Cut You | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 1996 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Label | Reprise [1] | |||
Producer | Penelope Houston, Jeffrey Wood | |||
Penelope Houston chronology | ||||
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Cut You is an album by the American musician Penelope Houston, released in 1996. [2] [3] It is a mixture of rerecorded older songs and new songs. [4] Cut You was Houston's major label debut; many of her previous albums had been available only in Germany. [5] [6] Houston promoted the album with North American and European tours. [7]
Signed to Reprise Records by her old acquaintance Howie Klein, Houston composed six new songs, while adding more instrumentation to her rerecorded older ones. [8] The album was produced by Houston and Jeffrey Wood. [9] Reprise asked Houston to withdraw "Cut You"; she instead made it the title track. [10] "Secret Sign" is about a run-in with a ex's new girlfriend. [11]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [12] |
Chicago Tribune | [13] |
Los Angeles Times | [14] |
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide | [9] |
No Depression thought that Houston's songs "tend to involve many nameless, spiritually wiped-out characters captured in moments of particular drama ... instead of telling the whole story as a traditional folksinger might, Houston is more of a tour guide." [4] Trouser Press deemed the album "a solid cross-section of her material ... the playing and recording quality are absolutely vibrant and Houston sings as wonderfully as ever." [15] The Chicago Tribune concluded that Houston "goes well beyond empowerment, penning lyrics as smart as they are wicked." [13] The Los Angeles Times wrote that "'Locket' glides along to a Latin-tinged beat while the title track, with its light country twang and darkly comic lyric, evokes a vindictive, post-punk incarnation of Patsy Cline." [14]
Tulsa World stated that "the songs are built around intricate lyrical jabs and worldly insights." [16] The Washington Post determined that "what's most impressive about Cut You is Houston's vivid depictions of women who are attempting to square their reality with sometimes fading desires and dreams." [17] Rolling Stone opined that "Houston ties it together with gossamer vocals and lyrics that invert the accusations of punk." [18] The Boston Globe called the album "mature rock with punk roots, soft songs with sting." [19]
AllMusic wrote that the album "offers proof that Houston helped pioneer the melodic-yet-hard-hitting alternative rock currently mined by such performers as Liz Phair and Aimee Mann." [12]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Secret Sign" | |
2. | "Sweetheart" | |
3. | "Scratch" | |
4. | "Locket" | |
5. | "Fuzzy Throne" | |
6. | "Ride" | |
7. | "Harry Dean" | |
8. | "Waiting Room" | |
9. | "Qualities of Mercy" | |
10. | "Fall Back" | |
11. | "Pull" | |
12. | "Glad I'm a Girl" | |
13. | "White Out" | |
14. | "Cut You" |
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