Dilate

by

Ani DiFranco

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I have to admit, when I first bought this album a few weeks ago, my reaction wasn't very positive. I was like, "What the hell happened? This isn't the Ani DiFranco I've grown to love!" And songs like "Outta Me, On To You" and "Shameless" still freak me out a bit.

But once I listened to it a second or third time, I really began to love it. Ani's voice is the best it's ever been on any of her records, the lyrics are brilliant as always....now I can't believe I once disliked it so much. My favorite tracks on it are Superhero (such a wonderful song), Napoleon (I get such a big smile on my face whenever I listen to this one), Done Wrong (gorgeous and sad), and Joyful Girl (whispery and pretty).

I love this album because on it Ani displays such quiet, heartfelt emotion that I've never heard on any of her other records. Not A Pretty Girl is still my favorite album of hers, but Dilate will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you, Ani.

On her first five albums, Ani DiFranco developed a unique style of sharp, even hard, acoustic folk music whose closest precedent would be Glyn Johns-era Joan Armatrading. In spite of her candour and radical feminism, the music on DiFranco's first five albums was at times beautiful and always touching - as much so as early Tori Amos. To cap it off was her 1994 masterpiece Out of Range, whose anti-war title tune deserved its two renditions fully.

During this period, DiFranco had built up so strong a cult following that she was courted by major labels. However, she steadfastly refused to sign and continued recording on her own label throughout her career and produce her own recordings. Nevertheless, on 1995's Not a Pretty Girl, DiFranco became more "rock"y and less stark in her sound, though the record still stood out because of her acoustic playing and passionate lyrics that ranged from violently political to seriously personal.

1996's "Dilate" takes the move towards rock a step too far in many cases. Instead of the sharp, stark, yet often beautiful sound of her first five albums, "Dilate" too often sounds just like the overblown posturing of Alanis Morrisette. Even self-producing, Ani does not give the record the stark sound she once did, and on the harder songs such as "Outta Me, Onto You" and "Napoleon" she does not really come across as honest to her aims of being an independent musician because she seems to be going to close to typical middle 1990s rock. The title track, too, comes off as overblown and it is difficult to hear any humour in the way Ani says "die late" and spells it "Dilate". On "Shameless", DiFranco sounds more than ever as if she is whining in the worst kind of manner.

The way Ani makes the harder tracks sound so much like generic 1990s rock with even less of her distinctive acoustic guitar than on "Not A Pretty Girl"'s "The Millions You Never Made", is all the more disappointing given that on some of the after songs, such as "Amazing Grace" and the four closing songs, DiFranco was able to expand her original acoustic guitar into a sound more atmospheric and haunting than on previous releases. The beats on "Amazing Grace" and the quiet drums on opener "Untouchable Face" are quite impressive, yet I cannot call them good enough to compensate for her missteps.

All in all, "Dilate" is a failed attempt to expand Ani's sonic palette. Even with some very fine moments, it cannot equal what she achieved beforehand.