[.ca] Chelsea Girl

Chronique amazon.fr:
Lorsque ce premier album solo sort en 1968, l'ex-mannequin Christa Päffgen, plus connue sous le nom de Nico, a déjà un passé plus que rempli. Après avoir fréquenté Coco Chanel, Dali et Fellini, elle part s'installer à New York où elle rencontre un certain Andy Warhol et passe dans les bras de Bob Dylan. Avec le premier, elle tourne, entre autres, un film expérimental qui offrira son titre à ce disque : Chelsea Girl. Quant au second, Nico reprend ici son "I'll Keep It With Mine". Fraîchement émancipée du Velvet Underground où les luttes d'ego entre John Cale et Lou Reed furent âpres, la chanteuse donne libre cours à sa vision. Annoncée par les standards velvetiens "I'll Be Your Mirror" et "Femme Fatale", l'ambiance se profile là, lugubre et glacée, même si le répertoire, emprunt du parfum pop de l'époque, n'est encore constitué que de morceaux pour la plupart signés par ses ex-confrères Cale et Reed. Un hommage au comique proche de la Beat Generation, Lenny Bruce, dû à Tim Hardin clôt ce classique où brillent deux chansons de Jackson Browne. --Philippe Robert

not for everyone:
This album has a distinct, haunting flavor to it, and is not for those who judge music by technique, especially by the technique of the singer. Nico's voice is very flat and dead pan, and in this case, it brilliantly fits with the songs. Her voice is suprisingly beautiful, and will resonate deeper within you than most, perhaps technically better, singers. Since her voice is so strange, you probably will not like it at first, but after a few listenings, something clicks and you just get it. This is an album that is easily personalized, and it will become a part of you that you will be glad to have discovered.

Would give it 10 stars if I could:
One of my favorite albums ever. You either love Nico's deep, deadpan, German voice or you hate it. Personally, I think it's one of the most beautiful things ever recorded. It's showcased very well on songs like "Eulogy To Lenny Bruce", "These Days", "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams"... I could go on and on. Just buy it!

It was a pleasure then:
Nico is still mostly remembered for her tambourine-shaking days in the Velvet Underground, though she departed after only one album, and began a long and excellent career as a solo singer. And her first solo album, "Chelsea Girl," is a perfect example of Nico's dark, heavy, haunting songs. Don't expect the same stuff as "Femme Fatale," though -- the Velvet Underground specialized in fuzzy art-rockers. By herself, Nico favored a more orchestral brand of pop. It kicks off wtith a delicate guitar solo, only to get submerged under a layer of violins. "Now that I'm almost not so very far behind/I want to know/do I stay or do I go..." she asks mournfully in the soaring opening song. That mellow, classical style carries over the album, with some stately organ in "Little Sister" and the urgent, flitting flute melody of "Winter Song" and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams." The one disappointment is the finale, "Eulogy To Lenny Bruce." In itself, it's not a bad song -- but the production is definitely off, making Nico sound like she's singing from inside a metal drum. The late Nico was a love-her-or-hate-her singer, even in her days with the Velvet Underground, where people often demanded her presence after her departure. She was also not one for people who demand bubblegum-pop lyrics or wide-ranging vocals. Instead, she's for the open-minded, who are willing to check out something -- or someone -- a little different. The voice is the most prominent difference: Nico's voice was deep, deadpan, flat, and had a heavy German accent. In other words, a disaster. Except that she was't -- instead, her voice has a kind of trembly, gothic beauty, and it suits the exceptionally sad songs that she tended to sing. No goofy I-love-him-so ballads here, but meditations on life, death and tragedy. And the music is majestic enough to support those songs and that voice -- lots of flutes and violins, with guitar and piano backing them up. As a result, this brand of pop has aged better than most older music -- with its classical bent and European orchestral flavour, it sounds timeless. It could have as easily been recorded yesterday. "Chelsea Girl" was the start of a beautiful solo career for Nico, cut short by her untimely death. But she left behind her a legacy of beautiful, mournful music.

Her voice takes you to another world!:
I was browsing a local music store when I came upon Chelsea Girl. For some strange reason I decided to buy it, and let me tell you...she blew me away. Her voice is very different from alot of the voices you hear now. Hers is deep and dreamy, paired with sad songs. It is quite a concoction! Her voice left a lasting impression on me...I never get tired of this album. Buy it!...it is a keeper!

Excellent stuff, but not for everybody:
Chelsea Girl (1967.) Nico's first solo album. In 1966, The Velvet Underground recorded their first studio album, Velvet Underground And Nico. Although most of the tracks on that album featured Lou Reed singing, a few of them featured Nico. When the band enlisted Andy Warhol's management, Nico (who Warhol obviously quite liked) joined the band. However, after releasing the first album in 1967, the band dropped Warhol's management, and along with him Nico left the band. Fortunately, this wasn't going to be the end of Nico's musical career. Following her departure from the Velvets, she recorded her first solo album, Chelsea Girl. It was released in 1967, less than a year after the Velvet Underground album she sang a few tracks on. Read on for my review of Nico's first solo effort. If you liked the Nico tracks that appeared on the Velvet Underground album, chances are you'll like this album. Her voice can be a little tough to get used to at first, but chances are you'll grow to love it deeply. I should warn you, though - this album, while good, does quite differ from the Velvet Underground album that she sang on. While the Velvets were an artsy rock group that heavily emphasized the typical instruments you'd expect from a pop-rock band (guitars, drums, etc.), this Nico album is a bit more heavy on orchestral arrangements. While this transition can be a little tricky to make, once you make it, you should agree that this is an excellent album. Interestingly, most of the songs on here are NOT Nico originals - they were mostly co-written by other famous rockers of the day (Jackson Brown and Bob Dylan to name a few), and Nico's former Velvet Underground cohorts (including Lou Reed.) On every song on the album, Nico sings excellently. Even though there aren't a whole lot of her originals on here (she only wrote one of the songs, and even then, she only CO-wrote it), you probably won't care. Sadly, it seems that (as of July 9, 2004) this album is out of print in America, or only available in limited distribution (I had to hunt long and hard to find me a copy.) This means that you're either going to have to hunt long and hard for one yourself, or order one from an internet retailer. It's a shame the album isn't more readily available, because it IS quite good. In the end, Nico's solo debut is an excellent album. However, like my review title states, this stuff is NOT for everybody. This is ONLY for the open-minded. But if you can get used to Nico's sound, you'll agree that it's an excellent one indeed. It's sad that Nico is so underrated, because very few female musicans have a voice this good.

• Fairest of the Seasons
• These Days
• Little Sister
• Winter Song
• It Was a Pleasure Then
• Chelsea Girls
• I'll Keep It With Mine
• Somewhere There's a Feather
• Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
• Eulogy to Lenny Bruce