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It's her darkest and most complex record to date, an examination of the centripetal destruction that consumes lives at the point of no return.
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The songs on The Forgotten Arm are too engaging to dismiss their familiarity.
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While nothing on The Forgotten Arm is brand new for her, it's a natural evolution from what her fans have gotten used to, the minor-key laments and regrets of Bachelor No. 2 and Lost in Space.
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While the emotional payoff of the album proves more satisfying than anything she’s done so far, the individual tracks don’t stand alone as well.
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UncutSongs unfold as complex relationships, with attendant euphoria, doubt and internal demons. [May 2005, p.112]
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Entertainment WeeklyForgotten Arm still sounds like Aimee Mann. And that's not a bad thing. [29 Apr 2005, p.147]
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Here's yet another exemplary Aimee Mann album to add to the pile.
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The best songs on The Forgotten Arm reveal the extremes of love and despair under their smiling masks, but the sorrows of the album are tempered by what can only be Mann’s own joy.
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And though she may be running in place lyrically, her melodies have never been keener and her vocals grow richer and more confident with each release.
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Enough bending guitar licks to satisfy the yuppiest of thirtysomething businessmen and enough mellow ballads to satisfy your Dixie Chicks-loving mom.
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Some of the songs are immediately engrossing... Others mostly carry the story forward while allowing Mann to indulge her career-long taste for vintage keyboard orchestration, coolly elegant pop arrangements and displays of tart wordplay.
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While the music here isn't as good as that on Bachelor, the strict structure does help give The Forgotten Arm direction, helping shape it into one of her more consistent albums.
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Once the contrivance of The Forgotten Arm’s vaguely sketched plot device crumbles, there are still solid tracks to be found.
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Unfortunately, this straightforward approach also reveals how straight-up dull Mann's country-tinged songs can be.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 33 out of 34
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Mixed: 0 out of 34
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Negative: 1 out of 34
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TimHJan 8, 2006This album is still growing on me. Very very nice effort by Aimmee. Congrats
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SamDNov 28, 2005
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AustinANov 17, 2005In this story of agonizing love, Aimee Mann seems to lose focus on some songs yet the great ones make the album timeless.