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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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...

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!!

Joan has such a warm presence, especially on songs like "Somebody Who Loves You." And this year, Richard Ashcroft released a banger that samples her hit "Love and Affection" which made me so happy for both of them.

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.

Johanne Våpenhandler

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.

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

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

9/10 What do you get when you cross Carole King with Sly Stone and add just a twist of Fleetwood Mac? Turns out the answer is Joan Armatrading. I was not expecting this at all, as I’d always had the impression that Joan was a folk-rock singer songwriter, and I’d only heard bits and pieces of her work in the past. This was an incredibly enjoyable album, with Joan taking a lot of influence from the soul, funk and rock music of the 60s and 70s, weaving those sounds and grooves around her singer-songwriter compositional chops and spinning it into something that sounds completely fresh and invigorating 50 years later. The funny thing is that, to my ear, the slightly weaker efforts (not that they're a great deal weaker in reality) are actually the more folk rock style tracks. Joan has a fantastic vocal range and a really earthy tone to her voice that she uses to great effect, with a soulful bent to her vocal delivery, alongside an ability to switch up her styles to inject sharp, rhythmic moments alongside that more smooth legato tone. She's also a remarkably good guitarist, with Like Fire really highlighting the high level of her abilities, alongside plenty of other excellent moments. It helps when you have a band as good as this too, and when they get going they play with such feel and groove. Each band member has multiple moments of individual excellence across the record, but again, Like Fire is where everything comes together to showcase the full scale of their talents. And all of that is wrapped up in a beautifully produced package. Every element is crisp, clear, well positioned in space and blended together in a truly excellent mix. I listened to this album 5 times today and it got better with every listen. There were a couple of moments where things did lull a tiny bit, but all in all, this is a really excellent album. Down To Zero - It’s a folk edged rock start, but there’s a twist of soul in there too, with her vocal providing a weighty, soulful edge to the track. It’s really dynamically and rhythmically varied and there’s some great playing on there too. The slide guitar solo is subtle but lovely. Her approach to the vocal is so cool, with flittering pieces of gorgeous melodic phrasing and then some more rhythmically focused passages too. A great start. Help Yourself - Again, she puts so much soul and emotion into her vocal delivery. It’s pretty smooth and subtle through the first half and then all of a sudden just breaks into a funk groove half way through. There’s quite a significant development between those two sections, but she threads them together beautifully. She’s got a great vocal range too and the production of this is so controlled and well balanced, working brilliantly with dynamic and tonal spacing. Water With The Wine - She’s really good at blending different styles together and transitioning between them smoothly. This one has the odd moment of drifting, but the she uses some interesting rhythms for her chord changes here and there that injects a little dash of surprise now and again. Again, there are moments of melodic quality in there too and the shuffling groove is pretty compelling too. Love And Affection - This is the big single from the album and it’s a beautiful piece of music. It’s subtle in some ways, but builds in boldness as it goes and the orchestration becomes thicker through each chorus. Her vocal has so much feel and vibe to it and she sells the track so well with her delivery. It’s a stunning chorus, especially when you consider how much of the groove comes from her vocal with the rest of the main instrumentation playing fairly rhythmically safe, but it still has so much groove and feel. Lovely stuff. Save Me - This is a far more restrained effort, but it’s very pretty in its sparsity. The electric guitar tone is so pretty and gives this a lot of depth and vibe, working effectively against the string arrangement. It has a bit of the vibe of Songbird by Fleetwood Mac, actually, and it’s kind of mad how this album was released a year before Rumours, but sounds so fresh. It’s not developmentally the most interesting of songs, but it’s still awfully pretty and considered. Join The Boys - And now Joan just hits us with a straight up funk number. This could easily be a Sly Stone track, it’s got that dynamic push and pull through different sections and a groove that absolutely kills. The band are on fire here, it’s tight but delivered with just the right amount of restraint and that organic edge that makes it fell so alive. Listen to the organ as an example. It’s not always playing, but it pops up with great licks that just enhance the vibe and groove brilliantly. Great stuff. People - Another Sly-esque funk track, but with a more soul based chorus. Again, there’s so much groove to this and the transitions between sections are excellent. The musicianship is on fire and they all get little moments to show their stuff. solid solos all round. Her staccato rhythmic vocal delivery is back to give an extra bit of a twist to the groove, but every now again she throws in these gorgeous legato melodic moments that just feel so stacked full of soul. Solid. Somebody Who Loves You - Back to something a little more folky. It’s subtle but controlled, and it’s ever so pretty. There are some lovely melodic moments here and it rolls along really nicely. As with some of her other more restrained numbers, it’s perhaps a touch too subtle for my tastes, but it’s still a very nice piece of music that’s delivered in a really heartfelt and engaging way. Like Fire - The guitar playing here is absolutely fierce. She’s one hell of a guitarist! The groove keeps on giving and flowing and it’s a really tasty 3 bar pattern in the verses before it dips back to a 4 bar pattern in the chorus, which gives it a brilliant and non-standard flow. And it’s got a great vocal melody too. The band are, as the title suggests, completely on fire. Every single player smashes it out of the park and I cannot get over the quality of this groove. They’re so far in the pocket they’re hanging out near her socks. This is one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time. Tall In The Saddle - It’s a slow and subtle start, but there’s still so much soul to it, and the groove grows as the song progresses. It’s the longest track on the album, but she stuffs so much into it that it almost feels short. It’s soulful, funky and driving, and yet again, the performances from both Joan and the band are of the highest quality. It’s a really great end to the album that’s packed with development, dynamic quality and moments of melodic excellence, all wrapped up in a beautifully produced package. Top quality stuff.

Great singer songwriter album

I always respected but never dug Joan Armatrading when I was younger. Listening to it now at 60, it sounds great. Great voice and interesting compositions. The band swings with a sly groove.

Her best album, including a high percentage of her best songs. Honestly, it could be "Down to Zero," "Love and Affection," and a half-hour of "Metal Machine Music" and I'd still give it four stars. I do have to admit that "Water with the Wine" gives me the creeps.

Another one I know by heart but haven't listened to in decades. Shockingly good. And no, it has nothing to do with Tracy Chapman (although she may have seen the same tour I did in 1985); if I had to categorize it, I'd call it jazz, frankly. Also, 21 albums over 52 years? And no one seems to have heard of her? The fact that she is so niche just shows what I bubble I live in.

When to listen: 70s feel good. Damn this was a wonderful album, can't believe I'd never heard of Joan Armatrading before but definitely would listen again! Really interesting, very catchy, very easy to listen to. Pleasant and enjoyable like an easy-drinking wine.

Loved the music, definitely grooved to it.

Well slap me sideways this was an incredible album. Beautiful vocals. Simultaneously fun, soulful, emotional and gorgeous. Song structure kinda reminds me of Meatloaf. Had to listen to it again after finish it since it was so good!

She's so incredible. Pulling on so many different sounds and influences with what is essentially just a singer over some chord changes. How do you say sad in every genre? As a complete, thought out work of art this is amazing. Absolutely one of the better full-album arcs of music I've heard. And I do appreciate the bookending steel strings.

Не знала этого имени до вчерашнего дня. Меня удивило, что этот альбом звучит как что-то из конца девяностых, а не 70х. Весь день вспоминала, где слышала save me. Перерыла весь интернет, пока меня к вечеру не осенило, что это было в заставке трукрайм документалки hbo о пропавших детях в Атланте. Альбом очень понравился, хотя ожидания были низкие. Супер лаааайк.

4.5, но проставлю 5, неожиданно понравился с первого прослушивания

I didn't expect to like it, love it that much, but this album is fire. And it's so so varied, with such great songs. The guitars are great, and Armatrading's voice is superb. As the album is. What a great discovery! There is so much soul in here, and a lot of attitude and fantastic taste. I'm very very delighted.

Whoooaaa this truly superb! Had no prior knowledge of this album but actually stoked to add this to my library. Not a single bad track. Perfect album

richtig geil folksy rock n roll country black woman magic

Wow I hadn't heard of her before so this completely took me surprise and it was incredible. Catchy, varied, full of heart and soul, absolutely superb. Loved it

This was amazing. I'd never heard of her work so I wasn't sure on what to expect, but I was hooked from the very first chords. I'm not the biggest folk rock fan out there, but it's clear that Joan didn't want to stick to a single genre or style in here, and is thus brimming with creativity and an eclectic approach to a handful of genres. I ended up loving this and it's this kind of discovery that I was expecting to make when I got into this site. The opening track is a perfect pick, and really sets the tone for the rest of the album. The following two tracks keep the fire up until "Love And Affection" which seems to be the most popular track in here, and for good reason. It's a wonderful track, with some jazzy resources and a great hook. I think there isn't a single bad song in here, but I do think that "Save Me" is the only one that doesn't stand out, specially being placed right after "Love and Affection". On this note, regarding the quality of the songs in here, I feel like the whole second half of the album is a sort of suite that builds up on different styles before it's natural culmination. So it's no wonder that my favorite tracks in here are "Join The Boys" and "Tall In The Saddle". "Join The Boys" is just so so great to listen to. It's got this very blues-y guitar riff but with a baseline that's so funky that it ends up creating a wonderful fusion of styles. I also love the interplay between the piano, bass and guitar, specially as the song builds up. Coming back around to the final track, it feels like the perfect conclusion to all the styles the album explored. It starts off like a nightly Blues and progressively evolves into a roots rock with some tasty jazz fusion textures spread throughout. It's an amazing album with a great taste for production, instrumentation, and writing. It's got most of what makes 70s Rock so engaging to me and I feel very grateful to have found it thanks to this site.

Enjoyed this one. Lyrics are more complex and worth the listen.

Unexpectedly perfect. Such a good album. Play it again Joan !

Would love to see the ft. Band live!

Never heard of her until now. Pleasant vocals and instrumental talent. Moody soulful vibe. Very nice. Understandable following. I like it.Tall in the saddle my favorite.

#267/1001. I do own Joan Armatrading's debut album, but somehow shelved it and haven't paid too much attention to her. But this album is the shit. Will come back to it and her music more. I guess comparisons to Joni Mitchell are relevant, not in a way that she would be copying her stuff, but in a way she creates her own way of writing and performing songs. Her musical styles are broader though, folk, jazz, blues, pop, soul, even funk all mingle here, but still everything fits together. Amazing akbum.

Wonderful album and artist. Way far from what I would seek out to listen and I am glad it has found its way to me.

Good memories! Hadn't listened to this album in ages!

Raw and emotional

Can't believe there's only 1 Armatrading album on this list when there are 3 Kanye West albums and Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit appear... Anyway, you can still enjoy what's in front of you

YASSSSS

Wow! Beautiful, well recorded. I had no idea

Never heard nor heard of before. Which in itself should be regarded as a crime to humanity.

ok this is gonna be incredible i know it down to zero help yourself--amazing. ahh i think she's the british tracy chapman water with the wine--oh yeah love and affection--ooooooh those backup vocals are so deep join the boys--oh this is a. g r o o v e. somebody who loves you--emotional lyrics, but does not sacrifice musical balance. the intentional pause before the next song is perfect to bring the song home. silence is an oft ignored musical element, but so impactful. like fire--like fire tall in the saddle--oooh love me a good slow ballad. her singing. the guitar solo. perfect. i don't know enough to say what genre this is--i'm inclined to say it's blues moving a bit towards r&b but really what do i know???? what i know is that this is a 6/5 album. joan balances the album perfectly between emotion and groove--and both at once--with impeccable vocals, guitar, organ, backup singers, the whole nine yards. coherent, lyrical and melodic.

-Beautiful album, easy-listening with unique and soulful vocals. -I was pleasantly surprised with almost every track being of consistent quality, and also surprised to find i recognised a few of the songs on the album -smooth and slow in some parts and energetic and fun in others

I really enjoyed this album, I usually don't check reviews before an album, but I had no idea who Joan Armatrading was, so I decided to look at the keywords. I can for sure hear the Chapman sound with the Joni Mitchell writing. It's got soft tender love, it's got upbeat groove/funk, and much to my delight, in thinking maybe a Temptations backing vocalist had an appearance, it was none other than Lester Freamon from The Wire on some backing vocals! There are even some short jam breakdowns that you could pull some progressive rock vibes out of. Very pleasant surprise, and one of the few artists to get a 5 out of me that I had no awareness of going in.

I loved this. I had heard a couple of the songs before, but never the whole album. Her voice is warm and soulful. 5/5

Banger after banger

Drop The Pilot was my introduction to Joan Armatrading and I had no Idea she had such an extensive catalog of albums. This is the first time listening to this one, and I'm in love with her all over again. Such an amazing voice and a talented artist.

What a discovery, I can't believe I never listened to Joan Armatrading. This is definitely a « coup de coeur ». Groovy, melodic, powerful vocals. I could even hear melodies I would argue other musicians eventually took to make giant hits. Super happy to have discovered her! will be listening to the rest of her discography.

no skips.

wonderful

This album has everything and I think I’ll be listening to this album on repeat for a while now

Pretty surprised ive never heard of this band before since it fits in perfectly with all the other 2010s indie music i listened to. His voice reminds me of Bombay Bicycle Club <3

These are the albums I love!

liked it, I don't really listen to music in this genre, but it was really good I really liked how Joan used her voice amazinggggg

Realllyyyy good. Fun voice with a nice rhythm behind the lyrics. Added to my library

freaking banger

This is right up my alley. I am sat in the library at college and nobody knows what absolute heat is playing through my headphones right now. This is the best album I’ve stumbled across so far, hence why this is also the longest review I’ve written yet (I’ve only been doing this for a couple months). This is the type of music that makes me want to ramble about nothing because I’m feeling everything. The bass is so damn good this is why i love music. WOOOOOOOOOOOO

This is why I started this list to begin with, finding out about awesome artists I've never heard of... Absolutely 🔥🔥🔥

TA É DOIDO provavelmente uns dos melhores albuns q ouvi dessa lista ate agora muito love mds eu amei

FAVE FAVE FAVE 🩷🩷

This album was beautiful to listen to with noise cancelling headphones on. So many layers and surprises that add plenty of texture to the amazing vocals make this album feel like it was way ahead of its time. Will definitely keep looking through Joan Armatrading's music.

fantastic record, far too good for me to have only been familiar with one song on it before listening

How have I never heard of her before, superb

Amazing! Loved it. Love and affection is my new favorite song.

My new favorite! I knew within 30 seconds that this album was special and it exceeded my expectations. Looking forward to more from Armatrading

Such a fun album

Day709 - what a pleasant surprise. i would never have listened to this and i kinda love it

норм пацик 8/10

Great. Love and Affection is such a great track.

Can’t believe I’d never heard of her!!

I’d never heard of Joan Armatrading before this. What a great discovery. I feel fortunate to have this be my it production to this great singer. The mix on this album is crisp yet warm at the same time. The funkier tracks are nice, but “Love and Affection” and “Somebody Who Loves You” are perfect tracks to my ears.

So good - so smooth yet it picks up with a great groove and fantastic vocals. Wonderful experience.

This one was a deep dive for me. I had forgotten about Joan Armatrading and how often I listened to her unique sound. Excellent album from start to finish.

Always happy to get assigned a female artist. Wow, great voice! Sounds a little like Cher at times. I love the funky songs; the mellow ones are fine but not my vibe. There's some great piano, guitar, drums, saxophone. Listened before? N Saved to library? Y Favorite track(s): Down To Zero, Water With The Wine, Join The Boys, People, Like Fire, Tall In The Saddle ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Loved it. Saved a bunch of tracks.