Dilate

From the “ripped-this-from-a-CD-sometime-near-the-turn-of-the-century-and-have-no-recollection-of-ever-listening-to-it” files… (god I’m getting old and senile) I’m sure I enjoyed this back then and I really enjoyed it now. Starting an album with a big FUCK YOU is awesome. You’d think I’d have remembered that at least. And Shameless is so good - my favorite maybe on this album. Why’d I quit listening to this? Why’d I forget it? What the hell is wrong with me?! I love this album!

I used to listen to Ani DiFranco often enough but this one came after that phase. It's varied and sophisticated. Thank you for the submission, friend!

This was a pleasant surprise! First time DiFranco listener and this is right up my alley. Diverse, original, passionate and weird. Great album!

I recognized the name of Ani DeFranco and wondered, "Wasn't she a 70s disco singer?" As I started listening I realized how wrong I was, but also that I didn't really recognize the music. Only then did it come to me that she is frequently featured in the New York Times Crossword. Where was I in the 90s? Under some rock I guess. That said, I thought this was pretty great, and would have been well placed in the 1001 list.

We get it love, you've been binned and are bitter!

I like Ani.

Sounds like Alanis Morissete. I liked it, but sounds like Alanis

90s lady power!

Recall this being huge in its scene in the mid 90s which were my just-post-college era. I could never quite get past the particular perpetual relationship angst tone of all of her work. Forgot how much kind of almost rap-adjacent stuff was going on in a lot of the vocals, a common sin of those times.

Cool points awarded to whoever picked this! I feel like Ani DiFranco is too often brought up solely as a joke, as she’s in that vein of singer/songwriters like Aimee Mann, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, and is a tad goofy. But I like her style, I hear a bit of Suzanne Vega influence in there too maybe? Not all of it worked for me (“Amazing Grace” cover was a puzzling lowlight), but there’s some heat on here, I respect it. Pretty good! Favorite tracks: Untouchable Face, Napoleon, Joyful Girl. Album art: She’s curled up in a corner, maybe in pain? Hard to tell. Not a great cover in my opinion. 3.5/5

This felt very 90's with the defiant singer songwriter getting angry at things but mixing that with softer melodies. Not bad!

This is great, why didn't I listen to this in the 90s? Or any of the 3 subsequent decades? Shameless is The Tits.

Thought this was pretty enjoyable. I grew up listening to Alanis, not sure how I missed this. Female, semi-angry singer/songwriter is a guilty pleasure of mine. Every song was enjoyable, except for Amazing Grace, that was likely one of my least favorite renditions ever, but was probably pretty original in the mid-90s.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Shameless, Done wrong

Alanis Morissette coded early 90s angry white girl singer songwriter jams. I liked it a lot! Napoleon has been stuck in my head for a few days. I cannot in conscience give 5 stars to an album with the abomination of "Amazing Grace" on it.

would be a five except for the fact that ms difranco has like five better albums

I appreciate Ani DiFranco's talent, but at the same time her music never really connected with me that much. 3 stars.

Must have been a big influence on Alanis Morrisette. Quite similar sound and attitude. More hooks with Alanis, but I prefer Ani's voice.

Looking at the runtime I originally thought this would be too long but it ended up speeding by and I may borrow a few tracks to playlist up with adjacent tunes

Fínt mótþróaalbúm.

Fine album, not much melody and somewhat repetitive though.

Musically, I found this to be fairly unremarkable, but for its genre and the time in which it was released, this is a well-made, well-written album. It's the little, intimate lyrical touches that give this album its spark. Fave Songs: Done Wrong, Untouchable Face, Superhero, Adam and Eve, Going Down

Fine

Wow. I'm not sure how you rate this now and not compare it to Alanis. Certainly interesting that she pre-dates Alanis' popularity, but given the heights that Jagged Little Pill achieved, it is just such a similar tone and style that today it just feels like a shadow. It is still decent, but ultimately doesn't have the hook/engagement of the comparable artist.

The twang reminds me a bit of Jewel and the overall album reminds me of Freedy Johnston. It's a well put together album. Very easy to listen to.

This was a weird/interesting one. It felt like a split between fiona apple and gillian welch or something. Very punkish rock mixed with singer-songwriter folk. I didn't love it but was glad to have listened to it. The reviews reminded me that alanis morrisette is another great comparison for this. So thanks user reviews.

Never heard of this artist before and it should be up my alley... but of course it follows into the trap of being too long. Every song really overstays its welcome. Did we need a 7 minute cover of Amazing Grace? No. But that's the curse of 90s albums. They had CD lengths to fill and boy did they fill them. Cut out 15-20 minutes and this is a solid album! It really does have that 90s sound. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Indifferent. Wouldn't bother me either way.

I didn't know the first thing about Ani DiFranco, and I want to thank whoever posted this album in the users list, because it allowed me to learn more about her. She's obviously a great singer and stellar guitar player (especially on acoustic guitar, from what I'm hearing here - awesome tones and a nice overall energy are coming out of her playing chops for sure!). And from what I've read online, it also looks like she's a good person, with her heart in the right place in terms of ideals. Which obviously can't hurt, and transpired in some of her lyrics -- admittedly also quite tormented at times. My first impression of *Dilate* is that Ani sounds a little like a more sophisticated indie version of Alanis Morissette, which is bound to be highly reductive for her fans, of course. DiFranco certainly sings better than the famous pop rock star, and she is more adventurous stylistically speaking. Yet there are commonalities, which includes a quite convincing way to express anger and frustration in interesting or poetic ways. It's the sort of highly expressive quality that make both women still endearing to listen to today. Listen to opener "Untouchable Face" to have a nice example of that for Ani. Not that this album is flawless. Just like with Alanis Morissette, there are also typical mid-nineties so-called "alt-rock" flourishes that didn't age that well (those supposedly groovy live drums breakbeats are a little hackneyed today, aren't they?). And there's also a couple of totally underwhelming cuts kinda spoiling the fun once or twice. I mean, what's the point of "Going Down", more like a pointless moody interlude than a song proper... ? But I guess that DiFranco is a free soul feeling the need to experiment with things so as to avoid formatting, which shows her good intents, at least. And when you listen to the very moving conclusion of the track that follows "Going Down" ("Adam and Eve"), you know that Ani surely has the goods people who like alternative folk and alternative rock would want so as to fall in love with her music. Same with breathtaking closer "Joyful Closer" (those angelic background vocals over that minimal and hypnotic acoustic guitar hook are a thing of wonder). Hence the cult following Ani still seems to benefit from today. Good for her. Not sure I will be part of that cult one day, but I leave the door open, at least. 3/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums 8/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 0 for now Albums from the users list I *might* include in mine later on: 1 for now (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't include in mine: 1

Painfully 90s.

At times I felt like I was listening to Alanis Morrisette, then it changes enough, again and again... it is noticeable an experimental album that works well in itself, however for my taste it is not the genre that I like.

I know Ani DiFranco is big in indie circles, so it's a bit of a surprise to hear so much Alanis Morissette in this. But there we go eh? This was a little too "tortured" for me. I made the mistake of reading the lyrics while it played, which didn't help. Can't say it's inspired me to check out the rest of her stuff. 2/5.

Not the album for me – while some of the instrumentals were creative and fun, DiFranco’s breathy and at-times rhythmically-tortured delivery marred any chance of musicality here. I’m much more of an instrumentalist than a lyricist when listening, so an hour+ of edgy, bitter singing was not really my cup of tea.

Got some Alanis Morissette vibes, but less good.

A style that very much stayed where it started, thankfully

There was something about women’s 90s music where they really unleashed their raw emotions and problems into songs. Overall this album was very similar to Morrissette but just like Alanis, I didn’t care for this album either. This one was actually less poppy and more melancholy. All in all not for me. 4.3/10

Indie rock, folk rock. Un tanto rollo. Un 2.

Reminds me a bit of drowning in mud.

awful album

2 1

Seeking to do exactly the same thing as Jagged Little Pill, but really, really badly. Whilst JLP comes across as full of real and righteous anger, this just feels like faux self pitty. This was also recorded and realised the year after JLP was a smash hit, so (rightly or wrongly) can be perceived as a vibe-chasing cash-in. The main reason I don't like it though is that the songs are a bit rubbish and really, really annoying. Rating: 1.5 Playlist track: Untouchable Face Date listened: 03/12/24