyway the irony of who turned me on to her music will forever make me smile, and when I listen to it now it is just a great reminder of how good I have it with my husband to be. For those who just appreciate honest music created by a talented poet and musician this album should not disappoint.