Melanie

Melanie's best album just got a lot better. Photograph was already regarded by fans as her most musically successful album, and in 2005 it was given the Rhino Handmade treatment -- and in the course of gathering together the masters, the makers found an entire album's worth of previously unheard tracks, more than doubling Photograph's length (and necessitating the slight title change for this double-CD edition). The original recording sessions evidently yielded an embarrassment of riches, and the result here is an astonishing doubling of the attendant pleasures as well. The singer/songwriter is captured in moments and modes that are new for some of these songs, such as a less lyrical and more self-consciously rocking rendition of "Groundhog Day," in addition to newly heard conceptual pieces such as "Secret of the Darkness" (which recalls "Ring the Living Bell" in style and sound). Among the highlights is one playful piece of confessional folk-rock, "Whamp Bomp Song," and there is even a significantly improved rendition of her Buddah Records-era classic "Ruby Tuesday." The resulting second disc is much more than a supplement or a bonus feature; it's a significant new body of work from this period in Melanie's career, and all of it is finished, fully realized music, rather than works in progress. The sound is excellent throughout and the annotation is a model for a reissue of this kind, with lots of good information on the artist and the songs. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide