Track Listing

1. Candyfloss
2. Semi Precious
3. I Loved A Lad
4. Lazy Heart
5. Darkhouse
6. Butterfly Jar
7. Rebel Angel
8. Glasgow Star
9. Town Without Pity
10. Medicine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9125 in Music
• Released on: 1996-07-08
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Strong songs, maybe too much production
A good record, with some knockout tracks like "Glasgow Star", "Semi-Precious", and "Candyfloss".

This was Eddi's first album after winning her Brit Award, and getting a bit of decent recognition - things seemed to have been cranked up a gear by the record company, with glamourous(ish) photoshoot, and more expensive production. While I love several of the songs on here, I always prefer her pared-down songs, where her voice and the lyrics are centre stage. A lovely b-side to one of the singles to this album, "Earlies", is a great example of this.

"Angels & Electricity" is a better album, but this is still a very worthwhile purchase.

Everybody needs some kind of medicine...
I had been an Eddi Reader fan for years before I realised that she used tosing in Fairground Attraction. Maybe the candyfloss theme of this album should have been a hint: the CD sleeve pictures Reader as a threadbare angel riding the merry-go-round and probably getting drunk behind the ice-cream stand.

To be fair though, there is little else on her solo albums that would remind you of Fairground Attraction, whose biggest hit was the bouncy "Perfect". Instead, you get a string of contemplative, folk-tinged and sometimes heart-wrenching songs - the way Glaswegian buskers would sound if they were any good.

"Everybody needs some kind of medicine", she sings on the CD's possibly most beautiful track, and this music provides exactly that. Full of the slightly faded glitz of the fairs and the bittersweet taste of a strong cup of tea, this CD couldn't have been made anywhere but in Scotland.

Not perfect, but worth buying nonetheless.
I was introduced to Eddi by my partner and this is her 3rd best album in my opinion. "Glasgow Star" is a cracking song which I love for all the references to my hometown. "Medicine" is a heart-breakingly beautiful love song that she sings falsetto and it has great acoustic guitar parts and really atmospheric backing vocals. And "Town Without Pity" is just a great swinging bug band number that sticks in your head. The last track is also a lovely song called "Darkhouse". It just sails along. The best thing about this album is the vocals, flawless but the songs I mentioned are the only stand-out tracks. Recommended for people who have already heard of Eddi Reader. New fans get "Angels And Electricity" instead, also by Eddi Reader.