She Hangs Brightly

She Hangs Brightly
Studio album by Mazzy Star
Released 1990
Genre Alternative rock, Dream pop, Psychedelic rock, Shoegaze
Length 40:28
Label Capitol
Producer David Roback
Mazzy Star chronology
She Hangs Brightly
(1990)
So Tonight That I Might See
(1993)
Music sample
"Halah"

She Hangs Brightly is the debut studio album by American dream pop band Mazzy Star. It was released in 1990 on Capitol, after the demise of David Roback's previous band Opal.

The first track "Halah" was also released as a single. It announces the band's trademark effect with haunting guitar work and lyrics, and Hope Sandoval's disengaged vocals. David Roback's Robbie Krieger-inspired psychedelic blues slide guitar style can be heard on the song, "Free". "Ghost Highway" is another psychedelic rock track, with a fast rhythm. This song dates from the band's days as Opal and was initially slated to be the title track of Opal's second album. While not a commercial success, this album did establish Mazzy Star as a unique band with a unique sound.

Contents

Reception

In a review for Rolling Stone, Gina Arnold gave She Hangs Brightly a star rating of four out of five and called it "coldly beautiful".[1]

Allmusic's Jason Ankeny rated the album with three stars out of five. He described Hope Sandoval's vocals as "more sultry" than those of Opal's Kendra Smith. He praised "Halah" and "Blue Flower" but criticized the album's lack of focus, calling the remaining tunes "unmemorable".[2] In A History of Rock Music: 1951-2000, Piero Scaruffi described the album as "a melting pot of acoustic folk, Delta blues, oneiric acid-rock and laconic lounge jazz."[3]

Kurt Cobain listed the album at number 49 on his list of his favorite albums.[4]

Notes

The album cover is a shot of the interior of Hôtel Tassel in Brussels.

"Blue Flower" is a Slapp Happy cover from the 1972 album Sort Of.

Tracklisting

All songs written and composed by Hope Sandoval and David Roback, except where noted.

No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Halah"     3:16
2. "Blue Flower"   Peter Blegvad, Anthony Moore[5] 3:35
3. "Ride It On"     3:01
4. "She Hangs Brightly"     6:24
5. "I'm Sailin'"   Minnie McCoy[6] 3:13
6. "Give You My Lovin'"   Sylvia Gomez[7] 3:50
7. "Be My Angel"     3:17
8. "Taste Of Blood"     5:36
9. "Ghost Highway"   David Roback[8] 3:28
10. "Free"     3:11
11. "Before I Sleep"     2:10
Total length:
40:28

Personnel

Music[9]
Production[9]
  • David Roback – producer
Design[9]
  • Marlene Rosenberg – photography
  • Mazzy Star – cover design

References

  1. ^ Arnold, Gina (September 6, 1990), "Mazzy Star: She Hangs Brightly", Rolling Stone (Wenner Media LLC), archived from the original on December 27, 2007, http://web.archive.org/web/20071227071536/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/mazzystar/albums/album/208828/review/5944324/, retrieved September 13, 2010 
  2. ^ Ankeny, Jason, "She Hangs Brightly > Review", Allmusic (Rovi Corporation), http://www.allmusic.com/album/r12619/review, retrieved September 13, 2010 
  3. ^ Scaruffi, Piero (2003), A History of Rock Music: 1951-2000, iUniverse, p. 413, ISBN 0595295657 
  4. ^ "Kurt Cobain's top 50 albums". Angelfire.com. http://www.angelfire.com/rock3/nirvana81/kurttop.htm. Retrieved 2011-12-06. 
  5. ^ "ASCAP Repertoire Database for "Blue Flower"". ASCAP.com. http://ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=320384536&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=t,s,w,p,b,v&results_pp=25&start=1. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  6. ^ "I'm Sailin'". MazzyStar.nu. http://www.mazzystar.nu/lyrics/im-sailin.html. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  7. ^ "BMI Repertoire Database for "Give You My Lovin'"". BMI.com. http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyid=476509&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  8. ^ "BMI Repertoire Database for "Ghost Highway"". BMI.com. http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&keyid=467007&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID. Retrieved 2011-11-09. 
  9. ^ a b c "She Hangs Brightly > Credits", Allmusic (Rovi Corporation), http://www.allmusic.com/album/r12619/credits, retrieved September 13, 2010