Off The Rails (No Angel - Dido)

Member Name: DavidJWest

Product:	No Angel - Dido
Date:	01/02/02 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Voice, Super Lyrics

Disadvantages: A bit depressing maybe, Can be samey

Florian Cloude De Bourneville Armstrong isn't a name which trips off the tongue easily which may explain why Dido didn't use her real name for her pop career. She was born on 25th December 1971 in London and soon showed a talent for music after learning to play her "stolen" recorder around her 5th birthday. After trawling around the net it appears the recorder may or may not have been stolen as reports are conflicting, amazing what you can dig up on the web, if you find the time.

During her teens she was touring the country with her classical ensemble, she could play both violin and piano by age 10 and her first vocal performances were with the group "Faithless" for their "Reverence" album. Her brother Rollo had formed this band. Their parents must have loved them! "Can I have your last Rollo please?"

The "No Angel" album was released after some political turmoil with Dido's record company which meant it was not released in the UK before the US, something Dido wanted. The album has been a huge success winning awards left right and centre with four tracks being single successes too, notably the first release "Here With Me" which was at number one for 6 weeks.

Apparantly "Here With Me" is described as a tale of not wanting to leave the bed in which a one night stand has taken place - steady on there Florian! "Hunter" tells the tale of an unhappy young lady who wants to split with her boyfriend so she can enjoy the single life again.

The thing I like most about Dido and this album is her voice, which I would describe as being very pure but sounding like it's owner has experienced a lot of things during her lifetime. It is also quite unusual which is what attracted me to her songs, I like Bjork and Cerys from Catatonia for the same reason.

The lyrical content is very deep and meaningful if you listen hard and the overa
ll sound is what I would call melancholy. This is not the best album to listen to if you are feeling suicidal!

Some of the tracks would be termed as pure pop others have a more ballad quality but they all demonstrate Dido's knowledge of classical music with plenty of violins and other classical instruments being used. The range of her voice is not massive but on some songs you could be forgiven for thinking you were listening to Carly Simon or Sade. At least that's what I think.

"Thank You" is probably the song which Dido is most well known for as an American rapper destroyed it by talking all the way through it. Mr Mathers is undoubtedly talented but it does annoy me when you hear people say that this is what launched Dido's career, she appears on the video for "Stan" as a battered pregnant girlfriend to a deranged Eminem fan.

Of all the songs on the album "Hunter" is my favourite and "Isobel" the best of the ones which has not been released as a single. Just a quick quote from my favourite track "the crown you placed upon my head feels too heavy now" - maybe that is appropriate for Jillsy, maybe "crowns" more appropriate then!

I have used the website "didozone" for some of the facts on here but I have not copied it verbatim. It's a very good site for all things Dido, nice wallpaper for your desktop there, my wife is a bit jealous of Florian Cloud I think.

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