13-06-2012, 12:25
online listen
just misses the list
started out good, but got repetitious to a fault
love her voice
I say ooh la la
1.6 from me and a converted 2.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Never Go Back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_ode55DFA
released June 12th, 2012
![[Image: grace-potter-nocturnals-lion-beast-450.jpg]](http://o.aolcdn.com/os/music/CD-Listening-Party/aCDLP-0611CUTS/grace-potter-nocturnals-lion-beast-450.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Singer, songwriter, and Hammond B-3 player Grace Potter grew up in Waitsfield, Vermont, where she began playing
piano at the age of seven; informed by her parents' extensive collection of some 4,000 LPs, she was gigging out
locally by her late teens. She met drummer Matt Burr at an open-mike session while both were attending St. Lawrence
University in upstate New York in 2002, and the two formed Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The band, by then a trio
with the addition of Scott Tournet on guitar, recorded its homemade debut album, Original Soul, in 2004 on its own
newly created Ragged Company record label. Bassist Bryan Dondero joined just as the group began tracking a second
homemade effort, Nothing But the Water, which was released in 2005. The album garnered a good deal of critical
acclaim, thanks to its sturdy, throwback, rootsy sound and Potter's impressive vocal work, which drew comparisons to
everyone from Janis Joplin to Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, and Bonnie Raitt. Fiercely independent and in control
of their own career, Potter and the band turned down several major-label offers before signing with Hollywood
Records later in 2005. Hollywood reissued Nothing But the Water for wider distribution in 2006, and in 2007, in
conjunction with Ragged Company, issued This Is Somewhere, which further refined the band's classic organic sound.
In 2010, after a shelved Potter solo project produced by T-Bone Burnett, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals was released.
Produced by Mark Batson (Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, and Alicia Keys), the album's more polished, sound and tighter
songwriting were part of an effort by both label and group to pull out all the stops in breaking them as a charting
act. The band toured incessantly, and released an iTunes session, a live album in the U.K., a download-only live-at
-the-Fillmore date, and even a Christmas EP. In the summer of 2012, they emerged with a new studio offering, The
Lion the Beast the Beat.
Album Review - from allmusic
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' self-titled 2010 album raised the band's profile. It traded heavily on their concert
strengths, and while not perfect, it more or less shored up their reputation with fans and spread their rep
globally. The Lion the Beast the Beat is a creative leap. With the band having enlisted producer Jim Scott, most
tracks were cut live from the floor of his studio with strings, effects, and backing vocals added later. The sound
here is big, sometimes bombastic, but never slick; it's wildly varied, too. Collectively, the songs have a very
loose thematic link about the gray areas between perception and reality, looking at everything from relationships to
time's passage. The title track contains the band's signature big guitars and drums roaring above an organ and
strings. It nods -- without winking -- at the Go-Go's' "We Got the Beat." Dan Auerbach co-wrote and co-produced
"Never Go Back," the album's first single. It's a tricky, quirky number with an off-kilter funk riff à la mid-period
Talking Heads. Its chorus is infectious and Potter's singing, alternately seductive and authoritative, grabs the
listener by the throat. The ballad "Stars" looks directly toward country radio with its pedal steel and lilting
hook. That said, it's warmer and more natural-sounding. Auerbach and Potter also co-wrote the Doors-influenced
"Loneliest Soul," an uptempo groover with pulsing organ, slinky Rhodes, and a popping bassline that pushes it above
imitation. The psych-tinged "Timekeeper" is an unlikely pop song, but its distinctly retro feel and Potter's
exquisite vocal -- which is far more disciplined than on any previous recording -- are irresistible. "Runaway" is
punchy, nasty, funky rock & roll -- one keeps expecting horns, but they never appear. Co-produced by Auerbach and
Scott, it contains the former's feel for live distortion and the latter's layered ambience and dynamics, and
combines them to great effect. The guitar break is smoking; it pushes Potter to her limit in response. The closer,
"The Divide," is the set's best track. It's a slow-building, apocalyptic rocker, whose three guitars create menace
and drama. They are balanced by a careening organ and a large string section, arranged to carry the proceedings from
the abyss to transcendence. While Potter's melodies and hooks are solid on The Lion the Beast the Beat, some of her
lyric choices are still a bit clunky. However, she and the Nocturnals compensate with passion, execution, and smart
production choices and arrangements. With its exponential musical growth, this might indeed be the record that moves
the band from the merely recognizable into the pop mainstream.
Track Listing
1. The Lion the Beast the Beat
2. Never Go Back
3. Parachute Heart
4. Stars
5. Timekeeper
6. Loneliest Soul
7. Turntable
8. Keepsake
9. Runaway
10. One Heart Missing
11. The Divide
just misses the list
started out good, but got repetitious to a fault
love her voice
I say ooh la la
1.6 from me and a converted 2.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Never Go Back
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_ode55DFA
released June 12th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Singer, songwriter, and Hammond B-3 player Grace Potter grew up in Waitsfield, Vermont, where she began playing
piano at the age of seven; informed by her parents' extensive collection of some 4,000 LPs, she was gigging out
locally by her late teens. She met drummer Matt Burr at an open-mike session while both were attending St. Lawrence
University in upstate New York in 2002, and the two formed Grace Potter & the Nocturnals. The band, by then a trio
with the addition of Scott Tournet on guitar, recorded its homemade debut album, Original Soul, in 2004 on its own
newly created Ragged Company record label. Bassist Bryan Dondero joined just as the group began tracking a second
homemade effort, Nothing But the Water, which was released in 2005. The album garnered a good deal of critical
acclaim, thanks to its sturdy, throwback, rootsy sound and Potter's impressive vocal work, which drew comparisons to
everyone from Janis Joplin to Norah Jones, Lucinda Williams, and Bonnie Raitt. Fiercely independent and in control
of their own career, Potter and the band turned down several major-label offers before signing with Hollywood
Records later in 2005. Hollywood reissued Nothing But the Water for wider distribution in 2006, and in 2007, in
conjunction with Ragged Company, issued This Is Somewhere, which further refined the band's classic organic sound.
In 2010, after a shelved Potter solo project produced by T-Bone Burnett, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals was released.
Produced by Mark Batson (Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Beyonce, and Alicia Keys), the album's more polished, sound and tighter
songwriting were part of an effort by both label and group to pull out all the stops in breaking them as a charting
act. The band toured incessantly, and released an iTunes session, a live album in the U.K., a download-only live-at
-the-Fillmore date, and even a Christmas EP. In the summer of 2012, they emerged with a new studio offering, The
Lion the Beast the Beat.
Album Review - from allmusic
Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' self-titled 2010 album raised the band's profile. It traded heavily on their concert
strengths, and while not perfect, it more or less shored up their reputation with fans and spread their rep
globally. The Lion the Beast the Beat is a creative leap. With the band having enlisted producer Jim Scott, most
tracks were cut live from the floor of his studio with strings, effects, and backing vocals added later. The sound
here is big, sometimes bombastic, but never slick; it's wildly varied, too. Collectively, the songs have a very
loose thematic link about the gray areas between perception and reality, looking at everything from relationships to
time's passage. The title track contains the band's signature big guitars and drums roaring above an organ and
strings. It nods -- without winking -- at the Go-Go's' "We Got the Beat." Dan Auerbach co-wrote and co-produced
"Never Go Back," the album's first single. It's a tricky, quirky number with an off-kilter funk riff à la mid-period
Talking Heads. Its chorus is infectious and Potter's singing, alternately seductive and authoritative, grabs the
listener by the throat. The ballad "Stars" looks directly toward country radio with its pedal steel and lilting
hook. That said, it's warmer and more natural-sounding. Auerbach and Potter also co-wrote the Doors-influenced
"Loneliest Soul," an uptempo groover with pulsing organ, slinky Rhodes, and a popping bassline that pushes it above
imitation. The psych-tinged "Timekeeper" is an unlikely pop song, but its distinctly retro feel and Potter's
exquisite vocal -- which is far more disciplined than on any previous recording -- are irresistible. "Runaway" is
punchy, nasty, funky rock & roll -- one keeps expecting horns, but they never appear. Co-produced by Auerbach and
Scott, it contains the former's feel for live distortion and the latter's layered ambience and dynamics, and
combines them to great effect. The guitar break is smoking; it pushes Potter to her limit in response. The closer,
"The Divide," is the set's best track. It's a slow-building, apocalyptic rocker, whose three guitars create menace
and drama. They are balanced by a careening organ and a large string section, arranged to carry the proceedings from
the abyss to transcendence. While Potter's melodies and hooks are solid on The Lion the Beast the Beat, some of her
lyric choices are still a bit clunky. However, she and the Nocturnals compensate with passion, execution, and smart
production choices and arrangements. With its exponential musical growth, this might indeed be the record that moves
the band from the merely recognizable into the pop mainstream.
Track Listing
1. The Lion the Beast the Beat
2. Never Go Back
3. Parachute Heart
4. Stars
5. Timekeeper
6. Loneliest Soul
7. Turntable
8. Keepsake
9. Runaway
10. One Heart Missing
11. The Divide
