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.

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.

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

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 ….

#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.

From the first vocal note I was IN LOVE with her voice. I had never heard a single song of hers and was so pleasantly surprised. Tracy Chapman comes to mind, but Joan’s vocals are smoother. Down to Zero, Love and Affection, Tall in the Saddle, & Join the Boys are favorites. Such an easy album to listen to.

Fuck it, I loved this. Kind of can't believe I hadn't heard of this, especially back when I really used to be into this sort of singer-songwriter kind of music. On top of that, it's damn soulful, and her voice is absolutely stellar -deep, sultry, and versatile. The ballads drag for me - and actually, I kind of don't care for them at all. But everything else is so good, I kind of don't care?? Fave tracks: - Down To Zero - Help Yourself - Water With The Wine - Join The Boys - People - Somebody Who Loves You - Like Fire - Tall In The Saddle

I like her voice and the music long time ago*

beautiful voice, love the music. Would listen again.

"Down to Zero" is such a vibe, perfectly cozy match to a rainy chilly day. "Love and Affection" and "Somebody Who Loves You" are great. Instant favorite, will be spinning this album again.

This kind of slaps? It's missing a good hook or chorus to really sell the whole thing. Tracy Chapman knows what I mean. That said, there isn't a bad track on this album. And the Steely Dan similarities can't be wrong. Steely Madam? Steely Damsel?

Loved it!

Absolutely fantastic, exactly the type of music I imagine when thinking of Rock n Roll! The album got even better with each song, which is kind of a rarity IMO

100% for me

cool

My dad loves Joan and even met her, once apparently really nice! Love and affection, join the boys and tall in the saddle are all certified bangers 5/5 why not

So full of woe and emotion. Not my normal listening choice but my god this is beautiful. 5/5 no notes.

Me encantó

Great music. First time, knowingly listened to her.

Folk goddess at her peak.

Seriously creative - none of these songs follow the typical verse-chorus-verse pattern, and they all have melodies that swirl with different instrumentation and real musicality amid the compelling stories they tell. Still astonishing.

Now this why I started this list. Some i never was exposed to before and is worth listening. Great music great songs great vocals.

Thank God, what a relief! A woman, a woman who can sing, a woman with a voice! After albums of wannabees and pretenders, wanky boys getting off on themselves, an actual musician. Women definitely don’t appear often enough on this list, except as wet-dream bondage fantasies of teenage boys, but that’s show business.

Make sure you are sitting down before you listen to this albums. Because it will knock your on your ass if you're standing. I never even heard of her before today and Ill never forget her after today.

What a great voice! Joan brings the funk when we need it but also can hold back and sing with soul and emotion. Great listen that I will come back to