![9 [PA] by Damien Rice](http://di1.shopping.com/images/pi/a5/0d/4b/2019357669-177x150-0-0.jpg)
Heffa/Vector/Warner Bros. ( November 14, 2006 ), Genre: Folk
Personnel: Damien Rice (vocals, guitar, clarinet, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer piano, percussion); Lisa Hannigan (vocals); Joel Shearer (electric guitar); Cora Venus Lunny (violin, viola); Vyvienne Long (cello); Shane Fitzsimons (bass instrument, double bass). Damien Rice's debut proved the Irish singer-songwriter capable of constructing a memorable album of delicate acoustic folk songs that were both simple and powerful. The artist's sophomore release, 9, continues in a similar vein, with Rice turning in a batch of tunes that tread the same poignant, melancholic territory, utilizing spare arrangements that highlight his chiming acoustic playing and hushed, intimate singing. Even when backed by an electric guitar ("Me, My Yoke, and I") or adding variety by including vocalist Lisa Hannigan, Rice's approach is restrained and reflective. At its best, as on the chilly confessional "The Animals Were Gone" or the woozy, bleary shuffle of "Gray Room," 9 matches its predecessor. But even when not making...
Price Range: $14 - $15
Amazon Rating: 
(84 Reviews)
Epinions Rating: 
(2 Reviews)
![9 [PA] by Damien Rice](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Ah7koGLyL._SL160_.jpg)
9 is the extraordinary follow-up to young Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice's critically acclaimed 2003 debut album O-which sold more than 2 million copies worldwide, including more than one million in the U.K. The single "9 Crimes" will have its network television debut on the hit ABC show Grey's Anatomy in the November 23rd episode..
Not quite as endearing as his raw and seductive 2002 debut, O , the second full-length album by Irish troubadour Damien Rice finds him taking a more slapdash approach to his lyrics and arrangements, with balmy tracks like "Rootless Tree," "Coconut Skins," and "Me, My Yoke, and I" seemingly made up and recorded on the spot. Strange then that it took so long for 9 to actually arrive, with just a handful of odd collaborations (Tori Amos, Herbie Hancock) and one promising benefit single ("Unplayed Piano") to hold fans over during the four-year delay. Nothing here quite achieves the lush poetry on display there, although Rice and his singing companion Lisa Hannigan come close with the creepy opening track "9 Crimes" and the damaged whisper-to-a-scream ballad, "Elephant." --Aidin Vaziri .
Artist: Damien Rice
Record Label: Heffa/Vector/Warner Bros.
Genre: Folk
Release Date: November 14, 2006
Number of Discs: 1
Song List: Disc 1: 9 CrimesAnimals Were GoneElephantRootless TreeDogsCoconut SkinsMe, My Yoke and IGrey RoomAccidental BabiesSleep Don't Weep
High contrast to "O" that renews my interest in artist
Author's Rating:
It was with a bit of trepidation that I purchased this CD, since I had heard mixed reviews from friends and read several negative reviews from critics. I fell in love with a couple of songs on "O" and found many of the others simply okay. But I decided to purchase "9" after listening to short sound clips from a couple of songs.
It definitely did not disappoint. Haunting, moving, rousing, heart-breaking...these are some of the words I would use to describe the songs. I think this CD is a bit more raw and definitely has an edgier, harder sound on a couple of songs.
I would recommend it, especially if, like me, you found "O" just a tiny bit boring after a few listens. I think this CD will manage to hold my attention quite a bit longer.
Dec 01, 2008
Great CD
Author's Rating:
While I do prefer "O" to "9", this CD is still very remarkable. Damien Rice was bold with this CD, especially with his "Rootless Tree" where he swears "F*** you, f*** you, f*** you, and all we've been through. Leave it, leave it, leave it. It's nothing to you. And if you hate me, hate me, hate me, then hate me so good that you can let me out." Although the swearing is definitely loud and bold, it is sung in a remarkable, breathtaking way that just makes you want to scream it at the top of your lungs. This is an amazing song for after a break up. This song got me through a really tough time when the guy I loved for two years told me we couldn't be together anymore. Naturally, I usually run for the sappy love songs that either talk about two people falling deeply in love or someone being alone for the rest of their life, but instead, I opted for "Rootless Tree" and my heart sped the entire time I had it on repeat. Damien Rice's music is theaputic.
Nov 24, 2008
Stark Contrast to 0
Author's Rating:
Damien Rice's sophomore album is a stark contrast to 0. Whereas 0 featured soft lyrics and light melodies, 9 features faster beats and lyrics, including my favorite, "Rootless Tree" which has the F word frequently.
Unlike 0, 9 demands your attention and doesn't let it go until the last second of the last song. I strongly suggest this CD to everyone who likes Damien Rice and even those who don't.
Oct 05, 2008
It's not easy to fill big shoes...
Author's Rating:
Damien Rice set the bar ridiculously high with his 2004 release, O. On his debut, there was incredible production and amazing sounds coming out of every track. While the follow up to O, also a single character title, 9, is a solid album, fans expecting the artistic saturation found on O will be somewhat disappointed. While Damien Rice's song writing is solid, his voice is great and the lyrics provide good images, we don't get anything like the backwards singing on "Cold Water," or the clinking glasses on the drunken "Cheers, Darling," or the raw emotion so direly expressed in "The Blower's Daughter" or "I Remember" or the Sweedish opera singing on "Eskimo." Instead we hear Rice producing an album that is more straight-ahead and with fewer layers. There's more electric instrumentation on this record as well, leaving fans thirsty for the acoustic tranquility of O as well. Don't get me wrong though, it's a pretty good album and if this were Rice's debut, it would probably score 4 stars or maybe even a 5. However, those of us wanting something equal to or greater than O will be a little confused by 9. It's still worth the money, but don't get your hopes up. Personally, I'll forgive Damien for a little sophomore slump and anxiously await his next release.
Jun 03, 2008
It's not easy to fill big shoes...
Author's Rating:
Damien Rice set the bar ridiculously high with his 2004 release, O. On his debut, there was incredible production and amazing sounds coming out of every track. While the follow up to O, also a single character title, 9, is a solid album, fans expecting the artistic saturation found on O will be somewhat disappointed. While Damien Rice's song writing is solid, his voice is great and the lyrics provide good images, we don't get anything like the backwards singing on "Cold Water," or the clinking glasses on the drunken "Cheers, Darling," or the raw emotion so direly expressed in "The Blower's Daughter" or "I Remember" or the Sweedish opera singing on "Eskimo." Instead we hear Rice producing an album that is more straight-ahead and with fewer layers. There's more electric instrumentation on this record as well, leaving fans thirsty for the acoustic tranquility of O as well. Don't get me wrong though, it's a pretty good album and if this were Rice's debut, it would probably score 4 stars or maybe even a 5. However, those of us wanting something equal to or greater than O will be a little confused by 9. It's still worth the money, but don't get your hopes up. Personally, I'll forgive Damien for a little sophomore slump and anxiously await his next release. More …
Not As Good
Author's Rating:
For me, this album wasn't packed with as much feeling as 'O' was, which was really, super disappointing. I was also excited about him releasing 'Me, My Yoke and I' but when I listened to it, it wasn't as full of energy as the live version I have of it. All in all, this album was a great disappointment with a few pick me up every three songs.
May 01, 2008
"9" might have made me suicidal
Author's Rating:
I am not a suicidal person. Never really occurred to me before.
Listening to "9" is an experience for me. I can't just listen to one track. There's a journey for me from start to finish.
From the first time I got home with "9" (I was studying in abroad when "O" was released and got it there, hadn't heard anything about 9 until I saw it in a store later) I was crushed by its power. Yes the lyrics are simple and often repetitive during a song, but combined with the music, they are powerful.
I've never though about suicide before, but somehow "9 Crimes" is erie enough to make me want to sit at my kitchen table with a handgun, my best bottle of whiskey and a glass, wearing an undershirt and hiding my head in the shadows. And then the misery passes and "The Animals Were Gone" and it's the recovery from the misery, a chance for something.
I've listened to this album in the dark with the whiskey and I've listened to it on an ipod riding through the midwest after an ice storm watching the dead ground as I was mesmerized by the torture of the music. The natural world, in my living room or the barren fields is emphasized by "Elephant" with it's chilling opening of "this has got to die."
The opening of the album crescendos to the cathartic "Rootless Tree", which may be the most poignant break up song of all time, before the salvation of "Dogs."
Although the album weakens some in the last half, it is still a terrific feat in my opinion.
If you ever needed a voice in the back of your head, buy this and listen to it enough...then it will be there.
Feb 13, 2008
"9" might have made me suicidal
Author's Rating:
I am not a suicidal person. Never really occurred to me before.
Listening to "9" is an experience for me. I can't just listen to one track. There's a journey for me from start to finish.
From the first time I got home with "9" (I was studying in abroad when "O" was released and got it there, hadn't heard anything about 9 until I saw it in a store later) I was crushed by its power. Yes the lyrics are simple and often repetitive during a song, but combined with the music, they are powerful.
I've never though about suicide before, but somehow "9 Crimes" is erie enough to make me want to sit at my kitchen table with a handgun, my best bottle of whiskey and a glass, wearing an undershirt and hiding my head in the shadows. And then the misery passes and "The Animals Were Gone" and it's the recovery from the misery, a chance for something.
More …
I love Damien Rice's style
Author's Rating:
I'm just as happy with this CD as I am with his first one. I play both
of them all of the time. It's very easy and enjoyable to sing along with it.
Oct 19, 2007
hugely disappointing
Author's Rating:
I adored O. Absolutely adored it. Beautiful, sweeping melodies that brought me to my knees they were so amazing.
This release is insanely disappointing. He's trying to reach the same emotional heights he did during O but he's trying too hard. Simply singing softly and strumming the guitar don't make the emotions real. These songs lack the depth and brutal honesty of O's songs. And, worse yet, he doesn't venture out into new territory to at least give him high marks for trying something a bit different.
What's aboslutely maddening about this album, too, is that you have to be sure that when you listen to it, you are able to be w/in reach of the volume button at all times. The album goes from a maddening "was that silence or was there a soft voice there" to "CAN YOU TURN THAT DOWN, I'M GOING DEAF" in the span of about 20 seconds.
And what is EVEN MORE ANNOYING is all that hidden space/hidden track at the end. For the love of God, can artists QUIT DOING THIS????? It's got to be the most annoying aspect of CDs.
Hugely, hugely disappointing release. He's become a very bad cover version of himself.
Oct 09, 2007
hugely disappointing
Author's Rating:
I adored O. Absolutely adored it. Beautiful, sweeping melodies that brought me to my knees they were so amazing.
This release is insanely disappointing. He's trying to reach the same emotional heights he did during O but he's trying too hard. Simply singing softly and strumming the guitar don't make the emotions real. These songs lack the depth and brutal honesty of O's songs. And, worse yet, he doesn't venture out into new territory to at least give him high marks for trying something a bit different.
What's aboslutely maddening about this album, too, is that you have to be sure that when you listen to it, you are able to be w/in reach of the volume button at all times. The album goes from a maddening "was that silence or was there a soft voice there" to "CAN YOU TURN THAT DOWN, I'M GOING DEAF" in the span of about 20 seconds.
And what is EVEN MORE ANNOYING is all that hidden space/hidden track at the end. For the love of God, can artists QUIT DOING THIS????? It's got to be the most annoying aspect of CDs.
More …
Pales in comparison to its predecessor but still shines brightly amidst his inferior competitors...
Author's Rating:
Damien Rice is, in my humble opinion, the greatest musical artist of our generation. That opinion was formulated after experiencing the brilliance that was his debut album `O'. When `9' was released I rushed to purchase it and listened to it probably three or four times straight through that same day. My opinion has not changed, but I will say that to anyone who swears by `O' as much as I do `9' can come off as a bit of a disappointment. This is hard for me to admit since Rice truly is an inspiration to me and is someone I consider not just a musician, not even just an `artist' but I truly feel he is one of music's only geniuses. His music is inventive, exciting, well thought out and creative and transcends the boundaries of primitive musicianship and conveys feelings and emotions that most artists can seem to comprehend. I was really expecting `9' to take what he delivered in `O' and blow it out of the water. Instead it hands us a group of tracks that are impressive, I won't deny that, but that can't seem to rise above the brilliance that was its predecessor.
You wouldn't guess that right off the bat though. `9' opens with the powerfully haunting `9 Crimes', a song about infidelity and the disturbing realizations it casts upon the couple in question. Set to a tragically delicate piano riff and featuring the beautiful addition of Lisa Hannigan, `9 Crimes' proves to be one of Damien's most beautiful and all around powerful tracks ever recorded. Not a bad way to begin. In fact there are a few tracks here that compare to the weight of `O', I just wish they all did. `Rootless Tree' is another flawless track (although live he played this on the piano and it was even better). The song is a bitter breakup song that, rumor has it, he wrote about ex-girlfriend Renee Zellweger.
`The Animals Were Gone' as well as `Grey Room' and the closing `Sleep Don't Weep' all sound like tracks that could have been on `O' arrangement wise at least. They are your basic acoustic Rice and they work very well. `Grey Room' is probably my favorite of the three. It's a very well done track. `The Animals Were Gone' has such a beautifully orchestrated climax that I wish he had used that throughout the song, but overall I really can't complain. It's classic Rice. `Sleep Don't Weep' is the perfect way to close out this album. It's beautiful, haunting and memorable. It reminds the listener why Damien Rice is so special and compels them to listen to the album once again.
The album though is not without its faults, and that's where it differs from `O', an album I consider to be arguably perfect in every facet. `Elephant' is my first complaint. I enjoy the song but it's no `Blowers Daughter' and the fact that it tries to be (the more sexually charged version albeit) upsets me. It's set to the same chord structure, same vocal patterns, which in it of itself is not a horrible concept, but in order for that to pay off the song should be better than the original, and `Elephant' isn't even in the same league as `Blowers Daughter'. `Me, My Yoke, and I' is the worst track here. It's practically inaudible and he keeps repeating the same things over and over. I think the reviewer hit it on the head when he/she said that it sounds as though it was written on the spot. Sadly, that is the case. It's a song about self-pleasuring that fails to please anyone but Rice.
The final three songs, or the three that I have yet to mention, are not bad songs but I can't bring myself to say they are good either. Both `Dogs' and `Coconut Skins' are fun, I will admit that, but they add nothing new to the man we know as Damien. When you listen to the magnificence that is `9 Crimes' or `Sleep Don't Weep' you become almost embarrassed for tracks like `Dogs'. Damien said that `Dogs' was his happy song amidst a slew of depressing ones but personally I prefer him depressed (ouch). `Accidental Babies' is one I'm on the fence with. Overall it is a beautiful song, one that is touching and emotional and it works, I just wish it had a little more range. It's the same repeated piano chords and the same vocal patterns and it just feels like one long verse, even when the chorus rolls in.
`9' is no `O' that is for certain, but what also is for certain is that Damien Rice is one of music's finest artists, no, what did I say earlier...geniuses, and I truly mean that. Sure, he hit somewhat of a sophomore slump, but really, how do you follow up the brilliance that was `O'? If only the release dates on these albums had been swapped, then it would see right. Even with its faults the album still rises above most of what's released these days. I'm confident that his third full-length album will be a major improvement and until that day comes I sit and I wait and I enjoy every second I can get with this man and his music.
Oct 04, 2007
Pales in comparison to its predecessor but still shines brightly amidst his inferior competitors...
Author's Rating:
Damien Rice is, in my humble opinion, the greatest musical artist of our generation. That opinion was formulated after experiencing the brilliance that was his debut album `O'. When `9' was released I rushed to purchase it and listened to it probably three or four times straight through that same day. My opinion has not changed, but I will say that to anyone who swears by `O' as much as I do `9' can come off as a bit of a disappointment. This is hard for me to admit since Rice truly is an inspiration to me and is someone I consider not just a musician, not even just an `artist' but I truly feel he is one of music's only geniuses. His music is inventive, exciting, well thought out and creative and transcends the boundaries of primitive musicianship and conveys feelings and emotions that most artists can seem to comprehend. I was really expecting `9' to take what he delivered in `O' and blow it out of the water. Instead it hands us a group of tracks that are impressive, I won't deny that, but that can't seem to rise above the brilliance that was its predecessor. More …
Tattoo-worthy.
Author's Rating:
I was singing Dogs in the shower the other day after watching an episode of Miami Ink. I'd always toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, but I never honestly thought of anything to put on myself permanently.
Then it hit me: "the girl that does yoga".
A girl doing yoga, dressed all in white with angel wings, with a rootless tree (heh heh) with an orange hanging off it, and below it a banner saying "learn to let go".
Yes, I really love Damien enough to have a part of my body devoted to him.
The first I'd ever heard by him was 9 Crimes. It was Grey's Anatomy season 2, and I was in the deepest throes of obsession with the show. The song perfectly fit the scene, and it got to the point where I stopped paying attention to the show and got lost in the beauty of the music. At that instant, I knew I had to have the song. I looked it up online, downloaded it, and listened to nothing but 9 Crimes for an entire week.
During that time I bought both of his albums, and after 9 Crimes got old (well, not old, but I wanted to branch out), I listened to the rest. O was first; I sank into the utter beauty of classics like The Blower's Daughter, Delicate, Volcano, Cannonball, and above all, Amie.
9 came next.
At first I couldn't get nearly as much into the album as I could with O, but two songs still stood out in my mind: 9 Crimes and Rootless Tree. The latter grabbed my attention and still hasn't let go, nearly a year later. Rootless Tree remains one of the best songs I have ever heard; such despair, beauty, absolute craftsmanship in a field of music that has been overly stagnated by talentless artists.
ANYWAY. Yes. I really, really, REALLY love Rootless Tree.
Dogs remains my favorite right now; delicate, beautiful, quaint, and yet the flowering chorus section gets me every.single.time. The lyrics are amazing; they convey a story, yet manage to fit perfectly in with the rhythm and feel of the song. It's truly just a work of absolute beauty.
Elephant is... indescribable. I had a very long period of obsession with this song; I fell in love with its minimalist charm and blossoming into the somewhat disturbing yet incredibly beautiful climax. Adoration.
I've had my fair share of obsession with this album; almost every song has been a favorite at one point or another, and there are several that I'm sure will stick with me for years to come. Not just any artist is tattoo-worthy, but Damien Rice certainly is.
Aug 11, 2007
Tattoo-worthy.
Author's Rating:
I was singing Dogs in the shower the other day after watching an episode of Miami Ink. I'd always toyed with the idea of getting a tattoo, but I never honestly thought of anything to put on myself permanently.
Then it hit me: "the girl that does yoga".
A girl doing yoga, dressed all in white with angel wings, with a rootless tree (heh heh) with an orange hanging off it, and below it a banner saying "learn to let go".
Yes, I really love Damien enough to have a part of my body devoted to him.
More …
