Joan Armatrading

What in the name of the 1970's Tracy Chapman is this album? I have never heard a single song by this artist but this album feels like the precursor to many 1990's female singer-songwriters. I can't understand how she is not spoken in the same breath as many other singer-songwriters in the 70's. It could be because she never had that huge hit song. Armatrading has a unique voice (both figuratively and literally) and I'm ready to explore some of her back catalog to see if I can see what other artists she influenced. If you had told me this album came out in the late 80's or 90's then I would have believed you. Even if you don't love the music, this album is a must-hear.

"One more time with feeling," said no one to Joan Armatrading, ever.

Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never heard of her. Such an amazing voice and love the borderline country/funk sound. Love and Affection made its way to my hits playlist.

This might be my favorite album we've drawn so far. I really liked it, all the way through. I even started listening to her next album. Also, this is an artist whose name rang a bell but that, to my knowledge, I've never listened to before.

I feel bad giving this such a low score because there is nothing wrong with this, it's just simply not for me. Give this a listen if you like folky and mellow songs, but a 2/5 from me, somebody who finds this kind of music really boring.

1 - Electric guitar coming in adds a lot. Love the core of acoustic guitar and piano. STEEL GUITAR SOLO. Sounds like folksy Elton John. 2 - Love this more laid back and bluesy turn. OO. Drums and electric guitar coming in is super cool. Strings in background add a lot of texture. Love how she lays the groove back down after the up section. Delivery reminds me of Joni Mitchell. 3 - GROOVY. FUNKY. Maintains that bluesy feel. Weird upper harmonies super cool. 4 - LOVE this slowdown. Arpeggiations on guitar super cool and are slightly off balance throughout song. Love how strings and drums layer in with low voice. SAX SOLO. This song is awesome. 5 - Now THIS is super Joni Mitchell. Cool rock ballad. Little acoustic flurries super cool with electric riffs underneath. Queen loves strings and they do her well. You could make a very cool sample from this hook. 6 - Great transition to something more rhythmic. Almost jazzy intro, still very blues-centered. YES BITCH. Jam vibes. Very jazzy guitar feature into piano feature, playing with left and right speakers builds into another verse. 7 - Catchy!! Love the main riff. Love her vocals. Love the hook. More vocal harmony stuff in this song. Rock vibes with this one. 8 - Gentler yet upbeat folksy ballad. Very happy sounding and nice. Guitar parts are very cool too. 9 - Awesome opening acoustic guitar intro. Can confidently say this song rocks. Sexy vocals, driving rhythm. The acoustic solo in the middle is dope as well, love how everything else drops out for so long. 10 - “You don’t leave my down-hearted, but I'm sorry you had to go, because we had fun while it lasted.” Reflective and somber blues closing, powerful vocal performance. LOVE the upbeat switch at the end, mirrors the uplifting disappointment of the lyrics. Love this for a closing track, really sums up the album musically and thematically. Summary - Great album. I thought the instrumentation was awesome. That combined with the vocal talent of Joan Armatrading allow for a full exploration of the bluesy, jazzy, singer-songwriter sound she creates. You can blast most of this album and dance your ass off, but it also rewards a more focused listening.

So happy to have discovered Joan. Soulful, deep voice doing that classic 60's/70's singer/songwriter thing. Closest thing I can think of melodically is early Elton John, but with a richer voice. She dips into a Motown sound from time to time, but never as much as you'd think considering the era (I guess it was on the other side of the pond). Secret little gems like this are what keep me coming back to this challenge even after an entire year.

I can’t believe I’ve never heard of her before. I’ve been listening to this all weekend. The album feels like a singer songwriter record but depending on the song, she does folk rock, country rock, funk and soul. And somehow it all still sounds like one cohesive style. Her vocals tie everything together. She has such a strong, distinct voice and she’s a mesmerizing performer. The songwriting is fantastic too. She writes about love and relationships with depth and maturity, touching on issues of vulnerability, power and confidence. I know I just heard it for the first time a few days ago but I could find room for “Tall in the Saddle” on my top 100 rock songs of all time. What a song! It starts with Pink Floyd style guitar and adds her deeply soulful singing before pausing for a guitar solo that would be at home on “Dark Side of the Moon.” Then it builds to a climax and tears into a funky breakdown followed by an insanely danceable refrain. Even the phrase “tall in the saddle” is great. The song is a takedown of a womanizer in his prime but even post-breakup she concedes how much fun he was. (I love the way she sings, “Fun, fun, fun, fuuun!”) I can’t wait to listen to more of her. Easily my favorite new discovery from this list. 💯

Things I'd trade in a left arm for

Wow, that was great. Last couple songs weren't as good as the ones before it, but it overall was still SUPER solid. I'd never heard of Joan Armatrading before this, but I will certainly remember her name. I think I'll be going back to this a fair amount in the future, and I'll honestly probably even check out more of her stuff.

This whole album was awesome. Incredible vocal range and style from song to song carried by an eclectic compilation of instrumentals.

She walked so Tracy Chapman could vroom vroom in her fast car

Inventive, beautiful, and poetic. There's so much energy and soul in these tracks, it's incredible front to back.

Some groovy tracks, but seems a little too mellow towards the beginning. Too acoustic to jive, too much presence to vibe? Folk background and later jazz, rock, and blues influences. Later songs more guitar and bass, groovier riffs and drums. Listening to Love and Affection again, almost like an acoustic, very light rock/jazz ballad. Like it more now. Maybe I’m a hater first time through. Save Me: only song I’m not a fan of completely, I think due to the register/timbre of the long “save me” lines. Doesn’t feel full like the rest.

Groovy shit, kinda like a non depressed tracy chapman

Great songwriting. That low voice in one of the songs surprised me.

Ok but not really my thing. Cool to learn about her and her music though

I loved the album! Folksy, excellent voice! I have never heard of Joan Armatrading until today. It was relaxing to listen to it. I think the album is well done.

Nice voice it Made me cry

I really enjoyed this album. I’m suprised I never heard of this artist, but I’m also born in the 90s 🤷🏼‍♀️ A lot of hits, and totally vibey

A lovely mix of R&B with some country instrumentation. Add in a lovely soulful voice and this is an album I really really enjoyed.

Bloody fantastic. Funky, Motown, Rock... everything that is good about music. Guitar solo in 'Tall in the Saddle' is exceptional.

Really enjoyed this! Incredible vocal range

What a beautiful album. Love and Affection made me cry. Insane I’ve never heard this before stumbling upon it here. Wonderfully written, pristinely recorded. An absolute gem of a discovery thanks to this list.

This is Tracy Chapman before Tracy Chapman. One of the best albums stumbled across during the 1001 album journey.

This was a great album. A really interesting vocalist with a unique perspective - both of the time and generally.

Wowww!!! 11/10. Every song approaches perfection. Most of them are soulful, funky, folky without being pretentious. A rare magical trick to produce meaningful songs that are fun, funky….they rock!!

Thought this ponderous at first, utterly convinced by the second listen. Had never knowingly listened to Armatrading, a couple of songs in something in her voice and the record-feel expecting the "lover woo-hoo" song, and sure enough "Love and Affection" comes on like a magic trick. Her voice is surprisingly curt, often percussive; forgive me, I haven't quite worked out what's so distinctive about it that had me recognise it from a song I hadn't heard in decades. (I don't listen to much radio.) The lyrics are introspective, spiralling into themselves, and for a while I felt the record lacked memorable refrains, before I realised it was doing something else. The band sound is astonishingly good; no finer-recorded album has hit this list during our march through. Need to listen to it more, but might be a juggernaut.

Honestly really liked this album. I'll definitely listen to "Down to Zero" and "Love and Affection" again. Joan has the vocal range contraito, which is the lowest female register I guess. This is probably her best known album, but she has a 50-year career with 19 studio albums! She's never been super well known, but has played alongside some big acts like Bob Dylan.

Not sure any bluesy singer songwriter stuff is ever going to reinvent the wheel, but it’s better than the 87 Bob Dylan albums on this list.

Her voice is great, the music is good. Not my cup of tea.

Good vibing for a road trip

Dated in spots and a little middle of the road, but overall an enjoyable, funky folk-ish record.

Some personal chronicles about the dynamics of relationships. Nothing overtly amazing, but nothing skippable either. Very accurate cover art, the focus here is a girl and her guitar. For this being made almost 50 years ago, it holds up surprisingly well. Feels like it coulda been on the radio with Lenny Kravitz in the 90's. An even 3 stars

This got me thinking (via Kelafa Sanneh's excellent book about genre and music) about shortcuts, approximations, and the slippery slope that ends in shouts of cultural appropriation etc. The temptation is to place an artist in a box – commercial considerations, fear of the unknown, if-you-liked-that-then-you'll-like-this, etc. In this case, my first instinct was to think of Armatrading as proto-Tracy Chapman. Two things about this (1) Astonishingly lazy thinking on my part. They're nothing alike (2) I bet you Armatrading came up in an early marketing meeting for Ms C. it is what it is, I suppose. Creativity and imagination do exist in the sausage factory. My task is to enjoy the former without becoming a hostage to the latter "Love and Affection" is an amazing song, by the way.

So I had heard of Joan back in the day, but never listened to one of her albums, or even heard one of her songs - so this was all new to me... I found the songs to have quite an original sound, and for the most part - the playing on the album was fairly good... The lyrical content seemed to be pretty pedestrian, and all along the same lines, and there is just something about Joan's voice that sorta turns me off in a way... Kind of like I have to put up with the vocals, just to get through the song, and I just don't want to work that hard when listening to music... Was worried as I was halfway through the album - probably side 1 back during record days, and there wasn't a song that even remotely grabbed me... The last half was better, as I found a bit of goodness in "Join The Boys", "People", "Like Fire", & "Tall In Saddle"... It's not that I thought these were excellent songs, but there were moments in each that I thought were pretty well-done... So I was listening on Tidal, and after the last song on the Joan album, Tidal gave me another track - so it sounded like there was one last track on Joan's album to listen to... After a few minutes into the song I said - wow - this is the best track on the album hands down... When I clicked back to Tidal, the Joan album had indeed finished, and Tidal decided that I should listen to Joni Mitchell's "Harry's House/Centerpiece" track after the Joan album... Got a good laugh out of that... : ) This is definitely better than some of the drab albums that I have found here - which I gave 1's to... If we had some gradation in the star ratings, I'd probably have given this a 1.50 - but I can't, and this is better than a 1 - so I'll give it a 2... At least now I can place the music to the name...

The music is good and reasonably varied but that’s it …. Don’t like her voice or how she uses it ….

One of my all time favourite albums.

best album so far

“Love and Affection” was one of the first songs that my brother and I bonded over after a couple of serious sibling rivalry teenage years. Now he’s one of my favorite people ever. So is Joan Armatrading. Five stars just for this memory.

Erste Überraschung, das war wirklich gut

This one surprised me. I really like it. Especially the jazzy parts. Also, the song People has a nice funk to it, while Like Fire gets a bit country. It's an interesting blend of styles, but still cohesive. You really don't know what to expect next, and I love that. Ending with Tall in the Saddle was fun fun fun! Fav tracks: Down to Zero, Love and Affection, Join the Boys, Tall in the Saddle Least fav track: Save Me

I had never heard of her before. She’s awesome!

Beautiful.

Que surpresa! Esse álbum é incrível. Não conhecia a artista e estou encantado.

Amazing album

The break in Tall in the Saddle is a masterclass

Wonderful, timeless songs.

Perfect.

Just wonderful to hear this again

Great

Consistently interesting and fresh. Nothing stood out as a hit necessarily, but it felt like serious thought was put into each song. Large variety throughout as well.

This is a great no skip album. Really enjoyed it.

What a lovely album.

Even better than I remembered.

Ahhhh Joan. Such a great talent.

I've heard of Joan Armatrading many times over the years, but have never listened to her prior to this. Absolutely wonderful album. I'm a bit shocked I'd never heard it even in my record store days. Favorites: "Love and Affection", "Join the Boys", "Like Fire", but then they're all great.

Love And Affection had been in my recent rotation of songs, but it's the only song of hers that I'd heard prior. And I think I only discovered it because the algorithm played it and I instantly fell in love (and affection) with it. I have to ask. Why. How. Why have I never heard of her until recently. How has this album been here all this time and I didn't know!? This is among the best folk / singer songwriter albums I've ever heard, and it's so cool that she's the sole songwriter listed for the entire album. The guitars are fantastic throughout with flavors of rock, blues, folk, and country, and her voice is emotive, smooth, sparkly, raw, and moving, depending on what the song asks for. This is absolutely going to be one I play again and again.

I've never listened to Joan Armatrading before...what a great record! Warm production, incredible lyrics, interesting chord changes abound, all held together by a one-of-a kind artist. If only more folk-based records found a way feel as contemporary, yet timeless.

Wow, How have I not heard of her before? I liked this album. It is up my streett though but I can see how people that don't like folk rock-soul-blues might not like the album. The band, her voice - everything is good.

Just to echo a lot of the reviews I saw on this album: Damn son! Who is Joan Armatrading and why have I NEVER heard of her? This album is fantastic. I saw a lot of comparisons to Tracy Chapman. This is LIGHTYEARS better than Tracy Chapman in my opinion. That voice, combined with the folk, funk and soul all blended into an extremely enjoyable listen from start to finish. I'll definitely be coming back to this one (and maybe diving into her other albums).

Exceptional album for such a quiet and reflective person. One of the all time greats. Class trumps all else.

Such an interesting album, new to me. I love Armatrading’s voice and her guitar. Somebody Who Loves You is so touching. Really glad to hear this.

This was a really enjoyable album. Has some hints of Tracy Chapman in it.

This is a really stellar record. I’m honestly shocked that I’ve never heard of Joan Armatrading before, and I’m a little more shocked to find out that she’s British. This album really sweeps a broad spectrum of genres, it touches on funk, pop, rock n roll, new wave, even occasionally folk. Normally when an album attempts to hit so many different styles it falls flat for me, but I think it was done incredibly well here. Not one genre felt out of place with Joan’s voice. The production value is excellent for the time, and it feels very well performed. I really struggle to find any faults here, I really enjoyed listening to this record. The saxophone solo on “Love and Affection” really pushed this song over the 4* edge and right up to a perfect score. 5*

This album was very dope. I will probably return to it on the whole. Favorited several tracks from it. Really the opener is the only one I don't like that much. Really fantastic recording quality as well for the 70's.

I have never heard of Joan Armatrading, so I didn’t know what to expect when going into this album. Personally, I really liked this album. The songs are catchy and relaxing, and I liked them all equally. I especially love the drums and guitar used. I could totally see myself listening to this album more often.

Funky as hell. Get this vinyl

This is pretty righteous.

Beautiful, deep, rich voice, with simple but powerful guitar and lyrics - I loved this album!

Joan Armatrading is a performer I haven't paid much attention to, and I was really impressed by this album. Great songwriting, funky grooves, and impeccable guitar chops.

I really liked this! So fun, retro sounding

This far exceeded my expectations -- weekend bias alert Glynn Johns said it was the best album he was ever associated with. Wowowwow. The entire album flows and hardly brings on any fatigue. I listened to it twice in a row without it feeling like a drag. Water with the Wine was a really hard hitting track. Not at all pleasant, but the music got the helpless emotion across while preaching that crazy story/message for women in the 70s Like Fire -- favorite track on the album. Slide guitar was fire.

Another XPN staple I’ve heard a bunch of times but never really *listened* to before. Goddamn she’s good.

Oh man, a beauty, after a week of grafting through some dire albums, this was an absolute gem on a Friday. My heart melts at her voice and the stories she can craft for us. I'd heard about her before and a couple of tracks, but that was just... Mighty

How have I missed her??? She is amazing.

Ok, another one I've never heard of. And what kind of name is this? From 1976... great, some kind of hippie nonsense. Well, let's get it over with... HANG ON--- This lady is fantastic! How is she not more popular? Or is she and I just didn't know it? Regardless, this is one of the best albums I've come across on this projects. A quick count shows that I've rated 26 albums a 5 (including this one) out of 385 played. I'm digging up some of her other work for my playlist.

Never heard this artist before. Her voice is very easy to listen to. Really enjoyed this. So much so I looked further into her catalogue. If this is your vibe checkout the Whatevers For Us LP.

That was great - such balance with some folky almost country sound with some funk influence and just overall so personal and unique. Very enjoyable

Oh man, this music is tight up my alley. How am I just now discovering her?!? Loved it.

Smooooth…like honey

Loved this one! I hadn't heard of this artist before, and was instantly hooked with the first song.

Amazing guitar and lyrics,

This was beautiful and funky!

This was really great. Love & Affection was a definite highlight. It also sounds like Dave Matthews is very influenced by Joan Armatrading... but how would I know that (hahahah).

Honestly so peaceful, feels like Sade and Eric Clapton had a baby it would be Joan Armatrading - love it.

Strong Tracey Chapman vibes, and I mean that as the highest compliment possible.

Incredible voice, loved this!

She's just incredible.

lovely voice, it felt old without feeling antiquated

Awesome. Haven’t heard this in a zillion years, but it’s so refreshing.

Down to zero help myself tall in saddle

Really enjoyed this one. Nice folk vibes

Really like this

wow, this was an amazing album. 5 stars all the way

First time encountering her. What a great voice! Love hearing an alto instead of the usual sopranos. The album starts very strong, like solid 4 stars territory. And then track 4 hits (Love and Affection) and from that point on, everything is 4.5-5 stars. Overall, this album is so damn good that it's an enthusiastic 5 stars. There are some sick, filthy grooves on this album. A lot of the acoustic guitar work is out of this world great. I'm going to come back to this album frequently.

Glad I got to discover her.

I've always liked Joan Armatrading but I pretty much have only heard what has been played on the radio and the one album I do have (Track Record). Two of those songs come from this album, which I didn't know. Both Down to Zero and Love and Affection are great and everything else is really good or better. She's a great singer-songwriter, but the backing band on this are terrific. This is a close call -- would have gone 4.5 but I'm rounding her up!

Such a beautifully cool record

Poetic love songs 🤩