Knuckle Down

Last updated

Knuckle Down
Knuckle down-cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 25, 2005
Genre
Length57:07
Label Righteous Babe
Producer
Ani DiFranco chronology
Educated Guess
(2004)
Knuckle Down
(2005)
Reprieve
(2006)

Knuckle Down is the 14th studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. It is the first album where DiFranco has collaborated with a producer; Joe Henry. The record is also her first studio album to feature a string section. It is considered among her most accessible records, and compared to the stark Educated Guess , it is more abundantly produced. [1]

Contents

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (73/100) [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Entertainment Weekly B [3]
Filter 84% [2]
musicOMH (positive) [4]
Paste Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
PopMatters (6/10) [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [7]
Slant Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [9]

The album so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews". [2] Billboard gave the album a favorable review and stated: "The results are a selection of high quality that veers between brightly spirited ("Manhole," "Lag Time") and somber ("Callous")." [10] The New York Times gave it a positive review and said that DiFranco "is still self-sufficient, but an extra pair of producer's ears gives her some new dimensions." [11]

Other reviews are very average or mixed: Mojo gave the album three stars out of five and said it was "More honed and richly-textured than former offerings." [9] Q , however, gave it two stars out of five and called it "Deliberately sparse and bare." [2]

Track listing

  1. "Knuckle Down" – 4:34
  2. "Studying Stones" – 3:53
  3. "Manhole" – 3:45
  4. "Sunday Morning" – 4:49
  5. "Modulation" – 4:31
  6. "Seeing Eye Dog" – 4:02
  7. "Lag Time" – 5:13
  8. "Parameters" – 5:58
  9. "Callous" – 5:46
  10. "Paradigm" – 4:33
  11. "Minerva" – 4:55
  12. "Recoil" – 5:08

Personnel

Production

Charts

Chart (2005)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA Charts) [12] 82
US Billboard 200 49

References

  1. 1 2 Allmusic review
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Critic reviews at Metacritic
  3. "Short Takes (Ani DiFranco: Knuckle Down)". Entertainment Weekly . No. 803. January 2, 2005. p. 85.
  4. musicOMH review
  5. Lewis, Cathering P. (February 1, 2005). "Ani DiFranco – Knuckle Down :: Music :: Reviews". Paste . Archived from the original on March 6, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  6. PopMatters review
  7. "Rolling Stone review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on November 21, 2007. Retrieved March 8, 2007.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. Slant review
  9. 1 2 Album reviews at CD Universe
  10. "Billboard review". Billboard . Archived from the original on January 11, 2005. Retrieved June 29, 2013.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  11. The New York Times review
  12. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 81.