Dilate

Ani DiFranco is just a jewel in the rough as a musician. I love her dogged determinationn to be original, from releasing
her own CD's using her own label. Smart move so she can maintain her own sense of control over her own artistry. I can
never figure out why artists especially unknown don't just make & sell their own CD's rather than use the music industry
since they don't seem to be evolving much in finding or supporting unknown artists. I love how her songs feel like they
are crystal clear to the listener...I heard that she tapes her songs on an old tape machine..so maybe that's why they all
sound so intimately close! This musician doesn't need any "tricks" or diversions to express her songs, she's raw to the
core! Yeah for us!

1.Amazing Grace: This is one of my favorite versions of this song ever. It is original in it's structure which is hard
to do with such a widely known song. Ani does some really great strumming on this...nothing that overpowers the lyrics.
I love her interpretation of the lyrics and vocal performance. The drumming is so marvelous in this piece and I loved the
church bells in the song given it's obvious reference in where we would hear this song sung the most! The lady speaking
in this song is so cool...it gives you the feel of days gone by...like something you would have heard back in the 50's..using
the megaphone to give it the feel of how radio's sounded back then when people got alot of their news thru that media.
Her vocal is just so well done as it always is. To me this interpretation is a modern contemporary version of this
classic song. I love the percussion in it too that almost sounds like a lion roaring...maybe a washboard was used..not sure
but it sounds great!

2.Done Wrong: I love this song & have had it on my playlist for ages. Really hauntingly great written lyrics. Her guitar
work is always impeccable...sounds like a 12 string guitar that she uses the most. Her vocal is so unique to me much
like Ricki Lee Jones (70's) and a bit similar to Alanis Morrisette in lyrical honesty but still her own musician totally.
Few original artists come around that aren't like a spin-off of something that has already been; she's definetly an
original.

3.Adam & Eve: This song has been on my favorite playlist since I got this CD. Just a greatly written song lyrically. Love
the guitar work in the intro and throughout. Such a well written song about the "roles" in relationships and the complexities
of them. Great referencing to Adam & Eve and how frightened men seem to be by having an actual relationship that isn't
based upon external appearances. Great painfully haunting interpretation of these lyrics....how she feels disregarded,
used and just trashed in the end of this relationship. Must be so sad to only make "physical" connections with the
opposite sex and not have any emotional connection at all...makes me glad to be a woman. Such a skillfully lyrically
crafted song! The guitar work on this song is some of the best guitar work I have ever heard in my life. She has a remarkable
sense of how to use various instruments to incorporate into each song she writes.

I don't know if it because I bought it at a certain period in my life or what, but I own about 7 of Ms. Difranco's CDs and every time I put THIS ONE in, I get this bad a$$ feeling, and it makes me wanna put on some black combat boots, and dye my hair purple, and get a tattoo, and get my nipples pierced, and get in my car and drive around smoking cigarettes, and flip off men,and spit out the window, and drive REAL FAST, and stop obeying stop signs, and get out of my car after I park it on the sidewalk in the park, and walk around with my top off, and when older women look at me funny I wanna say,"HEY, HEY YOU , OLD LADY, YEAH YOU, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT..HUH? ME- WHY, WHY YOU LOOKING AT ME, YOU SEE SOMETHING YOU LIKE-WANNA TAKE ME HOME OR SOMETHING..WELL, FORGET IT YOU'RE TOO OLD, YEAH THAT'S RIGHT....GRANNY!" But then I reflect on my thoughts and decide it would just be better to just drive around and smoke the cigarettes. This CD is amazing.

Some people were annoyed, if I remember right, when Ani DiFranco made this album -- much more brooding and with a lot more backup band than her others.

To them, I said: "She already made like a gazillion albums in her other style! She recorded more songs already than most artists ever will. How long was she supposed to keep going before trying something new?" I figure she has to either reinvent herself or get bored, and I think she made the right choice

I think this album is a TRIUMPH. It's mopey, honest, and absolutely heartfelt. Her lyrics are just as smart as ever.

SUPERHERO is a fantastic song about how when we fall in love, we all become ridiculous cliches ... no matter how 'above it' we thought we were before.

ADAM AND EVE is a powerful, brooding feminist statement about men who "leave you in the morning".

OUT OF ME, ONTO YOU is more or less ... a curse on someone you hate.

I think DILATE is a gem, and every Ani fan should take it back out again and listen to it with fresh ears.