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Alice Peacock
Who I Am
(Peacock Music/Toucan Cove/Universal)
First Appeared in The Music Box, February 2007, Volume 14, #2
Written by John Metzger
Since releasing her debut Real Day in 2000,
singer/songwriter Alice Peacock has developed a sizeable following within
Chicago’s extensive music community. Her latest effort Who I Am, however,
was designed specifically to propel her beyond her regional fame and into the
purview of the mainstream. All 14 of the tracks on the effort are highly
polished, pop-oriented confections that — save for a few well-placed nods to
Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, and the Indigo Girls — sound as if they were written and
recorded in the early ’70s. Big, dramatic orchestrations, the kind that Paul
Buckmaster concocted for Elton John’s early work, are affixed to songs like Different from the Rest and Baby Come Back, while the string
arrangement that adorns Love echoes The Beatles’ mid-’60s, psychedelic
leanings. At times, the album’s shiny production seems to be at war with
Peacock’s intimate reflections, but in the end, her heartfelt confessions keep
Who I Am from sinking under the weight of her grand, commercial
aspirations. Whether slipping into the soft, melancholy jazz of Time;
expressing her repressed anger on Taught Me Well; or singing of survival
and perseverance on I’m Still Here, Peacock deftly merges style with
substance, thereby transforming the trials and tribulations of her own personal
journey of self-discovery into a universally accessible statement about love and
loss. 
Who I Am is available from
Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2007 The Music Box
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