Sometimes, debut releases on independent labels get dwarfed by the success of a major label release. Sometimes, those indie albums are fortunate enough to find a new life when the major label picks it up.<\/p>\n
In the case of Strange Fire<\/i>, the debut effort from the folk-rock duo Indigo Girls, it\u2019s never quite gotten the attention it deserved, even after Epic re-released it (minus two tracks from the initial release) following the success of their self-titled sophomore effort. But, in many ways, this album set the pace for what Amy Ray and Emily Saliers would do with their careers, and is a surprisingly mature and polished first effort.<\/p>\n
With sparse backing instrumentation, and showcasing Ray and Saliers\u2019s harmonized vocals, the 10 tracks on this disc are just as powerful\u2014and in some cases, even more powerful\u2014than what would be featured on Indigo Girls<\/i> just two years later. Lyrically and musically, this disc pretty much has it all.<\/p>\n
If anything, the one weakness\u2014and I\u2019m using the term loosely\u2014that the album has is<\/i> the fact that there are precious few backing musicians behind the music. It\u2019s not that Ray and Saliers are incapable of selling the songs themselves; the title track alone quashes any of those doubts. But it\u2019s when you hear the occasional flute here or harmonica there that you understand the richness in the music that was left undiscovered.<\/p>\n
The first version of \u201cLand Of Canaan\u201d is a prime example of this. Maybe it\u2019s because I was exposed to the full band version on Indigo Girls<\/i> first that I have a preference for the full instrumentation; had it been the other way around, chances are I\u2019d have preferred this more stripped-down version. It\u2019s not that it\u2019s bad by any means; it just reminds me of a gem waiting to be cut and polished to perfection.<\/p>\n
That all being said, there is a lot to celebrate on Strange Fire<\/i>. Tracks like \u201cHey Jesus,\u201d \u201cCrazy Game\u201d and \u201cWalk Away\u201d all would have told the listener in 1987 that Indigo Girls were a band that demanded to be reckoned with, on their terms\u2014and the listener would be more than willing to oblige.<\/p>\n
Much time has passed since Strange Fire<\/i> was released, and several tracks in Ray and Saliers\u2019 catalog have become well-known staples. But this album remains a diamond in the rough in their discography. Splurge a little bit; invest the 37 minutes and rediscover this disc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5682],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-46440","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-indigo-girls","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/46440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=46440"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=46440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}