Knuckle Down
| Knuckle Down | ||||
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| Studio album by Ani DiFranco | ||||
| Released | January 25, 2005 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock Folk rock |
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| Length | 57:07 | |||
| Label | Righteous Babe | |||
| Producer | Ani DiFranco Joe Henry |
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| Ani DiFranco chronology | ||||
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Knuckle Down is the fourteenth studio album by singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco. It is the first album that DiFranco has collaborated with a producer; Joe Henry. The record is also her first studio album to feature a string section. It is considered among her most accessible records, and compared to the stark Educated Guess, it is more abundantly produced.[1]
Contents
Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (73/100)[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
| Blender | [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[3] |
| Filter | 84%[2] |
| musicOMH | (positive)[4] |
| Paste | [5] |
| PopMatters | (6/10)[6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| Slant | [8] |
| Uncut | [9] |
The album so far has a score of 73 out of 100 from Metacritic based on "generally favorable reviews".[2] Billboard gave the album a favorable review and stated: "The results are a selection of high quality that veers between brightly spirited ("Manhole," "Lag Time") and somber ("Callous")."[10] The New York Times gave it a positive review and said that DiFranco "is still self-sufficient, but an extra pair of producer's ears gives her some new dimensions."[11]
Other reviews are very average or mixed: Mojo gave the album three stars out of five and said it was "More honed and richly-textured than former offerings."[9] Q, however, gave it two stars out of five and called it "Deliberately sparse and bare."[2]
Track listing
- "Knuckle Down" – 4:34
- "Studying Stones" – 3:53
- "Manhole" – 3:45
- "Sunday Morning" – 4:49
- "Modulation" – 4:31
- "Seeing Eye Dog" – 4:02
- "Lag Time" – 5:13
- "Parameters" – 5:58
- "Callous" – 5:46
- "Paradigm" – 4:33
- "Minerva" – 4:55
- "Recoil" – 5:08
Personnel
- Ani DiFranco – guitar, vocals
- Jay Bellerose – percussion, drums
- Andrew Bird – violin, Glockenspiel, whistling
- Tony Scherr – electric guitar
- Todd Sickafoose – Wurlitzer, string bass
- Patrick Warren – piano, sampling, Chamberlin
- Julie Wolf – melodica
- Noe Venable – vocals
- Niki Haris – vocals
Production
- Ani DiFranco – producer, design
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- S. "Husky" Hoskulds – engineer, mixing
- Jason Mott – engineer, assistant
- Danny Clinch – portrait photography
- Eric Frick – photography
- Brian Grunert – design
Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | The Billboard 200 | 49 |
| 2005 | Top Independent Albums | 4 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allmusic review
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ musicOMH review
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ PopMatters review
- ↑ Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived November 21, 2007)
- ↑ Slant review
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Album reviews at CD Universe
- ↑ Billboard review at the Wayback Machine (archived January 11, 2005)
- ↑ The New York Times review
