What type of music is indigo girls

I generally agree with what Adam said about "Heartache for Everyone" and yet I've basically followed the same progression as others—I love each of their earlier albums on a scale that's roughly exponential, culminating with Swamp Ophelia , which is possibly my favourite album of all time. Then it pretty much drops back down again—I like each succeeding album less than the previous one.

But I guess not. On the earlier albums I generally thought that Emily brought the songcraft and musicianship, and Amy brought the passion. That's pretty much changed ever since Swamp Ophelia —Amy's songwriting seems to be getting better and better and she still has as much passion as she ever did, while it feels that Emily just keeps going over and over the same ground.

But I don't know. I'll keep listening until either I "get it", or I'm forced to admit that Emily just doesn't speak to me at this current place in my life. Koo Good, as always. For me, the highlights are easily "Let Me Go Easy," written for an activist friend who died of ovarian cancer, and "Point Hope," written after reading about a family that used to watch the nuclear explosion at a Nevada test site.

The rest are generally likable. It starts out well, but pretty soon, after Emily's fifth or sixth tuneful, pleasant and formulaic love song, I started to wonder if these two would ever really matter again. Unfortunately, Emily still insists on writing and recording more of the sentimental pap "Fly Away," "Last Tears" that she's devolved into over the last few years.

This is really sad since she is an excellent songwriter, and most of my favorite Indigo Girls songs are ones she penned. Her songwriting has improved since the last album, and there are really only 2 or 3 skippable songs on Despite Our Differences. The collector's edition includes a bonus disc with 4 live tracks and 2 "alternate studio acoustic mixes", all of songs from the album.

Amy's rock songs sound great live, but unfortunately both "Fly Away" and "Last Tears" are included, and the alternate versions are no better than the studio recordings on the main disc. Mitch Froom's production threatens to continue the cheese factor, but the bonus acoustic disc shows that, stripped down and de-Froomed, the girls still have power. It's still not the political album I'd hoped for, but it's easily the best they've done in years.

Back then they had 5 full-length albums including their three greatest of songs to choose from. Since then they've released an additional 6 studio albums. Which means that for Staring Down the Brilliant Dream they had 11 studio albums and 25 years of music to choose from.

For the most part they chose well. Their most recent work is best represented, with 17 of the 31 tracks coming from their 4 most recent albums. It's a love project for fans—part live album, part career retrospective—with backstage and concert photos of the Girls and guests and notes on each song, about its evolution or the particular recording.

I could quibble with certain things—starting the album with "Heartache for Everyone," one of the worst songs Amy's ever written; the Girls-glorifying essay by Holly Crenshaw; the lack of banter except for an obligatory "Thanks y'all" at the end of songs, the complete absence of Rites of Passage But there's too much joy here, too much to celebrate, to bother focus on relatively minor complaints.

The Girls are more energetic here than they've been on recent albums. There's a rousing rendition of "Closer to Fine," a song which is quite old but never stale. Other highlights are "Tether," the closest they get to rocking out; "Fugitive" and "Prince of Darkness" with prominent piano; and a revitalized "Kid Fears" with Trina Meade doing the original Michael Stipe R. Even "Fly Away," which is pretty sleepy on record, sounds lovely here.

It's, of course, too early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to find myself still listening to this album 15 years from now. The original songs that make up two-thirds of the album range from hokey but cute to boring. None really grab me and make me look forward to adding them to my yearly rotation. The traditionals are just okay. Maybe the mix of country, bluegrass, and that indefinable Indigo Girls style is just not the vibe I want for my holiday music less charitably: at times it's just plain weird.

I find it hard to explain my dislike for this album. It's not really bad , but it's not good either. I guess that's the problem.

JoAnn Whetsell A disappointment after their last release, this sees them at least trying for something different in their instrumentation, with some nice jazzy violin flourishes, but while there are some sparky songs on here, the quality varies wildly and at only the second track you encounter Emily's twee and patronising "John", arguably among their worst tracks ever.

I tend to prefer the more rocking songs on the album it's been that way with me with the Indigo Girls for a while , but the more folky songs are pretty strong as well. President" with P! Tagore Brage, and JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry. Why the ads? They are the opinions of music enthusiasts, not professional music critics.

Entry last updated Please request permission if you wish to reproduce any of the comments in the Ectophiles' Guide in any context. This site too slow? Try a mirror -- Subscribe to the Guide -- Find artist:. Indigo Girls Country of origin: U.

Type of music generally: In the past they have categorised themselves as "acoustic folk-rock ", and also fall into the category " contemporary folk ". However, their most recent album Shaming of the Sun is probably best described as " rock ".

They have also said that their next album will probably see them tending back towards "folk". We did look for a lot of band tracks.

I have a D that only 50 of them were made, and I love that guitar so much. The J is a little bit more muscular. Obviously we try to get better. RAY: I used to feel that way. RAY: One big thing is that we write separately. That gives us our own little creative space. Musically, it works. We got lucky. Why release another live album now? Read on for the untold truth behind this iconic pair. Amy Ray and Emily Saliers go back a long way.

Inspired by the likes of British modernist author Virginia Woolf and American poet Frank Stanford, the pair spent time honing their skills by learning cover tunes while writing their own songs.

In high school, says AllMusic , the girls first called themselves the B-Band. Upon graduating, both later attended Emory University in Atlanta, according to Encyclopedia. Ray would later say that she was experiencing "increasing confusion and tumult within her soul," finding solace in creating music with Saliers.

In , the release of their album Look Long gave the pair the chance to "tell their origin story," says the Indigo Girls' website , by "chronicling their personal upbringings. According to the American Psychological Association , being gay in the s was no easy feat.

Just two decades before, homosexuals were at risk of being jailed, ostracized by friends and family, losing their jobs, and being defined as mentally ill. Emily Saliers, says NPR , was raised by liberal parents who encouraged "deeper conversation about the social and political issues of the day.

Over time, the Saliers and Ray would hope that being labeled a "lesbian duo" was a positive thing. AllMusic submits that the women's difference in personalities and music styles "provided tension and an interesting balance," thereby fueling the popularity of their songs.

In , Schrader gave birth to a daughter: Ray explained that "I've wanted motherhood for a long, long time, so it was time. As for Saliers, in , Global News reported that the musician announced her marriage to Tristin Chipman, her partner of ten years. At the time, the couple also had a baby. The two married in New York State since at the time, gay marriage was illegal in Georgia. Shaw Law confirms that gay marriage finally became legal there in No matter the Indigo Girls' relationship status, Ray made it clear to the Huffington Post that, "We're proud of who we are and what our identity is, and we're going to make the best music we can and we don't want to be held back by a label that implies mediocrity or something.

Under their new moniker, the pair continued playing local clubs, performing their favorite cover songs by popular artists of the day, says NPR.

But they were also writing songs, leading them to create their own record label in , according to Oldies. They called it J. Ellis Records, after an English teacher on whom both had a crush. One gig in particular proved to be a pivotal point for the Indigo Girls.

The Indigo Girls' album, Rites of Passage , includes the song "Joking" with the lyric, "Forget about your ego, forget about your pride, and you will never have to compromise.

The musicians explained to American Songwriter that they each write their own songs separately before meeting up "to see what they can make of the material as a team. Whoever wrote the song is the person in charge at that moment. Indeed, musicians coming together on the right music is a delicate balance — yet Encyclopedia.