neneh cherry's homebrew: isn't it better than overrated raw like sushi?

What saves Homebrew though is that (contrary to prevailing opinion) Neneh actually wrote better hooks on this album than on her first, and her didactism is actually quite pleasant to listen to. Oh yeah, and it's a beautiful *sounding* album, yet not entirely lacking in energy as Man was. The best tracks - "Move With Me", "I Ain't Gone Under Yet", "Somedays", "Red Paint" - are still highly affecting.

Apparently she did half an album of material with Tricky in 95/96 that was intended to be released at some stage. I wonder what happened to it - if it was up to the standard of "Together Now" it would be very good indeed.

Alex - I know what ou mean about Blue lines, only a few songs really affect me on it (like "Lately"), but if were combined with Protection as a sort of double album then it would have been out of this world. Of course that would be impossible since their sound had um, "evolved" so much in between. But a lot of the BL songs sound really dry at this point...not that much trip in the hop.

<- a reduction in energy, in scope, in possibilities. >

Nah, I disagree. If anything Sushi sounded too modest and predictable in scope, as if she was suitably and obediently displaying "how-to- make-a-good-dance-hip-hoprecord-a-la-1989" and succeeding at it, never rising out of convention or sing-along, happy-to-like groove (though I do like those lyrics of "because ready or not, here i CUM!"). The preachiness of Homebrew on the other hand I can digest easily since whether or not its true (and it probably isn't) she sounds as if she's speaking from some sort of emotional experience, and so I feel a sort of deepening inspiration rather than didacticism when I hear. Of course, i understand where you're coming from though, it would be easy to get really bored with her ere though. It's impossible to hate, however, anyone that can write a line like this and pull it off:

"Move with me, I'm strong enough, to be weak in your arms."

Rare, just rare.

This thread is too short. This album flows so nicely, hasn't got a weak track, the tunes are so catchy, the scratching and the other slightly experimental sounds make it a little rawer than the smooth songs might suggest.

And I like being preached to by Neneh...

I can never rate it higher than Raw but still think it's awesome.

This album has Michael Stipe rapping, but it also has "Move With Me," which is one of the greatest singles of its era.

The two pre-released tracks from her new album Broken Politics sound fantastic - sort of a midpoint between Homebrew and Blank Project. So excited for this!

The new album is pretty good, not up to the 2014 album that I adored.