Whole New You [Explicit Lyrics]

Be the first to write a review

Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - Gail O'Hara
Shawn Colvin was at the top of her game the last time we saw her. You remember: It was the 1998 and her lovely, arson-laced classic "Sunny Came Home" from A Few Small Repairs nabbed Record of the Year and Song of the Year honors at the Grammys. Then, outside of touring a bit and releasing a quietly classy Christmas album, there was nothing but silence. It was enough to make a fan start worrying. Well, Colvin's wonderful new eighth album, Whole New You, should assuage fans' fears about her future productivity -- and may even win her a few more. With the help of longtime collaborator John Leventhal and, on one track, pen pal Edie Brickell, she's assembled a gorgeous set of...
See more details below
CD
$11.39
BN.com price
(Save 5%)$11.99 List Price
Other sellers (CD)
  • All (43) from $1.99   
  • New (13) from $1.99   
  • Used (30) from $1.99   

More About This Product

Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - Gail O'Hara
Shawn Colvin was at the top of her game the last time we saw her. You remember: It was the 1998 and her lovely, arson-laced classic "Sunny Came Home" from A Few Small Repairs nabbed Record of the Year and Song of the Year honors at the Grammys. Then, outside of touring a bit and releasing a quietly classy Christmas album, there was nothing but silence. It was enough to make a fan start worrying. Well, Colvin's wonderful new eighth album, Whole New You, should assuage fans' fears about her future productivity -- and may even win her a few more. With the help of longtime collaborator John Leventhal and, on one track, pen pal Edie Brickell, she's assembled a gorgeous set of folk-tinged pop songs that you'll want to leave in the CD player for weeks. The highlight is "Anywhere You Go," a surefire hit on par with "Sunny." Tracks such as "Bonefields" and "Another Plane Went Down" are about difficult, melancholy subjects -- like having nowhere to turn when loved ones die, or contending with nightmares -- but Colvin's warm, earthy singing makes them go down with incredible ease. As she ages, her voice only gets richer and her lyrics all the more meaningful. Whole New You isn't really a whole new Colvin, but it's definitely a triumphant return.
All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
Whole New You is an appropriate title for Shawn Colvin's fourth studio album of new material, her first in four-and-a-half years. Much has happened in the interim. In career terms, Colvin had made several modestly selling albums before A Few Small Repairs appeared in the fall of 1996. The album was another modest seller until "Sunny Came Home" hit the singles charts in the spring of 1997, going on to hit number one on the adult contemporary lists and the Top Ten on the pop charts. Then it won the Song of the Year and Record of the Year Grammys, while A Few Small Repairs spent a year in the charts and sold close to a million copies. That means that Colvin can no longer be considered a niche artist, but must compete in the mainstream, even though she is actually a one-hit wonder up to this point. She reacted as you might suspect an artist would after a breakthrough release; she maintained her exposure by doing a Christmas album and some soundtrack work while taking her time on a follow-up. Personally, her life has been at least as tumultuous. A Few Small Repairs was her divorce album, but during the lengthy run-up to Whole New You she remarried and had a child, which clearly has given her a different perspective and another reason for that title. Within all this change, however, there are certain constants. She continues to collaborate with writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist John Leventhal, who continues to come up with imaginative musical tracks clearly informed by mid-'60s pop sensibilities. The title track and first single, for example, is distinctly Beatles-esque, with twangy guitar and George Martin-style spare string arrangement, while "Bonefields" employs what by now should be called the Burt Bacharach Memorial Horn Trick, a sole flugelhorn playing a countermelody at the end of the tune. The arrangements are full of such echoes, but they remain echoes; Leventhal weaves instruments and effects together evocatively, but not overtly. Something similar can be said about Colvin's lyrics, which she sings in her characteristically becalmed voice, with its timbre that suggests Helen Kane the "boop-boop-de-doop" girl without the humor and her phrasing that gulps syllables for emotional resonance. Though she is given to making simple statements, they are imbedded in impressionistic reflections on life. Over and over, she sings of being committed, whether she wants to be or not: "I can't find my way to stay and I can't find my way to go and I can't give up without a fight" "A Matter of Minutes"; "Anywhere you go I will go there" "Anywhere You Go"; "I'm bound to you and there's no in-between" "Bound to You". In a sense, the album's 11 tracks make up one elliptical song in which the narrator thinks about the choices she has made recently with a sense that those choices are irrevocable. For the most part, she doesn't mind that, it seems, but she's certainly aware of it. Amid the various references to steadfastness and the allusions to childhood, there is little passion, but plenty of clear-headed acceptance. This is an album about marriage and family, not love, at least not the kind of romantic love that most pop songs are concerned with; in fact, the word "love" is never mentioned. For that reason, the most interesting song is the most complex one, "Another Plane Went Down," a seemingly random assemblage of news reports and nightmares that, in its way, feeds into the album's main theme. After all, to have a sense that you have finally found a home that depends on your relationship to other people is to fear that some accident will take it away from you. Whole New You may not contain a song that will spark sales and awards the way "Sunny Came Home" did "Bound to You" would make a great single, though, but anyone who, like the artist herself, has come to the safe harbor of family life even with its many challenges after a long, uncertain voyage through personal relationships and life experiences will appreciate Colvin's ruminations on the subject.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • Release Date: 3/27/2001
  • Label: Sony Mod - Afw Line
  • UPC: 074646988923
  • Catalog Number: 69889
  • Sales rank: 84,416

Tracks

Disc 1
  1. 1 Matter Of Minutes
  2. 2 Whole New You
  3. 3 Nothing Like You
  4. 4 Anywhere You Go
  5. 5 Bonefields
  6. 6 Another Plane Went Down
  7. 7 Bound To You
  8. 8 Roger Wilco
  9. 9 Mr. Levon
  10. 10 One Small Year
  11. 11 I'd Say I'm Sorry Now
Read More Show Less

Album Credits

Performance Credits
Shawn Colvin Primary Artist, Strings, Vocals
Marc Cohn Background Vocals
James Taylor Harmony
Joe Bonadio Percussion
Larry Farrell Trombone
Tony Garnier Upright Bass
Tony Kadleck Flugelhorn
John Leventhal Banjo, Bass, Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards
Sandra Park Violin
Shawn Pelton Percussion, Drums
Michael Rhodes Bass
Joe Quigley Bass
Kenny White Background Vocals
RIck DePofi Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Piccolo, Recorder, Tenor Saxophone
Eileen Moon Cello
Robert Rinehart Viola
Fiona Simon Violin
Alan Stepansky Cello
Technical Credits
Stephen Barber String Arrangements
Craig Bishop Engineer
Joe Bonadio Drum Fills
John Leventhal Producer, Engineer, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements
Bob Ludwig Mastering
Fred Remmert Engineer
RIck DePofi Engineer
Tom Schick Engineer
Mary Maurer Art Direction
David Boucher Engineer
Noah Simon Engineer
Gina Fant-Saez Engineer
Matt Kane Engineer
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    WHAT A GREAT CD

    This is simply one of the best CDs I've heard in a long time. I've bought many CDs that were hyped on one hit single, with the rest of the tracks as fillers. That's not the case here. What really stands out is the variety of the music and the unique feel/mood of each track. I'm totally convinced that the title track, Whole New You, would be a number 1 hit if it received any sort of air-play. The musical arrangement is put together so perfectly, the lyrics are catchy and up-beat, and like a fine wine, Shawn's voice keeps getting better and better. Other notable songs include Bound To You, Anywhere You Go, Round of Blues, Another Plane Went Down, and Matter Of Minutes. If you enjoyed A Few Small Repairs, you can't go wrong with this CD. You'll be very satisfied.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    SHAWN COMES HOME!!!

    I've heard the title track and all I can say is, wow. Is there a catchier writer in pop music? I don't think so. The melody of ''Sunny Came Home'' stuck in the brain like superglue, and ''Whole New You'' will do the same. It's nice to have a smart woman singer around in the age of teenpop princesses.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    She's back!

    I've been a Shawn fan for years and I must admit I was a little worried that her recent marriage and new baby would cause a cheesy shift in her songwriting. Luckily, I was wrong (for the most part). Granted, there are some out-of-character happy tunes on ''Whole New You,'' but my favorites are the ones that are deliciously melancholy as her work has been in the past. Check out ''Another Plane Went Down'' and ''I'll Say I'm Sorry Now'' for a taste of old-school Shawn.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews