Knuckle Down

Knuckle Down
Studio album by Ani DiFranco
Released January 25, 2005
Genre Indie rock
Folk rock
Length 57:07
Label Righteous Babe
Producer Ani DiFranco
Joe Henry
Ani DiFranco chronology

Educated Guess
(2004)		 Knuckle Down
(2005)		 Reprieve
(2006)

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]

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

  1. "Knuckle Down" – 4:34
  2. "Studying Stones" – 3:53
  3. "Manhole" – 3:45
  4. "Sunday Morning" – 4:49
  5. "Modulation" – 4:31
  6. "Seeing Eye Dog" – 4:02
  7. "Lag Time" – 5:13
  8. "Parameters" – 5:58
  9. "Callous" – 5:46
  10. "Paradigm" – 4:33
  11. "Minerva" – 4:55
  12. "Recoil" – 5:08

Personnel

Production

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
2005 The Billboard 200 49
2005 Top Independent Albums 4

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allmusic review
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Critic reviews at Metacritic
  3. ↑ "Short Takes (Ani DiFranco: Knuckle Down)". Entertainment Weekly (803): 85. 2005-01-28.
  4. ↑ musicOMH review
  5. ↑ Lewis, Cathering P. (2005-02-01). "Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down :: Music :: Reviews". Paste. Archived from the original on 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2013-06-29.
  6. ↑ PopMatters review
  7. ↑ Rolling Stone review at the Wayback Machine (archived November 21, 2007)
  8. ↑ Slant review
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Album reviews at CD Universe
  10. ↑ Billboard review at the Wayback Machine (archived January 11, 2005)
  11. ↑ The New York Times review

External links