Bachelor No. 2 (Aimee Mann)

I lived in Boston when Aimee Mann arrived on the national music scene with Till Tuesday. I cringed every time "Voices Carry" came on the radio, which was about once every 10 minutes. It was more fun to hear Gang Green at the Rat cover the song as an angry punk song. I knew that Aimee Mann had a solo career but really didn't know much about it. I mean, it's not like her record company ever *promoted* her or anything. (And now that rock 'n' roll radio is dead, you'll *never* hear Aimee Mann's music on the radio.) In 2003 or so, my wife and I caught her at UCLA in Los Angeles. The show was great. The shining moment of the gig was when they played Deathly. It was one of the most memorable experiences of any concert I've ever been to, and I've been to more than most people. After that, I was hooked. My wife bought me this album and I went out and bought all the others. So buy this album. Buy all of Aimee's albums. You won't be sorry.

We live in an age that gives most of us access to virtually every recording ever made, and as a result some of us have 1000's of albums. Still, precious few manage to stay in constant rotation. For me, "Bachelor #2" is one of them. There is some prime, desperate music here. My personal favorite, "Driving Sideways" is not only lyrically searing, but that guitar solo is one of the most powerful in recent memory, particularly from this genre that leans more towards structure than the shreds. Great tune. My second favorite, "Deathly," manages a feeling of dread and cynicism that's gonna ring true with a lot of people. And, interestingly enough, it sports more crunchy, ethereal guitar work. While I generally gave up air guitar once I hit my 30's, I still get caught now and again with this one. Damn that's embarrassing. There is a manifest Beatles influence here, and I'm willing to bet that you'll find few people who object to this. It also appears in her husband's (M. Penn) wo... Read more

Bachelor No. 2 was a comeback album for one of the breakout hits of the 80's, Til Tuesday's Aimee Mann. With hits like "Love in a Vacuum" and "Voices Carry," the Boston-based band seemed to be on the verge of superstardom; however, the band broke up and Aimee tried for years to establish herself as a solo act more interested in artistic merit rather than commercial success. It wasn't until 1999 when Aimee, after establishing her own record label, broke through and succeeded in her goal. The intricate detail in her writing is evident in every track on this album, particularly on the song, Deathly, my personal favorite due to its moving orchestration and the way she uses her voice like an instrument to draw the listener into the emotion of the piece. Other standouts are Cigarettes and Redvines, The Fall of the World's Own Optimist, Save Me, the song nominated for an Oscar from the soundtrack of the movie "Magnolias," and Calling it Quits. If you haven't heard much from Aimee and are look... Read more

This CD never gets old. I love a lot of the stuff that Aimee has done, but this is my favorite from start to finish. "Red Vines", "How Am I Different" and "Deathly" (to name 3) rank with Aimee's finest work--thoughtful, original lyrics set against highly melodic, catchy, almost Beatlesque rock. What strikes me about Bachelor #2 is how it stands up to repeated (and repeated) play. I buy a lot of music, and this is definitely one of my Top Ten of the last ten years or so. Take my word for it. If you like good music, you'll love Bachelor #2.

I am pretty sure that Ms. Mann considers her lyrics/songs on Bachelor No.2 to be profound and poetic, but in reality her songs are relentlessly repetitious and simplistically negative, not to mention virulently and bluntly anti-male. She really needs to listen to the songs of Mindy Smith and Patty Griffin to get a handle on how to write songs. Ms. Mann has a lovely voice and her Christmas album is good and even brilliant at times. But this album buries emotions, truth, love, hate, sorrow, hurt etc under a mountain of negativity. I understand that Ms. Mann has quite an assertive and strong personality who fights record companies and probably anyone else who disagrees with her. Nevertheless, she should take some advice and start singing songs written by other writers--her lovely voice is betrayed by the mediocrity of her own songs.

For those of you who loved the movie "Magnolia" and throughly enjoyed the soundtrack (mostly done by Mann) then this album will not fail those who love to hear this amazing woman. Mann shows much promise as a songwriter with many of the albums sounds featured in the movie soundtrack. I thought the album was great for those long nights. Highly recommended.