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Hersh produces the record herself, and she doesn't do her compositions any favors.... Still, her voice has that edgy intimacy it's always had.
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Learn to Sing Like a Star was certainly worth the wait, and if fans will listen closely enough, they'll understand that Hersh's sophistication as both a singing poet and composer has grown almost immeasurably.
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Sonically, there's no radical steps forward here, but then standing still for Kristin Hersh is pretty much the equivalent of most people's sprinting: we could do with a few more of her.
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A rich and rewarding album from an artist who - thankfully - keeps on evolving in subtle and exciting ways.
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Learn To Sing, which falls somewhere in-between her typically spare acoustic solo outings and her harder-edged Throwing Muses output, might be her most coherent, consistently listenable record since Hips And Makers.
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Learn to Sing Like a Star is the full Hersh experience, encompassing as it does all of her back-catalog iterations, from the knife-throwing thrills of the Throwing Muses' precise power pop to the cutting melancholia of her Hips and Makers-era balladry.
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As with any Kristin Hersh long-player, Learn To Sing Like A Star will of course take a dozen or so spins to reveal its true merits to listeners.
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Hersh has made great personal strides since branching off on her own.
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Hersh returns to her rocking roots, straying from the confessional folk that dominated her post-Muses solo work.
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[It] further cement[s] Hersh’s status as one of "alternative" rock’s most valuable all-time players, a songwriter—and yes, singer—of enduring worth to popular music.
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The album is full of Hersh's characteristically strong songwriting and the emotional uppercuts that make her best work so gutsy.
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UncutThough garlanded in elegant strings, it's as furiously seething a record as she's made in 20 years. [Mar 2007, p.82]
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Q MagazineFurther proof of Hersh's glittering place in the rock firmament after two decades of making music. [Mar 2007, p.112]
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Alternative PressSaturated with stark realism, her confessionals and fictions mark the grueling aftermath of pop's lovey-dovey daydreams. [Mar 2007, p.136]
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BillboardIt has the ambition, enthusiasm and intensity of an artist still pushing the envelope. [27 Jan 2007]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 12 out of 14
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Mixed: 0 out of 14
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Negative: 2 out of 14
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JeremyFApr 26, 2007
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MattD.Feb 22, 2007A quirky mix of mid-90s style rock acoustic, Celtic music, and power pop. The mix really works!
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JoePFeb 18, 2007