Greetings,
As promised, I am attempting to have my "review" posts catch up with my "top ten" posts, as well as finally doing some albums. I try never to go back on my word.
Today, I want to discuss an album about which I think not many people know. It's called Bleeding Heart Graffiti, and it's by a great artist named Nina Gordon. Before I get into this, I have to give a little back story, and I pray that all this info is correct.
In the nineties, Nina Gordon, alongside co-founder Louise Post, was in a band called Veruca Salt, one of the many bands seemingly part of the whole grunge movement. They had some hits, namely "Seether" and "Volcano Girls", the latter of which was popularized due to its being the opening theme music for the movie Jawbreaker. Anyway, Nina Gordon left the band in 1998, apparently surrounded by much drama, to pursue a solo career.
In 2000, she released her first album on her own, Tonight and the Rest of My Life, an album that, both lyrically and stylistically differs quite a bit from her previous work with Veruca Salt. Now the title track on that was a bit of a hit, and I recall it being featured in commercials for The Notebook. That's right, aspiring musicians. You want a hit? Play your song over Ryan Gosling's face. Unfortunately, beside that minor hit, the album did not do all that well as far as chart success goes. But I, in my infinite need to go against the flow, absolutely loved this album. I didn't think she could do any better, and she didn't. At least, not for another six years.
Enter Bleeding Heart Graffiti. This album was released in 2006 and was comprised mostly of re-recorded songs meant for an album called Even the Sunbeams. Nina scrapped that first effort because she was unhappy with its direction. Thankfully, though, she gave the songs a makeover, added a few new ones, thus giving us this gem.
It starts off with the title track which lasts about 42 seconds long. Yeah, there are three of these, not songs exactly, but interludes if you will, the other two being "This Was the Year" and "The Crickets Sound Like Sleigh Bells". I don't really know why she did this, but, even as short as they are, the melodies and the lyrics are still beautiful, and I'm pleased that she put them into the mix.
The first full song is called "Christmas Lights", a lyrically creative, very "love song" love song, but with a just a bit of Nina's edge. This sweet thing leads right into "Kiss Me 'Til It Bleeds". Now I'm pretty sure this song is simply an ode to loving a bad boy and not about vampires at all, but I can't help but think about the twisted relationship of Buffy and Spike when I hear it. That's right. Buffy and Spike, not Buffy and Angel, because everything that Spike said about Angel was true.
Moving on.
Now even though Nina adds some splashes of her rock past here, this album mainly consists of really well-crafted ballads. There is "Turn On Your Radio", which, since it is clearly about writing a song about a past relationship, hoping that the boy/man hears it, certainly prepared me for the likes of Taylor Swift. It's almost the biography of that little girl's career. We also have "Superstar", a classic song about getting to the one from whom you are apart. One of my favorites, though, is a song called "Watercolors". I really don't know what she is talking about here, but the lyrics are so beautiful, I don't mind. I suspect that it might be about being true to who you are no matter what. No wonder I love it.
As with even the best albums, this one has dips, but it is not any of the full songs, or interludes. No, there are no bad songs here. However, lyrically (and you know how I get about lyrics!) there are a few moments I could do without. I will not get specific because, in this case, it's not that big of a deal to me. To be fair, though, I had to point this out. Nobody's perfect.
Here is the biggest problem with Miss Nina Gordon and her albums. She simply does not make enough of them. I mean, as far as her solo work goes, she had one in 2000 and the next in 2006. Too much absence there. The good news is, I hope, according to this timeline, she should have something new by the end of this year. Although, she seems to be hiding away somewhere because she hasn't really been heard from at all in quite a while. But whatever makes her happy.
Anyway, to finish, Bleeding Heart Graffiti is definitely an album that should have been incredibly successful, but, these days, Nina Gordon's pesky habit of writing great songs probably worked against her. I can sum it up easily by simply stating that it has wonderful melodies and lyrics, and it is what a songwriter should strive to create. I only hope that one of the popular artists of today (Miss Swift perhaps) will discover this album, then order their minions to buy it. The good thing about them doing that, this time, is that none of them will regret it.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
